DAS NAS SAN

Storage shared
sectors blocks
Type files
Data
TCP/IP, Fibre
Transmissio IDE/SCSI
Ethernet Channel
n
clients clients
Access
or or servers
Mode
servers servers
Capacity
109 109 - 1012 1012
(bytes)
Moderat
Complexity Easy Difficult
e
Management Moderat
DAS NAS FC-SAN

clients

servers

FC
Switch

storage

2
Storage Area Network (SAN)
A Storage Area Network (SAN) is a
specialized, dedicated high speed network
joining servers and storage, including
disks, disk arrays, tapes, etc.
Storage (data store) is separated from the
processors (and separated processing).
High capacity, high availability, high
scalability, ease of configuration, ease of
reconfiguration.
Fiber Channel is the de facto SAN
networking architecture, although other
network standards could be used. 3
 SAN Benefits
Storage consolidation
Data sharing
Non-disruptive scalability for growth
Improved backup and recovery
Tape pooling
LAN-free and server-free data movement
High performance
High availability server clustering
Data integrity
Disaster tolerance
Ease of data migration
Cost-effectives (total cost of ownership)

4
 FC Standard ANSI T11
T11 (technical committee) has been
producing interface standards for high-
performance and mass storage
applications since the 1970s.
http://www.t11.org/index.htm
Designed to transport multiple protocols,
such as HIPPI, IPI, SCSI, IP, Ethernet, etc.
Full duplex medium
Channels are established between the
originator and the responder.
Transfer rate from 100MB/s to Gigabits/s
Distance >10 km (single mode fiber)
Multi-layer stack functions (not mapped to
the OSI model) 5
 FC Naming and Addressing
Each node normally has one physical interface ,
known as N_Port.
Each node has an 8-byte node name.
Assigned by manufacturer
If registered with IEEE, it is known as World Wide Name.
N_Port ID: 24-bit port address
An N_Port has a point-to-point connection with
another N_Port.
An N-Port may be attached to a fabric port,
F_port.
Connection between fabric switches is via
expansion ports, E_ports.
A switch port, if configured for either one, is a
generic port, G_Port.
6
 FC Port Naming

Fiber Channel Fiber Channel Fiber Channel Fiber Channel

Host Switch Switch Stores

N-Port F-Port E-Port E-Port F-Port N-Port

Node port, fabric port, expansion port, generic port

 SAN Topologies

Fibre Channel based networks

support three types of topologies:
Point-to-point
Loop (arbitrated) shared media
Switched

8
 FC - Point-to-Point

The point-to-point topology is the easiest

Fibre Channel configuration to implement,
and it is also the easiest to administer.
The distance between nodes can be up to
10 km
9
Data Access over FC

Data Data
SCSI SCSI
FC FC

10
 Arbitrated Loop
Shared Media Transport
Similar in concept to shared Ethernet
Not common for FC-based SAN
Commonly used for JBOD (Just a
Bunch of Disks)
An arbitration protocol determines
who can access the media.
ARB primitive

11
Arbitrated Loop (Daisy
Chain)
Rx
Tx

Tx
Rx

Tx
Rx

Tx Rx

12
FC Arbitrated Loop (FC Hub)

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 FC Switched SAN

Servers

Fiber Channel
Switch

Clients Fiber Channel

Stores

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 Fibre Channel
Latest FC
implementati
ons support
8Gb/s
 Fibre Channel

a high-speed
network technology
that runs on high-
speed optical fiber
cables (for front-end
SAN connectivity)
FC SAN Evolution
 Components of SAN
three basic components:
servers,
network infrastructure, and
storage,
can be further broken down into the
following key elements:
node ports,
cabling,
interconnecting devices (such as FC
switches or hubs),
storage arrays, and
SAN management software
 Components of SAN:
Node ports
Examples of nodes
Hosts, storage and tape library
Ports are available on:
HBA in host Front-end adapters in storage
Each port has transmit (Tx) link and receive
(Rx) link
HBAs perform low-
level interface
functions
automatically to
minimize impact on
 Components of SAN:
Cabling
Copper cables for short distance
Optical fiber cables for long distance
Single-mode
Can carry single beams of light
Distance up to 10 KM
Multi-mode
Can carry multiple beams of light
simultaneously
Distance up to 500 meters
 Components of SAN:
Interconnecting
Hubs devices
Switches and
Directors