NAS Vs SAN
NAS – Network Attached
Storage:
1. Any machine that can connect to the LAN can use NFS, CIFS or HTTP protocol to connect to a NAS and share files.
2. A NAS identifies data by file name.
3. NAS allows greated sharing of information between disperate Operating systems such as Unix and NT.
4. File System handled by NAS head unit.
5. Backups and mirrors are done on files and not on blocks for savings in bandwidth and time.
SAN – Storage Area Network:
1. Only server class devices with SCSI Fiber channel can connect to the SAN.
2. SAN address data by disk block number and transfer raw disk blocks.
3. File sharing is operating system dependent and does not exist in many Operating systems.
4. File system handled by servers.
5. Backups and mirrors requires a block by block copy even if the block is empty.
Types of networks supported
NAS uses TCP/IP Networks: Ethernet, FDDI, ATM (perhaps TCP/IP over Fiber Channel someday)
SAN uses Fiber Channel
The Protocols
NAS uses TCP/IP and NFS/CIFS/HTTP
SAN uses Encapsulated SCSI
1. Any machine that can connect to the LAN can use NFS, CIFS or HTTP protocol to connect to a NAS and share files.
2. A NAS identifies data by file name.
3. NAS allows greated sharing of information between disperate Operating systems such as Unix and NT.
4. File System handled by NAS head unit.
5. Backups and mirrors are done on files and not on blocks for savings in bandwidth and time.
SAN – Storage Area Network:
1. Only server class devices with SCSI Fiber channel can connect to the SAN.
2. SAN address data by disk block number and transfer raw disk blocks.
3. File sharing is operating system dependent and does not exist in many Operating systems.
4. File system handled by servers.
5. Backups and mirrors requires a block by block copy even if the block is empty.
Types of networks supported
NAS uses TCP/IP Networks: Ethernet, FDDI, ATM (perhaps TCP/IP over Fiber Channel someday)
SAN uses Fiber Channel
The Protocols
NAS uses TCP/IP and NFS/CIFS/HTTP
SAN uses Encapsulated SCSI