Introduction to SAN (Storage Area Network) Technology 

A SAN, Storage Area Network (SAN), is a high-speed subnetwork of shared storage devices. A storage device is a machine that contains nothing but a disk or disks for storing data. A SAN's architecture works in a way that makes all storage devices available to all servers on a LAN or WAN. As more storage devices are added to a SAN, they too will be accessible from any server in the larger network. In this case, the server merely acts as a pathway between the end user and the stored data. Because stored data does not reside directly on any of a network's servers, server power is utilized for business applications, and network capacity is released to the end user.

SAN is defined as an alternate network built out of storage interfaces. a SAN is a collection of networked storage devices, such as server hard drives, tape libraries, RAID, and CD jukeboxes that are able to communicate with each other automatically.

If you need to store and manage growing amounts of data more efficiently, while simultaneously cutting operational and management costs, a SAN will help you do that as it.

SANs can offer up to 2Gbps bandwidth, allowing for speedy backup and recovery.

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