How do the leading storage area networking technologies measure up?
Despite a slowdown in IT spending, organisations have continued to create more data than they delete and as a result their storage needs have increased. Most enterprises, government departments and public sector bodies work to maximise value from their data, and one way of achieving this is by networking storage. Gone are the days when information was created and stored on a direct-attached server; today information is stored on storage area networks (Sans) in order for tens, hundreds or even thousands of users to store, access and share data. Throughout 2005 the networked storage market has seen the leading technologies consolidate their positions, and three in particular dominated the headlines: 4gbps (gigabits per second) Fibre Channel, Serial ATA and Serial Attached SCSI.
