What is the difference between a NAS and a SAN? So that is the topic of this post. So we’ll first talk about what a NAS is.
NAS stands for network attached storage. If you wanted to store data in a centralized location,
What is the difference between a NAS and a SAN? So that is the topic of this post. So we’ll first talk about what a NAS is.
NAS stands for network attached storage. If you wanted to store data in a centralized location, where it can be accessed from all of your devices on your network, you can do this by using a network attached storage device. And NAS is a storage device that is used for storing data. And it doesn’t do anything else besides storing data. Now, typically, a NAS is a box that will have multiple hard drives in a RAID configuration for redundancy.
And it also has a network interface card that will directly attach to a switch or router so that the data can be accessed over a network. Then once it’s on the network, it can be accessed from other devices, such as desktops, laptops, and servers. And it can be accessed as a shared drive.
NAS is typically used in homes. And they are also used in small to medium-sized businesses. But one of the main disadvantages with a NAS is that it has a single point of failure. So as an example, let’s say if a component fails, such as if the power supply fails on the NAS, then all of the other devices will not be able to access its data.
Now, a SAN or storage area network is a special high-speed network that stores and provides access to large amounts of data. So basically, it’s a dedicated network that’s used for data storage. And this network consists of multiple disk arrays, switches, and servers.
Because SAN has more than one of these devices, a SAN is fully tolerant. And the data is also shared among several disk arrays. So if a switch or discourage or if a server goes down, the data can still be accessed.
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