Home > Ask the Storage Technology Experts > Questions & Answers > Counterpoint: Why does a SAN access data from the server faster than a hard drive?
Ask The Storage Expert: Questions & Answers
EMAIL THIS

Counterpoint: Why does a SAN access data from the server faster than a hard drive?

Randy Kerns EXPERT RESPONSE FROM: Randy Kerns

Pose a Question
Other Storage Categories
Meet all Storage Experts
Become an Expert for this site


Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us   


>
QUESTION POSED ON: 08 September 2004
Why does a SAN access data from the server faster then a local hard drive?

>
A local hard drive's transfer is limited by the sustained data transfer rate for that individual disk drive. In a SAN, the storage connection is typically to a storage system that has cache, so the transfer may be handled at electronic speeds (writes will always go to cache and the read depends on the locality of reference and the caching algorithm) up the data rate for the SAN. For Fibre Channel, that could be up to 2 Gbps or 1 Gbps.

Read Greg Schulz' answer to this question.


BROWSE BY TAG
Storage Networking: NAS,   EMC,   Ask the Experts,   SAN management,   SAN (storage area network),   VIEW ALL TAGS

Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us   



RELATED CONTENT
Storage Networking: NAS
Is NAS right for our needs?
NAS and disk-to-disk backup
Performance differences between EMC NS500 and NetApp FAS270
SAN and NAS (heads), together at last
Security issues in NAS backup
How do you defrag a hard drive on NAS?
Clariion CX700 vs. Symmetrix 8830
NAS or SAN for data warehousing
Where do virtualization devices live and what do they do?
NAS for multiple heterogeneous servers

SAN management
Unilever maintains 5 PB Fibre Channel SAN storage performance with Virtual Instruments' NetWisdom
Storage Decisions Chicago 2009 Session Downloads
Storage Decisions Session Downloads: Managing Storage Networks Track (Chicago 2009)
Storage-area networks to become increasingly object based
Data storage management in virtual server environments
10 Gb Ethernet bodes well for iSCSI
Mellanox builds bridge to consolidation
Best storage Products of the Year 2008
Wide stripe before you dive into SSD
How your SAN will evolve
SAN management Research

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS
Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary
Fast Guide to Storage Technologies  (WhatIs.com)
fat provisioning  (SearchStorage.com)
oversubscription  (SearchStorage.com)
RAID  (SearchStorage.com)
storage area management  (SearchStorage.com)
storage area network  (SearchStorage.com)
thin provisioning  (SearchStorage.com)
unified storage  (SearchStorage.com)
virtual provisioning  (SearchStorage.com)
zoned-bit recording  (SearchStorage.com)

RELATED RESOURCES
2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems
Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts
Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary



Search and Browse the Expert Answer Center
Search and browse more than 25,000 question and answer pairs from more than 250 TechTarget industry experts.
Browse our Expert Advice



Search for Data Management Tools
TechTarget Storage Media
Storage Magazine View this month\\'s issue and subscribe today.
Storage Decisions Apply online for free conference admission.
SearchStorage.com
HomeNewsMagazineTopicsLearningMultimediaWhite PapersBlogsEventsAbout Us

About Us  |  Contact Us  |  For Advertisers  |  For Business Partners  |  Site Index  |  RSS
TechTarget provides technology professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective purchase decisions and managing their organizations' technology projects - with its network of technology-specific websites, events and online magazines.

TechTarget Corporate Web Site  |  Media Kits  |  Site Map




All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2000 - 2009, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Policy
  TechTarget - The IT Media ROI Experts