Storage Area Network Essentials: A Complete Guide to Understanding and Implementing SANs (Veritas) [Paperback]

Richard Barker (Author), Paul Massiglia (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0471034452 | ISBN-13: 978-0471034452 | Edition: 1

The inside scoop on a leading-edge data storage technology

The rapid growth of e-commerce and the need to have all kinds of applications operating at top speed at the same time, all on a 24/7 basis while connected to the Internet, is overwhelming traditional data storage methods. The solution? Storage Area Networks (SANs)--the data communications technology that's expected to revolutionize distributed computing. Written by top technology experts at VERITAS Software Global Corporation, this book takes readers through all facets of storage networking, explaining how a SAN can help consolidate conventional server storage onto networks, how it makes applications highly available no matter how much data is being stored, and how this in turn makes data access and management faster and easier. System and network managers considering storage networking for their enterprises, as well as application developers and IT staff, will find invaluable advice on the design and deployment of the technology and how it works. Detailed, up-to-date coverage includes:

• The evolution of the technology and what is expected from SANs
• Killer applications for SANs
• Full coverage of storage networking and what it means for the enterprise's information processing architecture
• Individual chapters devoted to the storage, network, and software components of storage networking
• Issues for implementation and adoption

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

A comprehensive guide to designing and implementing Storage Area Networks

Storage Area Network Essentials

Electronic commerce has made traditional data storage methods obsolete. The need for full-time data access, as well as the sharing of storage and data by multiple applications, has given rise to a completely new data storage paradigm -- the Storage Area Network (SAN). SANs are already revolutionizing distributed computing. In this comprehensive book, two top technology experts from VERITAS Software Corporation take you through all facets of storage networking. They first show you how a SAN can help consolidate conventional server storage onto networks. Then they explain how a SAN can help make applications highly available no matter how much data is being stored, which, in turn, makes data access and management faster and easier. Along the way, they provide you with invaluable advice on the design and deployment of the technology and how it works to make your decision to adopt storage networking easier, and give you an appreciation of the benefits that you are likely to realize.

With this book, you'll find detailed, up-to-date coverage on:
* The evolution of computing in data centers and how it has led to SANs
* Killer applications for SANs
* Storage networking and what it means to an enterprise information processing architecture
* The storage, network, and software components required for storage networking
* Issues in SAN implementation and management

Wiley Computer Publishing has teamed up with VERITAS Software Corporation to deliver a series of books for the enterprise storage management community. These titles will provide system and network administrators, server application developers, and storage engineers with in-depth, hands-on information on how to build scalable, quick, and highly available storage area networks. Key books in the series, including this one, are designed to help CIOs make the decisions as to when and how to embark on investing in new technology.

Wiley Computer Publishing
Timely. Practical. Reliable.

Visit our Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/
Visit the VERITAS Web site at www.veritas.com

About the Author

RICHARD BARKER is a Senior Vice President of VERITAS Software Corporation. Previously he was Senior Vice President of Product Division in both OpenVision Technologies and Oracle Corporation. He is also the author of three books on systems engineering and a former board member of the Storage Area Networking Association.
PAUL MASSIGLIA is a Technical Director of Engineering at VERITAS Software Corporation. He has spent the last twenty years working with technology in the storage sector in both engineering and product management. Massiglia is a member of the Board of Directors of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) and is the author of three previous books on storage.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (November 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471034452
• ISBN-13: 978-0471034452
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,050,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SANs solve business IT problems, November 12, 2001

By 

Paula Skoe (Redwood Shores, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storage Area Network Essentials: A Complete Guide to Understanding and Implementing SANs (Veritas) (Paperback)

Students and professionals, alike, will appreciate this book, as it is comprehensive and written and designed in a user friendly format. It features an extensive dictionary that allows for easy access to the terminologies surrounding SAN.

There are other books that talk a lot about building infrastructure, but this one provides the most complete coverage of what is needed to use SANs to solve business IT problems. Although the book is quite terse on wires and protocols, I was pleased to see which business applications were sensible for use with SANs. Good information on benefits, killer applications, software architectures and requirements, implementation and management.

I would also recommend "Blueprints for High Availability" by Evan Marcus (with Hal Stern)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Primer, April 4, 2004

By 

Steven Kondogianis (Glen Ellyn, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storage Area Network Essentials: A Complete Guide to Understanding and Implementing SANs (Veritas) (Paperback)

As a storage novice coming at storage with a networking background, I found this book to be an excellent introduction to storage. The book is particularly effective at illustrating how intertwined storage infrastructure can be (you can solve the exact same problem with fundamentally different approaches - application, volume, array-based solutions). Networking is relatively straightforward by comparison.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great reference book, December 31, 2002

By 

"ecco1" (READING, BERKSHIRE United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Storage Area Network Essentials: A Complete Guide to Understanding and Implementing SANs (Veritas) (Paperback)

Reading this book I have learned as much on file system, volume management, database I/O as I have learned on SAN. It gave me a better understanding of the storage problem I was trying to solve and great pointers on the pitfalls to avoid and where focus should be when building a SAN.

A "must have".