Are Storage Area Networks Still your Best Option?

 
Do you or your company have a large amount of data transfers? Then a Storage Area Network or SAN may be beneficial to you, but is that your only or best option for your business? Although many know what a storage area network is, many didn’t realize that cloud computing has been giving SAN’s a run for their money. SAN is a local area network designed for a larger amount of data transfers, making it more secure, more reliable and for a smaller cost. SAN’s uses can range and create storage for devices such as disk arrays, tape libraries and optical jukeboxes. SAN’s typically have their own network of storage and is not accessible through local area networks by any other device. Some of the benefits include the following:

• Simplifies storage administration
• Allows servers to boot from SAN itself
• Enables effective disaster recovery processes.

You may be surprised to find out that SAN’s aren’t just being used in businesses but also in the media and entertainment world, due to high data transfers with low latency. Since 2000, SAN network costs have dropped significantly, allowing smaller companies to be able to invest into a SAN.

Although many rely on a storage area network, with the growth of cloud computing some are beginning to question if cloud computing will kill SAN networks. For example a vendor for major server and storage systems allow storage to now directly connect to its blade servers which could potentially make storage networks unnecessary. They put and purchase the servers and storage together which converges everything together. To date many have relied on the typical storage area network for their storage growth needs, but it is interesting to see the growth of cloud computing as well. Whether or not your company is Team SAN or Team Cloud, you can’t ignore the fact that there is tight competition, but comforting to know that both can potentially save your business money while creating a safer and secure system.