lure san network world fusion focus amy larsen decarlo storage enterprise today focus lure san 03 14 00 dear wincenty kaminski today focus lure san amy larsen decarlo e business changing businesses value information information become strategic asset gives companies edge market rivals companies use intelligence identify new markets make contact prospective customers media saturated era information packaged sold product makes ability supply users fast access stored information continuous basis absolutely crucial companies clearly coming crossroads storage implementations estimates internet storage capacity needs doubling every three months professionals hungry scalable solution help consolidate control stored information often look storage area networks san better option manage information storage systems distributed models today organizations rely distributed storage model uses file servers process requests end users application servers model requests data go file server owns attached storage disks one file server tap data particular disk via scsi bus model several shortcomings first amount data server access restricted number disks supported bus limits capacity single file server second server processes request risks becoming bottleneck third server model carries daunting availability limitations one file server allowed access set disks file server scsi connections fails users application servers lose access stored files model carries major disadvantages distributed file servers rely data transport network run backup recovery operations eat bandwidth slow normal network transmissions crawl finally decentralized setup difficult manage logical physical perspective file server based storage systems distributed throughout enterprise often difficult assess current future capacity needs servers use parallel cabling scheme link file server disk array also cumbersome set manage sans promise mitigate problems plague conventional file servers largely consolidation control specialized storage networks claim higher availability faster performance centralized management architecture capability remove bandwidth intensive data backup recovery operations lan frees lan normal data communications ensures smoother back operations using high speed transports like fibre channel sans offer high performance network optimized moving storage data sans also make way new storage implementations like lan free backup fibre channel support distances 10 kilometers san devices widely distributed also centrally managed one network yet case lans younger years sans still developing vendors still working major product interoperability issues companies deploying san technology struggle merge different worlds storage networks manage together ultimately hope like lans sans develop mature highly manageable solution supplies substantial benefits lower costs given storage deployment ongoing support costs total 10 times acquisition price equipment consolidated management capabilities san may deliver biggest benefit business contact amy larsen decarlo amy larsen decarlo analyst enterprise management associates boulder colo http www com leading analyst market research firm focusing exclusively aspects enterprise management focuses storage management application management security position oversees market research contributes custom project work focal coverage areas prior joining ema amy spent five years covering enterprise management industry trade magazines including informationweek data communications reached mailto decarlo com related links click network world home page http www nwfusion com storage networking industry association snia http www snia org fibre channel industry association fcia http www fibrechannel com scsi trade association sta http www scsita org storage related articles network world legato primes storage resource mgmt network world 03 13 00 subscription services subscribe unsubscribe network world e mail newsletters go change email address go subscription questions contact customer service replying message questions comments editorial comments write jeff caruso newsletter editor mailto jcaruso nww com advertising information write jamie kalbach account executive mailto jkalbach nww com network world fusion part idg net idg online network starts http www idg com copyright network world inc 2000