SAN Full Form

SAN Full Form

Team Careers360Updated on 05 Jan 2023, 04:18 PM IST

What is the Full Form of SAN?

SAN stands for Storage Area Network.Storage Area Network (SAN) is a high-speed network that interconnects different data storage devices with associated servers and other computing devices, providing a shared pool of space for storage.

Features Of San

  • SAN uses block-level data access.

  • The computer sees SAN as its own storage.

  • The computers on the SAN network can access the information/data just like the local disks that are directly connected to the computer

  • SAN is connected by using fibre channels, resulting in excellent speed and performance.

  • This purpose is accomplished using different types of virtualization.


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Figure: Storage Area Network

Importance of SAN

  • Most organizations today have moved to SAN because traditional computer memory and storage do not serve all the purposes required such as protection, security, speed, or multi-user access.

  • SAN has made organizations handle better data management and increased data efficiency.

  • With the assistance of SAN, people across multiple locations share a common storage centre.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Why is the Storage Area Network (SAN) required?
A:

The only thing it does is transfer storage data traffic between servers and storage pools.

Q: What is the transmission medium used in SAN?
A:

SAN is used to store the computer’s data by connecting it through means of fibre channels, it acts as a storage space.

Q: What is the range of the SAN network?
A:

Fibre Channel is a high-speed network offering data rates up to 128 Gbps across metropolitan areas. It can cover up to about 6 miles or 10 km when optical fibre cabling and interfaces are used.

Q: Where does SAN serves its best purpose?
A:

Storage area networks are mostly used in support of business-critical, performance-sensitive applications such as Oracle databases.

Q: Why is SAN additionally called block storage?
A:

Storage area network refers to block-level-based storage accessible over a network. SAN uses a similar type of abstraction as a hard drive where blocks of data can be read or written at a specific location, which is why it is called block-based storage.