IP SANS

Today's enterprises face unprecedented data storage and availability requirements. To meet these needs, they are increasingly turning to Storage Area Networks (SANs). Now, even more promising IP-based SANs are arriving, combining the advantages of SAN architecture with the familiarity and value of IP-based networking. Leading SAN expert Tom Clark surveys these emerging products, helping decision-makers understand the key issues, protocols, technologies, and applications. He begins with an overview of today's enterprise storage challenges and reviews existing approaches, including Fibre Channel, SCSI; and network-attached-storage solutions. He then introduces IP from the perspective of the storage professional. Clark reviews supporting technologies such as TCP offload engines; and presents in-depth coverage of security, including VLANs, encryption, and authentication. Case studies present IP SANs at work in server clustering, backup, storage consolidation, disaster recovery, and both metropolitan and wide-area IP storage networks. The book concludes with a developmental roadmap reflecting key advances such as 10 Gb Ethernet and Infiniband.