Customer Reviews

Storage Area Networks: Designing and Implementing a Mass Storage System

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have never spent much time with SANS this is a good place to start. Gives good explainations on why SANs are used and the various alternatives. The HP slant is a little bothersome without information on competitive comparisons. Illustrations are so-so, but suffice. Gives some history of storage, explainations on Fibre Channel, and insite into SANs. Again, if you have exposure to this stuff it will be mostly review. The book by Clark is probably just as good and half the price.

This book has a nice overview and is certainly interesting if you never had to do with SANs before. Like its predecessor, FibrChannel for Mass Storage, the book is VERY HP oriented and most useful if you live in an HP farm. Otherwise, I'd recommend the Clarks Book as well.

I'm a network administrator. Whenever a new project comes along I have to learn some new technology. I usually buy a few books, read a few web sites, and ask some friends. Inevitably one of the books becomes my "bible" on the topic. For SAN, I think this book will be my bible.

Some books are "executive overviews", others are heavy-duty tech-spec laden programmers-only books. In fact when something new comes out, these are usually the first two at the bookstore. Many of the titles are such fluff I have no idea who could possibly use them. They're more like a book report on the topic. Those books will just decorate the shelves of some windbag IT director. This book is a real-world book.

Time and time again as I studied it, I thought, "These people are doing the same thing I'm doing." Yes, the authors give theory and overview, but again and again they return to real-world considerations. Most books just give you the "theoretical" maximums of an architecture, but this one tells you the practical and usable real-world maximums. For instance there is a limit from the server to the hub of 500m and from the hub to the device of 500m. 1000m, right? The authors point out that the hub is probably in the same room as the server (connected with a short cable), so you really shouldn't add that in. Should you spring for the extra cost of a SAN switch, or stick with a hub? There's a chart that helps you decide. Very real-world. There's a whole chapter on backup devices and handling legacy equipment like SCSI. So many books assume you will throw everything old out and do a clean-room installation. Welcome to the real world. This book helps you connect your old devices.

There's a section that lists all the different Fibre Channel cards, hubs, switches, bridges, etc. That will be obsolete quickly. The other info won't. There's a whole chapter with really ugly bit-level technical details that you would need to be doing sniffer work to care about. But it's nice to know it's here.

This book is perfect for people who need to understand the terminology and implementations of SANs. If you are thinking of implementing a SAN, starting to buy components, designing a SAN, or if you have a SAN project dumped in your lap this book will become your bible. You will crack the spine and wear it out.

The only fault I can find with the book is that it has a real HP viewpoint. While Sun, Linux, etc are all on the HP bandwagon, it seems IBM is doing their own thing (as usual). You can get an FC adapter for your AIX box, and they're one of the big players, but they also have a competing SAN scheme that's different than this "standard way". So IBM shops may want to be extra careful.

SAN itself is very cool technology. If you think you might be able to solve your problems by implementing SAN at your company or campus, this book is a cheap way to see if it's a good fit. If you're definitely going to buy or build a SAN, then you should sleep with this book under your pillow.

After reading this book, I find it to be highly informative and educational yet easy to follow. Considering the complex subject, it is refreshing to read in such level of detail without becoming bored. Hats off to the authors for doing an outstanding job of hitting the ever changing target of digital technology. In an age of constant technical evolution, it's nice to find a book which allows for these changes without becoming obsolete itself. Highly recommended reading for the seasoned veteran or as a textbook for budding engineers. Brian York / Senior Product Engineer, Mitsubishi Electronics

This is one of the better technical introductory books that I have read. It was written by people who know the subject and who have had a lot of experience with using SANs. It was written so that a layperson could understand the issues involved. You did not need an EE degree to understand how SANs work and are used in enterprise computing. I thought it was a good source of information to help me come up to speed on this new technology.

This book is a must-read for anyone with a SAN, considering one, or just curious about the technology involved. It is well worth purchasing for just the informative, intelligent discussions of Fibre Channel, fabric switch technology, and reviews of HP's SAN product line. The authors offer keen insights into the present and future of SANs in an immensely readable (and often humorous) style. I enthusiastically recommend this book to my IT colleagues!

The book is good for learning about SAN if you know nothing about it right now. But it has a lot of HP product marketing in it. It is also quite theoretical for example, does not tell me anything about cost of implementing a SAN.

While this book presents a readable introduction to SANs, the level of detail is too simple. An annoying aspect is the constant reference to HP products and solutions. While HP is a player in SANs, there are many other vendors that provide equal or superior alternatives - but of course they are not mentioned. This book could have been summed up in 3 chapters max. A better option would be any of the books on SANs by Clark.