Understanding Cloud Storage Concepts
Cloud storage utilizes SAN for the virtual components used in a cloud network. A SAN is a hardware device that contains a large number of fast disks, such as Solid-State Drives (SSDs), and is isolated from the LAN as it has its own network servers. The disks are set up with some form of redundancy, such as RAID 5, so that the storage space is redundant. Each switch and storage system on the SAN must be interconnected, and the physical interconnections must support bandwidth levels that can adequately handle peak data activities. There are two connection types:
- Fiber Channel: Fast but expensive, as it needs fiber channel switches and fiber cables, which are expensive.
- iSCSi Connector: Runs Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) commands over Ethernet and can connect through normal Ethernet switches and still offer good speed. This is a much cheaper option. The servers that use SAN storage are diskless but use the SAN storage as if they...
