SAN V/s NAS

SAN V/s NAS

1. SAN

   • Storage Attached Network
     • Benefits
       • Extremely fast data access
       • Dedicated network for storage relieves stress on LAN
       • Highly expandable
       • OS level (block level) access to files
       • High quality-of-service for demanding applications such as video editing
   • Typically used in professional and enterprise environments
   • More expensive
   • Requires more administration
   • Servers access data as if it were a local hard drive (blocks)
   • Network architecture enables admins to scale both performance and capacity as needed
   • Works with virtualization
   • Requires architectural changes
   • Fault tolerant network with redundant functionality

2. NAS

   • Network Attached Storage
   • Benefits
     • Relatively inexpensive
     • 24/7 and remote data availability
     • Good expandability
     • Redundant storage architecture
     • Automatic backups to other devices and cloud
     • Flexibility
   • Typically used in homes and small to medium sized businesses
   • Less expensive
   • Easier to manage
   • Data accessed as if it were a network-attached drive (files)
   • Lower-end not highly scalable; high-end NAS scale to petabytes using clusters or scale-out nodes
   • Does not work with virtualization
   • Requires no architectural changes
   • Entry level systems often have a single point of failure, e.g. power supply