Understanding the Basics of Storage Area Network & Network Attached Server

When it comes to advanced storage center technology – file level storage and block level storage are two of the most popular technologies currently in use. It is in a Network Attached Storage or NAS in which file level storage solutions are deployed. On the other hand block level storage is deployed in a storage area network. File level storage is normally used in hard drive storage systems and NAS systems and the storage disc is actually configured using SMB/CIFS or NFS protocol for bulk access to the stored files.

On the other hand, for block level storage raw storage volumes are created in a network storage device and each of these blocks can be controlled and accessed as individual hard drives. With the arrival of these storage solutions – network attached storage has come up as the best way of storing huge amount of corporate data. As a matter of fact, both network attached storage (NAS) and storage area network (SAN) can store and also share the stored resources among a number of processing systems and thus essentially improves work efficiency and also data management. These advanced network storage server technology also allow faster data access due to its ability of multiplatform data sharing regardless of the operating system or the platforms those are being used.

The basic difference between Network Attached Storage and Storage Area Network is that NAS sits between any file system and the application server and is actually a specific product or network storage device. On the other hand SAN refers to an architecture that has its own network for the purpose of connecting all servers and storage devices within that network. As an advanced data storage solution SAN is capable of all types of connectivity related problems among the servers and the storage devices. It also offers a number of new approaches to data storage like heterogeneous data sharing, disk pooling and off the network or server less data restoration and back up. By creating a secondary network a storage area network relieves the primary network from loads of huge data transfer for the back up traffic that it generates take place only between the between the storage devices within the network.

Compared to this Network Attached Storage allow system administrators to add storage to the network without taking it down and because of its file-system agnostic nature clients using different operating systems can also access and share the same information at the same time. A network storage device also has the ability of sharing data instances to different application servers for collaborative cross platform capability. Both of these enterprise storage solutions have been of great advantage for modern day enterprises and corporate houses. This is because of the fact that a storage area network can bring down storage management expenditure almost by half and both these enterprise storage solutions are also extremely easy to manage and can also be customized for specific file serving requirements.

About the Author

Reyna Adams is considered to be an authority when it comes to network storage server and solutions and likes to share his experiences from the field in the many informative articles that he writes on the topic. He recommends Digiliant.com as the best place to find high storage area network solutions and devices for all kinds of needs.