SAN Solution Installation Guide

Topologies and Components
Storage Area Network
Chapter 1 1-3
Storage Area Network
Storage Area Networks (SANs) are evolving due to the maturation of
newer storage interconnect technologies like Fibre Channel. A SAN is a
shared storage repository that consists of three basic components:
• An interface (for example, SCSI or Fibre Channel)
• Interconnects (switches, bridges, routers, or hubs)
• A protocol (for example, IP or SCSI) that controls traffic over the
access paths that connect the nodes.
These three components, plus the attached storage devices and servers,
form an independent storage area network. The I/O channel operates on
the backend of the server, via a host bus adapter (HBA), making file
access and data transfers independent of the LAN.