Things You Should Know about IP SAN vs FC SAN

Now, data has become the most valuable asset since the Internet and e-commerce are growing at an explosive rate. How to store, protect and manage vital data in an effective way is a big challenge for IT technicians. Here, SAN, storage area network, has been developed to provide a creative model for data storing in the data center. Within its development, two types of IP SAN vs FC SAN has gained enough discussion. Today, we’ll talk about IP SAN vs FC SAN.
SAN
Figure 1: SAN Diagrammatic Drawing

What Is IP SAN

From IP SAN wiki, we know it means internet protocol storage area network. It’s a SAN that uses iSCSI protocol, a transmission standard over TCP/IP, to transfer block data over an Ethernet network. IP SAN allows different servers to access pools of the shared block storage devices by storage protocols. Besides, IP storage network can be extended to Wide Area Network via IP router or Gigabit Ethernet switch, which is good for synchronous applications like remote disk copy.
Advantages:
In addition, IP SAN brings several advantages.
  • Low cost. Ethernet, switches and IP network exist almost everywhere. There’s no need to buy extra equipment for connectivity. You can use the existing network to build a SAN.
  • Easy access. The IP technology makes it easier to achieve remote storage. Also, there’s no distance limitation over LAN/WAN connectivity.
  • Competitive speed. Thanks to the advent of 10G Ethernet and 10gbe switch, the transmission bandwidth has been increased. This leads to an improvement of the overall performance.

What Is FC SAN

FC SAN is a fiber channel network in which the SCSI-FCP protocol runs. Based on fiber channel technology, technicians use fiber switch to connect the storage devices and the servers, so as to build a regional network dedicated to data storage. Within FC SAN, the data will be transferred directly at an extremely high speed.
Advantages:
As an open, high-speed serial interface, FC SAN has some advantages.
  • High transmission bandwidth. Due to the design of fiber channel, it can deliver data at 1Gb/s, 2Gb/s, 4Gb/s, 8Gb/s and more. Also, the fiber channel can provide excellent redundancy.
  • Flexibility and extensibility. FC SAN has overcome the traditional cable limits that are associated with SCSI. Thus it greatly expands the distance between servers and storage devices, in order to increase the possibility of more connections,
  • Wide application. As the technology matures, FC SAN is widely used in big IT User Base.
IP SAN VS FC SAN
Figure 2: IP SAN and FC SAN

IP SAN vs FC SAN: What Is the Difference?

Here is a table shows the differences of IP SAN vs FC SAN.
table
IP SAN vs FC SAN, IP SAN is generally regarded as the lower cost, simpler to manage than the FC SAN. FC SAN needs special hardware like fiber switches or host bus adapters, while the IP SAN just requires the existing Ethernet networking hardware. Therefore, FC SAN is the ideal storage platform for many business-critical applications. And IP SAN is the suitable choice for those organizations that want a cost-efficient solution.

Conclusion

IP SAN vs FC SAN, it’s important to know their advantages and differences when you decide to build a SAN. Make a suitable choice based on your unique demands and knowledge. Any questions about SAN setup on switches, contact us via sales@fs.com.

评论

发表评论

此博客中的热门博文

What Is VLAN Switch and Why Do We Need It?

图片
VLAN or virtual LAN is a type of LAN that is defined to map workstations based on everything except for geographic location. It develops when the network has increased in size and complexity, and many companies require more access ports or a network design. Basically, it’s a networking technology which allows the network to be segmented logically without geographic restrictions. But how much do you know about VLAN switch? What Is  VLAN Switch? VLAN switch is built on the fiber optic switch  of LAN, which realizes the division and management of logical working group as a software. As defined in IEEE standard 802.1Q, VLAN switch can provide a way to transform one network into multiple broadcast domains. And each broadcast domain is usually matched with IP subnet boundaries, so that each subnet has its own VLAN. Therefore, users can obtain various wired LANs for different purposes that are co-existed physically, which means you don’t need to buy additional hardware or c...
阅读全文

Differentiate the 3 Technologies: Switch Stacking vs Cascading vs Clustering

图片
When we have more than one switches on hand we often seek to a better way in making use of them and managing them. There are mainly three technologies that we might use when we interconnect or combine several switches together, which are switch stacking, cascading and clustering. For many people that firstly get in touch with these terms, they can’t figure out the differences between them. Some discussions of the switch stacking versus switch clustering and switch stacking versus switch cascading have been put forward, but a comprehensive comparison between them has not been made. So this post is a discussion of switch stacking vs cascading vs clustering. Switch Stacking vs Cascading vs Clustering The comparison of switch stacking, cascading and clustering should be based on knowing the meaning of these technologies. So firstly we will see what switch stacking, cascading and cluster are. What Are Switch Stacking, Cascading and Clustering? Switch stack...
阅读全文

Nylon Zip Ties vs Hook-&-Loop (Velcro®) Ties

图片
The confinement system is the last but critical part of the entire cable management systems. Cable tie plays a very important role in this part. However, there are various types of cable ties in the market. Which one is better? Since nylon zip ties and hook-&-loop (Velcro®) ties are most common and controversial. This tutorial will compare these two types of cable ties in details. Overview of Cable Ties Cable ties are cheap and simple components used in cable confinement system. They are usually the last measure to ensure the cable managed in order. Cable ties are available in a variety of sizes and materials for use on different applications with different requirements. In addition, there are various of color options for cable ties. These color codes help users to manage the cabling and achieve easy troubleshooting. The most commonly used formats of cable ties are nylon zip ties and hook-&-loop (Velcro®) ties, as the Figure 1 & 2 shown: Figure 1. Drawin...
阅读全文