All Things About SAN Storage and its Benefits for a Business

A suitable storage solution is integral to a business’s productivity and success. Through such solutions, small to large companies can simplify data management, back up, improve application availability and safeguard their data from unforeseen events. When it comes to the enterprise level, there are three types of storage options available: direct-attached storage (DAS), network-attached storage (NAS), and storage area networks (SAN). 

Out of three, SAN storage is quite famous regarding performance. SANs have been a choice of large companies for the longest time, but now small companies are also implementing these solutions. All accredit to decreasing implementation costs decreasing and increasing storage demands, which makes SAN an ideal option. 

What is SAN Storage?

A Storage Area Network (SAN) is a high-speed, dedicated network or group of storage devices. It interconnects and links various storage systems to different servers. The purpose of SAN is to facilitate communication between computer systems and among them by connecting a storage pool through SAN switches. The storage pool then gets controlled by admins. 

How Good is SAN Storage for Businesses? 

Storage Area Network assists businesses manage their data effectively, helping them so they can utilize them for their growth. SANs are available on their storage system at their disposal all the time for them to access and store and retrieve data according to their needs. 

Here are some ways Storage area networks help businesses. 

• Efficient Systems: The Storage Area Network (SAN) provides a robust and efficient storage system for managing multiple servers, allowing employees to access data according to their needs. Also, SAN systems are enduring and can withstand hardware failure.
• Optimal Data Storage: SAN can be tailored to specific business needs. Storage Area Network uses advanced technology and features to ensure your data is safely stored and managed.
• Uniform Data Distribution: The data facilities are disturbed uniformly across the organization and connect devices. Doing so creates a centralized hub, which considerably cuts ownership costs and helps you save resources.  
• Optimum Data Security: The SAN Admin has an access control list mentioned in the SAN switch that allows them to provide access to authenticated users. As a result, the security of SAN storage gets assured. 
• Quick Disaster Recovery: SAN can link storage systems to many locations. It helps ease the recovery process, knowing that it’s there and can be accessed through multiple sites. In case of a catastrophe, this feature of SAN is really beneficial. 
• Accessibility at Ease: SAN storage employs data protection algorithms to keep data maintained and accessible. So whenever you need data, you can access it. 
• Easy backup: With SAN storage, businesses can quickly create exact and multiple hardware-based copies of data. Doing so helps them to have a backup of large amounts of data in no time.

Benefits of SAN storage 

• Highly scalable: The best part about SAN storage is they are scalable to businesses evolving needs. If you need more storage, you add more anytime and as required. That way, you will have enough storage for your needs.
• Backup: Data backup is always a major concern for many businesses. Using SAN, you only require a single backup server for data that you can spread around different storage locations. 
• Reduces Bandwidth Issues: LAN-based storage systems often suffer from bandwidth issues, owing to the network traffic caused by large chunks of data transfer. In the case of SAN, most traffic gets managed by itself. As a result, the performance of LAN improves for other tasks. 
• Data Security: In SAN, data protection algorithms work round the clock. So whenever you need data, you can access accurate copies of it. Additionally, even if the LAN network gets compromised due to any malware attack, your data is still secure because it has been stored on a separate network.
• Disaster Recovery: With data being stored in a centralized hub, it can be easily copied to a separate device and stored in a different location. And, when needed (in case of any disaster or accident), you can recover the data. 

Storage Area Network and the Cloud Integration: 

SAN can connect a large number of servers to storage. This feature is valued highly for Cloud technology. SAN systems are hosted by the company’s servers, whereas Cloud by internet servers to virtually store the data. So by combining virtual servers, companies can expand their storage capacities beyond their infrastructural capacity without investing significant amounts. 

If you are a small business and unable to invest in the additional infrastructure, you can employ a hybrid storage approach using Cloud and SAN. 

Conclusion: 

SAN storage is the best resource businesses can utilize for data management. Although the upfront cost associated with setting up SAN is significantly high, the solutions are much more secure, organized, and accessible, making them a highly resourceful data storage solution. Storage Area Network helps businesses easily streamline their operation. So they can focus on the other aspects of the work and scale.