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Data Storage Solutions Data Storage (aka Place of Data) defines where and how much data resides in the organization and in what fashion. It should also answer on why data is stored in certain inventory points, how many of these are there and what is their physical location. Typical solutions in this area are:
- DAS solutions
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Technically not really considered a solution but more a starting point. Directly Attached Storage or DAS was a popular deployment strategy in the early days of client-server based computing in workgroup environments. In this Scenario, storage (in most cases a JBOD - just a bunch of disks) is directly attached to the server(s) and typically connected via the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI - pronounced Skuzzy). Due to the inherent distance, management and capacity allocation restrictions of this particular “solution” it has fallen out of grace and has lost popularity to solutions like SAN or NAS.
- SAN solutions
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The broad definition of a Storage Area Network, or so-called SAN, is essentially a network designated solely for storage data and all the devices attached to it that play a crucial role in this particular function. From the Tape and Disk Libraries where the data is actually stored to the switches and servers that process and present this data to other clients that in turn are connected to LAN, MAN or WANs.
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The narrow definition of a SAN is essentially a centralized pool of high performing disks arranged in array(s) and connected via (typically Fibre Channel) switches. This data is then presented to attached computing devices on a block level by mimicking the SCSI protocol and essentially emulating internal or directly attached disks to the device that uses them.
- iSCSI SAN solutions
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As previously mentioned; typical SANs are Fibre Channel (FC) based and have been rather costly to deploy due to the fact that complete new physical networks had to be implemented. Even though SANs have found their inroads in Medium to Enterprise computing environments adaptation by smaller organizations has been moderate because of this cost prohibition. In recent years a more cost effective solution, the ISCSI SANs, have emerged to capitalize on investments already made in typical networking equipment that foremost use the Ethernet and IP protocols.
- NAS solutions
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In contrast to SAN solutions, NAS deployments communicate on a higher level of the protocol stack. This makes them inherently slower but has the advantage that the data and disks actually can be shared between data movers and clients. This is typically impossible in a SAN environment (with the exception of clustered environments). NAS deployments originally also had a goal to centralize data but were designed to consolidate file servers.
- Hybrid SAN/NAS solutions
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These are solutions that combine the best of both worlds without the need for different systems. SAN disk arrays use a pool of disks with a NAS head attached which acts as a Data mover.
- Tape & VTL solutions
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Previous discussed solutions are disk-based solutions and are relatively expensive. Typical use is for primary data or tier 1 applications where speed is of the essence. Even though the price of disk storage has come down significantly in recent years, tape storage is still considered to be the most cost-effective way of storing data. Newer tape technologies also have increased access and transfer time. Virtual Tape Libraries are essentially disk based storage systems that emulate Tape Libraries for backing up purposes,so it appears to the backup application as a physical tape library.
- CAS solutions
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Content Addressable Storage really refers to disk based storage (arrays or enclosures) intended for archiving solutions that have built in intelligence on how and where to store certain data based on the type of data. These solutions use single instance storage technologies to assure that no duplicate data is stored on this archive.
- Thin Provisioning
Click here to contact Zibiz about our Data Storage solutions
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