Network Storage Server and Storage Device Solutions From Digilant

There is absolutely no doubt that both storage area network and network-attached-storage technology bring in a number of different advantages but at the same time they are also known to present a few different challenges. Implementations of both of these two types of network storage solutions can be complex and also expensive but that doesn’t mean that storage professionals will forego the benefits of fiber channel network storage server, network attached storage clusters and virtualizations as well as other network storage technologies and as companies like Digilant is now offering a complete range of these services for their corporate clients.

As network-attached storage, unified storage and also storage area network all share a common element they are capable of providing data storage facility that are not directly attached to the servers. As a matter of fact storage is actually pooled on an array of drives that can be accessed individually being absolutely independent of the servers. Though as network storage device all of them share a common element but they also differ considerably depending upon the network structure that connects the network storage device with the servers.

It seems that storage area network or SAN storage is going through a period of major change and it’s getting increasingly easier with the latest developments. SAN storage developers are required to possess extensive and in depth knowledge about LUN and LUN masking, volume concentration and sizing, RED set calculation, scripting and capacity planning for development and implementation of storage area network systems. Traditionally NAS products have always been easier for managing and provisioning compared to the storage area network technology.

Prior to the introduction of storage network technology disc directly attached with the servers were used for data storage in computing environments while an Ethernet network based upon TCP/IP protocol was used for connecting the clients with the server. But the NFS or Network File System developed by Sun Microsystems made it possible to share data over an Ethernet network this file system allows the users to access files on remote computers over a TCP/IP network and access it the same way as a local hard drive can be accessed. Compared to this any network attached storage is primarily dedicated to a subsystem of disc storages that reside on a local area network and are known to provide access to all files using CIFS or NFS protocols for Windows and Linux platforms respectively.

Both storage area network and network attached storage systems address more or less the same challenges. But the critical difference between them is that in SAN data is delivered in blocks – that makes it better suitable for transaction of large amount of data with an extremely high level of I/O performance. One of the major advantages of SAN is that it is completely independent of the local area network and also brings in a number of performance benefits regarding data storage and back up.

For any information about latest network storage device solutions and information on services offered by Digilant you can visit their website online at http://www.digiliant.com/.

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.