Abstract

The only near-certainty for data storage is that you will need more tomorrow than you do today. Nearly every wave of computer owner can say that there was a time when they thought that XXX MB / GB / TB was more than enough and that they didn't see a great need to worry about growing much larger - and these tales invariably come out as they are installing their newest generation of disk drive...

The current excitement revolves around "networked storage". Just what is networked storage, and why is it significant?

This talk will focus on networked storage and the consolidation strategies of SAN, NAS and iSCSI. "Networked" may be the moniker, but "shared", "reliable", "manageable", "available" are the real goals of networked storage. By consolidating storage platforms, organizations are looking to provide a resource that more than meets the capabilities of direct attach disks.

Part of this tale includes the evolution of storage from direct attach disks to RAID subsystems. Why is it that "data center" quality storage does not cost the same as "consumer grade"? For those that are looking to move to networked storage, some key information is - what is the difference between NAS and SAN besides the ordering of the letters in their acronyms? What is the same? And what factors become significant when considering implementing them?

Finally onto iSCSI - what is it, and how does it fit into the mix of products on the market?

I know it's true for me, and George Carlin probably had it right - that all you need in life, is a little place for your stuff, ya know?

Biography

Steve Tylock began administering Sun systems at the University of Buffalo before the SPARC architecture was born. He has managed research, product development, manufacturing, office, and consulting environments in roles of individual contributor through director. Steve is a member of SAGE, the System Administrators Guild and co-founder of GVSAGE (www.gvsage.org) the Genesee Valley SAGE-local organization. He has had several articles published in ;Login: the magazine of USENIX  &  SAGE. He is currently a sales architect with Lynx Technologies, a WNY reseller specializing in data storage.