Storage Networking & Information Management Primer

Storage Networking & Information Management Primer

This section of the SNIA Education website contains information about the technologies around networked storage and managed information. From NAS and SAN to content-addressable storage, from file area networks to security to the basics on disk and tape, this material will be a helpful primer to gain an understanding on the tools and solutions for today's storage challenges.

These selections come from leading authors and SNIA contributors, and in some cases are official SNIA technical tutorials, produced in SNIA vendor-neutral fashion. SNIA does not claim that each article is forever accurate, current, or represents a complete picture on every technology. Each author's opinions and observations do not necessarily represent a SNIA architecture or technical recommendation. However, there are other resources to consult, and there are more advanced training opportunities--including SNIA-endorsed storage certification courses--that will help in greater discernment. These articles are included, however, in that they represent significant contributions from some of the leading technologists in our industry.

Note: The materials for this primer are copyrighted by either SNIA or the original publishers, and there are significant restrictions on their use, republication, or copying in any form. Please consult each article for the relevant copyright information; in some cases, helpful links are provided so that you can purchase an entire text from an author.

Primer Contents

1. What Storage Networking Is and What It Can Mean to You

from Storage Area Network Essentials: A Complete Guide to Understanding and Implementing SANs

This chapter discusses introductory subjects such as:

What a storage area network is
What properties a storage area network must have, should have, and may have
The importance of software to storage area networks
Information processing capabilities enabled by storage area networks

To purchase the entire book from which this chapter is taken, please click here to purchase at Amazon.com.

2. Storage Devices: Disk and Tape

Reproduced from the book Storage Networking Fundamentals: An Introduction to Storage Devices, Subsystems, Applications, Management, and File Systems

Author: Marc Farley, Publisher: Cisco Press, ISBN: 1587051621. Copyright© 2005, Cisco Systems, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., 800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46240. Written permission from Pearson Education, Inc. is required for all other uses.

Storage devices perform the fundamental function of storage networks, which is the reading and writing of data stored on nonvolatile media. They operate in the microscopic realm, combining advanced magnetic physics, chemistry, and electronics. Demands to increase capacity and performance continue to force the industry to conduct fundamental scientific research on the microscopic characteristics of materials. This chapter mostly examines disk drive technology as the device that is used tar more than any other. Tape drives are looked at at the end of the chapter.

To purchase the entire book from which this chapter is taken, please click here to purchase at Amazon.com.

3. The SNIA Shared Storage Model

A helpful guide to understand the various components in a networked storage environment. Useful in understanding terminology and how various components interact in the storage infrastructure. A series of SNIA tutorials.