Ground Rules

In order to ensure the productivity of our training, we will

need to be
- Punctual
- Put mobile on vibration and do not receive calls within the
training room
- Be more interactive

Storage Basics

Storage Basics

Lesson Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you will be able to
Have overview of a Storage network.
Differentiate between a DAS, SAN & NAS
Identify features and benefits of each
Have overview of Fibre Channel protocol
List SAN components
Define different SAN topologies

Storage Basics

Disk Storage Subsystem

Hard Disk
Controller
Bus

Storage Basics

Channels
Traditional host to storage communication used

Parallel Transport like SCSI & ESCON.

High performance
Low protocol overhead
Static configuration
Short distances

Connectivity is limited to a single host

Storage Basics

Networks
Use Serial Transport
More flexible
Provide greater distance capabilities
Provide shared connectivity between host systems
Support heterogeneous protocols

Storage Basics

DAS - Direct attached storage

The most familiar form of storage.
This offers high performance.
Runs on various versions of SCSI and newer
standards like eSATA
Access Devices like Hard disks, tape drives
& Robotic controls in a Tape library
Now expanding to USB based connections

Storage Basics

SAN Whats different

Uses a network to create a shared pool of storage
devices.
Allows sharing data between different network servers.
Provides a fast connection medium for data backup,
restoration, archiving and retrieval.
Network allows the devices to be connected over long
distances.

Storage Basics

SAN Storage Area Networks

SAN is a collection of computers and storage devices,

connected over a high-speed optical network and dedicate
the task of storing and protecting data.
SAN devices use optical fiber or bus based access topologi
for very fast disks connected directly through special netw
and special network cards.
The disks used are typically SCSI or Fiber Channel
disks.
These solutions are required for critical response
solutions.

Storage Basics

A Comparison

Storage Basics

Fiber vs Fibre
The word fibre is used to describe the fiber optic cables
used in a SAN.
To differentiate them from the optical cables used in other
networks, such as the Ethernet.
Also, the protocol used in a SAN is called Fibre Channel.

Storage Basics

Fibre Channel - why and how?

Increase in the number of servers and storage devices.
Network like flexibility, channel-like reliability and
performance.
The SCSI driver is well implemented in all operating
system.
SCSI commands are mapped to Fibre Channel constructs,
then encapsulated and transported within Fibre Channel
frames.
This allows the SCSI protocol to be used over a Fibre
Channel network.

Storage Basics

Fibre Channel features

Initiator arbitrates for access before transmitting, this
ensures channel-like access to target.
All SCSI commands and user data is sent over 2112 byte
Fibre Channel payload frames.
An open standard (IEEE T11 committee)
Low latency: Less than 2 micro second latency input port
to output port of FC

Storage Basics

Fibre Channel features

Connectivity: Thousands of devices per fabric (network)
Performance: Current speeds: 1 and 2 Gbit/sec (100 and
200 MBytes/sec), 4 Gbit/sec & 10 Gbit/sec (400MBytes/sec
and 1 GBytes/sec) just released.
Long distance: Up to 10KM distance, even longer with
extenders.
Heterogeneous systems support - UNIX, Windows etc.

Storage Basics

SAN components
Host Bus Adapter (HBA)
Fiber/Copper Cabling
Hub
Fibre Channel or IP Switch
Multi-protocol Gateway or Router
Storage Array
Management System

Storage Basics

FC Connectors
SC (Standard Connector)
LC (Lucent Connector)

Storage Basics

FC (HBAs) Host Bus Adapters

Provides an Interface between the Servers or
Workstations Internal Bus (e.g.PCI or SBUS) and Fibre
Channel network.
HBA software driver provides the storage information
required by the Operating System.
Handles I/O and Control requests.
Copper/Optical media support.
May be dual port cards.

Storage Basics

Nodes
A device e.g.server or storage with a Fibre Channel
Interface is called a Node.
The Fibre Channel ports on that Device are called Ports.
Each Port has a Transmit Fibre and a Receive Fibre
In other words SAN is a collection of nodes attached to
each other using a device called as a switch.
Nodes can be an Initiator (HBA) or a Target (Storage)

Storage Basics

SAN Fabric
Fabric is a term used to describe a generic switching
environment.
It can consists one or more interconnected switches
(domains) One Fibre Channel Switch = One Fabric
Domain
Maximum of 239 domains in a single Fabric.
Identifiers are Domain ID and Worldwide Name (WWN)

Storage Basics

SAN Topology
Point-to-point - Direct-connect a server to storage
Arbitrated loop (FC-AL) - Server to hub to storage
Switched fabric (FC-SW) - Server to switch to
storage

Storage Basics

Zoning
Soft zoning: Zone by World Wide Name
Flexibility
Reconfiguration
Troubleshooting

Hard zoning: Zone by physical switch port

More Secure
Simplified HBA replacement

Storage Basics

NAS Network-Attached Storage

File Server + Networked Storage = NAS
Use existing LAN/WAN
Attach directly to the network and allow file based
access to large amounts of fast storage.
Use standard File sharing protocols NFS, CIFS etc.
Throughput depends on LAN/WAN infrastructure &
client machines.

Storage Basics

NAS

Client Application

Built on the concept of shared

storage on a Local Area

Network

Application

Application

Windows Client

Network

Leverages the benefits of a

network file server and

network storage

Utilizes industry-standard

network and file sharing

protocols

File Server + Network-attached storage = NAS

Storage Basics

NAS Advantages
Highest availability

Firewall
Internal
Network

Scales for growth

S1

Internet

Avoids file replication

Increases flexibility
Reduces complexity
Improves security
Costs

S2
.
.
.
.

Sn

NAS

Data Center

Storage Basics

NAS

Client Application

Built on the concept of shared

storage on a Local Area

Network

Application

Application

Windows Client

Network

Leverages the benefits of a

network file server and

network storage

Utilizes industry-standard

network and file sharing

protocols

File Server + Network-attached storage = NAS

Storage Basics

NAS Operations
All I/O operations use file level I/O
protocols

NAS
Application

No awareness of disk volumes or disk

sectors
IP Network

File system is mounted remotely using a

network file access protocol, such as:
-Network File System (NFS)
-Common Internet File System(CIFS)

I/O is redirected to remote system

Utilizes mature data transport (e.g.,
TCP/IP) and media access protocols
NAS device assumes responsibility for
organizing data (R/W) on disk and
managing cache

NAS Device
Direct
Attach

OR

Disk

SAN

Storage Basics

Summary
You have learned
The various types of Storage
Advantages of FC SAN over traditional SCSI storage
Components and Terms used in a SAN & NAS.