In storage networking terminology, a Storage Area Network (SAN)
is a high-speed subnetwork of shared storage devices. A storage
device is a machine that contains nothing but a disk or disks
for storing data. A SAN's architecture works in a way that makes
all storage devices available to all servers on a LAN or WAN. As
more storage devices are added to a SAN, they too will be
accessible from any server in the larger network. In this case,
the server merely acts as a pathway between the end user and the
stored data. Because stored data does not reside directly on any
of a network's servers, server power is utilized for business
applications, and network capacity is released to the end user.
Learn more about storage networking on Enterprise Storage Forum.
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