Comparison between SAN and NAS

Full form
1. SAN stands for Storage Area Network
2. NAS stands for Network Attached Storage
Data identification
1. In SAN (Storage Area Network), data is identified by disk block
2. In NAS (Network Attached Storage), data is identified by file name as well as byte offset
File system management
1. In SAN (Storage Area Network), file system is managed by servers
2. In NAS (Network Attached Storage), file system is managed by Head unit
Cost
1. SAN (Storage Area Network) is more costly
2. NAS (Network Attached Storage) is less expensive than SAN
Complexity
1. SAN(Storage Area Network) is more complex than NAS
2. NAS (Network Attached Storage) is less complex than SAN
Protocols used
1. Protocols used in SAN are: SCSI, SATA etc
2. Protocols used in NAS are: File server,CIFS etc
Backup and recovery
1. For backups and recovery in SAN, Block by block copying technique is used
2. For backups and recovery in NAS, Files are used
Performance
1. SAN gives high performance in high speed traffic systems
2. While NAS is not suitable for that environment which has high speed traffic
Organizing and controlling
1. SAN needs more time and efforts in organizing and controlling
2. NAS is easy to manage and provides a simple interface for organizing and controlling
Dependence
1. SAN needs TCP/IP networks and depends on the LAN
2. NAS not depends on the LAN and uses high speed fiber channel network
SAN
NAS

Resource summary

	Created by AMRIT SEN about 2 years ago