Data storage – whether it’s files or databases – is of the utmost importance to any business. Modern Data knows performance is as much of a concern as IT and data security, and we will optimize both using the newest, most powerful techniques and technologies.
Storage Area Network
A Storage Area Network (SAN) dedicated network that provides access to your consolidated block level data storage. This essentially makes your devices appear to your servers as locally attached devices to the operating system. At Modern Data, we can implement a SAN utilizing different protocols.
iSCSI
Pioneered by IBM and our partner Cisco in 1998, iSCSI is a storage networking standard and superior to Fibre Channel, because it allows use of existing network infrastructure.
Fibre Channel
Started in 1988, Fibre Channel is the traditional data networking technology which requires special-purpose cabling.
Network-Attached Storage
A NAS unit allows file-based data storage – as opposed to the block-level storage of the SAN. The primary reason you would go with NAS instead of a SAN is if you did not intend to handle viewing/manipulating your files client-side.
Direct-Attached Storage
DAS would be used if you only needed storage attached to one server or workstation. DAS is not networked and therefore is accessed through the server or workstation that it is attached to through a host bus adapter.
