dormbox

[dormbox]

UCSD storage

A storage server may be a sort of server wont to store and manage digital data and acts as a backup server to store backup data. A storage server are going to be used for storing both small and enormous amount of knowledge over a shared network. Although the necessity for storage is clear , it's not always clear which solution is true for your organization. There are a spread of options available, the foremost prevalent are direct-attached storage (DAS), network-attached storage (NAS) and cargo area networks (SAN). Choosing the proper storage solution are often as personal and individual decision. there's nobody right account everyone. Instead, it's important to specialise in the precise needs and long-term business goals of your organization. Several key criteria to think about include: Read More

1 - Capacity

2 - Performance

3 - Scalability

4 - Availability & reliability

5 - Data protection

6 - IT staff and Resources available

7 - Budgets concern

DAS (Direct Attached Storage):

Direct Attached Storage (DAS) may be a digital memory device that's attached on to a server or PC via cable, meaning that DAS isn't a neighborhood of the storage network. A DAS device could also be an indoor or external hard disc drive like internal disk drive in PC. These disk drives are often protected with different RAID levels, counting on data importance and criticality. For the server, a DAS storage is extremely much almost like its own drive or an drive that has been plugged in.

The main interfaces used for DAS connection include Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA), Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), eSATA, Small computing system Interface (SCSI), Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), and Fiber Channel.

It is worth mentioning that prime access rate thanks to network absence, capability of storage capacity extension, data security and fault tolerance are a number of advantages of DAS. However, the first benefits of DAS include low cost and ease . Since it doesn't need components of network storage systems like routers, switches and appropriate cabling and connections. the disadvantage of DAS is that it's not accessible by multiple user groups and just one user at a time is allowed.

DAS is that the most elementary level of storage. The storage devices are a part of the host computer or directly connected to one server, during which the workstation must access the server so as to attach to the memory device . On the other side, NAS and SAN are connected to workstation and servers over a network. within the DAS, if the server is down or experiencing problems, users can't store and access data. Surveillance images can't be retrieved or stored. If the organization grows and wishes new servers, storage for every server must be administered separately.

NAS (Network Attached Storage):

NAS may be a sort of file memory device that connects to a network. NAS devices, which usually don't have a keyboard or display, provide Local Area Network (LAN) nodes with file storage through a typical Ethernet connection. In fact, NAS employs an Ethernet connection for sharing files over the network.

Each NAS on the LAN acts as an independent network node which has its own IP address. Since the NAS device has an IP address, it'll be accessible over the network via that IP address. NAS devices are often built with single drive or multiple drives. The latter provides higher capacity and greater data protection.

The existence of multiple computers on the network, may be a candidate for employing a network attached storage (NAS) device. Some NAS servers are just used for backing up and sharing files across the network, while others can do more tasks, like sharing a printer among the networked PCs, acting as a media streamer or maybe a closed-circuit television by supporting IP cameras.

NAS has benefits like good reading and writing performance, good data redundancy and protection options, offering security via encoding , sharing files, backing up data from Windows, Mac, and possibly Linux machines and offering some cloud service for storage and backup.

The application of NAS in homes is storing and serving multimedia files and automatic backup. as an example , many smart TVs use NAS to supply centralized storage. If a NAS device features a server mode, it also can act as an email, multimedia, database or print server for alittle business. In enterprise level, a NAS array are often used as a backup for archiving and recovery. Also, some NAS products can hold enough disks to support RAID for greater data protection.

For those systems that has got to store an outsized amount of videos/images for several days, NAS may be a good option. Network-Attached Storage comprised of both hard disks and management software. NAS serves files over a network. As a result, NAS relieves the server of storage and file serving responsibilities and provides more flexibility in data access, due to its independence.

SAN (Storage Area Network):

A cargo area Network (SAN) may be a secure high-speed data transfer network during which storage devices can access to multiple servers. it's a high-performance storage network that transfers data between servers and storage devices break away local area network. SAN is usually used where larger areas of high-speed storage and fast input-output space is required.

In contrast to DAS or NAS, which are optimized for data sharing at the primary level, the strength of the SAN lies in its ability to maneuver large blocks of knowledge . this is often so important for Band-Width intensive applications like IP/Megapixel camera system recording. It provides block-level storage, meaning that when a number wants to access a memory device , it sends a block-based access request for that memory device . SAN storage devices include disk-based devices like RAID.

SAN implementation which is in two following types, results in consistent and secure data transferring. counting on what type is employed , differing types of cabling, protocols and routing equipment are used.

Fiber channel (FC): Storage and servers are connected through a high-speed network of unified fiber channel switches. this is often used for mission-critical applications where continuous data access is required. Fiber channel provides data retrieval speed quite 5 Gbps.

Internet Small computing system Interface (ISCSI) Protocol: SCSI may be a standard wont to communicate between servers and storage devices. By this infrastructure, the pliability of a low-cost IP network is achieved. In a SAN network, data transferring from one storage to a different is conducted without or with minimal server intervention. SAN provides dynamic failover protection which suggests if a server fails or goes offline for maintenance, network operation continues. Also, additional capacity are often added to SAN as needed . These, are the benefits of SAN. the most disadvantages of SANs are cost and complexity. Because SAN hardware is dear and also building and managing a SAN, require a special skill set.

The distributed architecture of SAN enables it to supply higher level of performance and reliability. SANs provide fast data transfer while reducing latency and server workload.

VSA (Virtual Storage Appliance):

Virtual Storage Appliance (VSA) may be a storage controller which runs on a virtual machine to make a shared storage without the necessity of additional hardware. It presents either file-level or block-level storage to the network.

VSA isn't a connected physical device to any specific hardware. It uses the host system's local disk for storage as a virtual disk or it can access to local physical drives directly. In fact, the VSA creates a virtual memory area almost like networked storage by incorporating direct-attached capacity on each physical host. Small businesses that require redundancy and high availability for shared storage and also large enterprises which transfer data between various arrays, are good usage candidates for the virtual memory appliance.

The differences between NAS, SAN and DAS:

NAS differs from a SAN within the way they distribute storage to other devices, meaning that the most difference between these two, is access protocols. NAS supports data storage under CIFS and NFS protocols (file-level), while access protocols in SAN are ISCSI and Fiber channel (block level).

On the opposite hand, it's going to seem, DAS is quicker than the other storage methods. Since it needs data transferring over the network, while all data transferring are going to be occurred on a fanatical connection between the server and therefore the memory device . However, thanks to high speed connection of fiber channel, in some cases SAN presents faster speed compared to hurry provided by DAS. Also, Since SAN separates storage from the servers and incorporates them during a place where it are often accessed by any application, it provides better flexibility, availability and storage performance compared to DAS for giant organization. So, thanks to the improved storage performance of SAN, organizations won't need additional storage hardware, which saves money, although SAN hardware are often costly. Moreover, separating memory device from the servers, allows computing resources on the servers to perform other tasks not associated with storage.

On the opposite hand, the difference between DAS and Network Attached Storage (NAS) is that a DAS device connects on to a server without a network connection. DAS gives good performance, but there are limitations just like the number of servers which will access thereto . Also DAS storage has got to be almost the server within the same rack. The advantage of NAS over DAS is that it simplifies file sharing among multiple users. the most difference is about how the pc or the server treats a specific storage. If the server's processor is liable for managing the attached storage, it'll be some sort of DAS and if the pc or the server treats the attached storage as another computer, which shares its data through the network, then it's a NAS.  UCSD storage