Storage Area Networking Tutorial Storage Types : DAS : Direct Attached Storage : Server (or host)is directly connected

to storage.

NAS : Network Attached Storage : NAS is essentially a file server which is connected to storage thru some network interface using widely supported ! protocols. N"S#$ "S are supported.

SAN : Storage Area Networking : Storage networks that connect multiple hosts through a switched fa%ric such as "i%re $hannel or iS$S .SAN is configured with multiple switches and multiple server &ost 'us Adapters (&'A) to create a high(availa%ility storage configuration and various )A D solutions are used to protect data at the disk level.

S*ND AN *+A , T- roger.smithson.gmail.com / recieve a ")** "0,, "*AT0)*D SAN Tutorial 1uide.pdf with more than 234 pages . 'oost for a $areer in Storage. Though many of 5o% hunters have good knowledge a%out DAS#NAS#SAN usually while answering some of the %asic interview 6uestions like 2. Differentiate %etween DAS(NAS(SAN 3. 7hen NAS is a %etter option than DAS 8. 7hen SAN is a %etter option than NAS 4. 7hat are the advantages / disadvantages of each of these product types (A%ove are )eal 9uestions asked in a recent interview in one of the Storage test :o% interview) Some more interview 6uestions with %rief answers

1. Name some of the SAN topologies point(topoint#ar%itrated loop# and switched fa%ric topologies 2. Whats the need for separate network for storage why LAN can not e !sed" ,AN hardware and operating systems are geared to user traffic# and ,ANs are tuned for a fast user response to messaging re6uests. 7ith a SAN# the storage units can %e secured separately from the servers and totally apart from the user network enhancing storage access in data %locks(%ulk data transfers)# advantageuos for serverless %ackups. #. What are the ad$antages of %A&D " ;)edundant Array of ne<pensive Disks= Depending on how we configure the array# we can have the ( data mirrored >)A D ?@ (duplicate copies on separate drives) ( striped >)A D 2@ (interleaved across several drives)# or ( parity protected >)A D A@(e<tra data written to identify errors). These can %e used in com%ination to delier the %alance of performance and relia%ility that the user re6uires. '. When ()*D+s are !sed " ;5ust a 'unch of Disks= t is a collection of disks that share a common connection to the server# %ut donBt include the mirroring# striping# or parity facilities that )A D systems do# %ut these capa%ilities are availa%le with host(%ased software. ,. Differentiate %A&D - ()*D " )A D: ;)edundant Array of ne<pensive Disks= "ault(tolerant grouping of disks that server sees as a single disk volume $om%ination of parity(checking# mirroring# striping Self(contained# managea%le unit of storage 5'-D: ;5ust a 'unch of Disks= Drives independently attached to the C- channel Scalea%le# %ut re6uires server to manage multiple volumes Do not provide protection in case of drive failure .. What is a /)A " &ost %us adapters (&'As) are needed to connect the server(host) to the storage.

0. What are the ad$antages of SAN " +assively e<tended scala%ility 1reatly enhanced device connectivity Storage consolidation ,AN(free %ackup Serverless (active(fa%ric) %ackup Server clustering &eterogeneous data sharing Disaster recovery ( )emote mirroring 7hile answering people do N-T portray clearly what they mean / what advantages each of them have#

which are cost effective / which are to %e used for the clientDs re6uirements. !lease focus on having your fundamentals ST)-N1 / !*)"*$T. 7rite to me roger.smithson.gmail.com to get more interview 6uestions for storage :o%s