A storage serveris a type server that stores and manages digital data. It also acts as a backup
server and stores backup data. The storage server can be used to store
small or large amounts of data on a shared network. While it is obvious
that storage is needed, it can be difficult to determine which solution is best
for your company. There are many options, but the most popular are
network-attached storage and storage area networks (SAN). The choice of
the best storage solution is a personal decision. There is no single right
solution for everyone. It is crucial to be specific about the needs of
your company and its long-term goals. Here are some key criteria you
should consider:
1 - Capacity
2 - Performance
3 - Scalability
4 - Availabilityand reliability
5 - DataProtection
6 - IT Staff andResources Available
7 - Budgetsconcern
DAS (DirectAttached Storage):
Direct Attachedstorage (DAS), a digital storage device, is connected directly to a computer or
server via cable. DAS is not part of the storage network. DAS devices can
be internal or external hard drives, just like an internal hard drive in a
PC. These drives can be protected using different RAID levels depending on
their data importance and criticality. A DAS storage for a server is very
similar to an internal drive or external drive that has been plugged into.
There are threemain interfaces for DAS connection: Advanced Technology Attachment, Serial
Advanced Technology Attachment and eSATA.
DAS has manyadvantages, including high access rates due to network failure, storage
capacity extension capability, data security, fault tolerance, and data
security. DAS's primary advantages are its simplicity and low
cost. It does not require components of network storage systems like routers,
switches, appropriate cabling and connections. DAS has a drawback. It is
only accessible to one user at time and cannot be accessed by multiple users.
DAS is thesimplest level of storage. Storage devices can be part of the host
computer, or directly connected to one server. The workstation must have access
to the server to connect to the storage device. SAN and NAS are connected
to servers and workstations over a network. Users cannot access or store
data in the DAS if the server goes down. Images from surveillance cannot
be stored or retrieved. Storage for each server must be managed separately
if the organization expands and requires new servers.
NAS (NetworkAttached Storage):
A NAS device isa file storage device that connects with a network. NAS devices are
typically not equipped with a keyboard or display. Instead, they provide Local
Area Network (LAN), nodes with file storage via a standard Ethernet
connection. NAS devices use an Ethernet connection to share files across
the network Qnap españa.
Every NASconnected to the LAN acts independently and has its own IP address. The
NAS device will be available over the network through its IP address because it
has an IP address. You can build NAS devices with one drive or multiple
drives. This option provides greater capacity and data protection.
A networkattached storage (NAS), device can be used if there are multiple computers in
the network. While some NAS servers can be used to backup and share files,
others can perform more tasks such as sharing a printer between the networked
computers, acting as a media streamer, or even a surveillance system with IP
cameras.
NAS offers manybenefits, including good reading and writing speed, data redundancy, protection
options, and sharing files. It also backs up data from Windows, Mac, or
possibly Linux machines.
NAS is used tostore and serve multimedia files, as well as automate backup. Many smart
TVs make use of NAS for centralized storage. A NAS device can be used as a
server mode to store email, multimedia and print data. A NAS array can
also be used to backup data for archiving or recovery at enterprise
level. Some NAS products have enough storage capacity to support RAID,
which provides greater data protection.
NAS is a greatoption for systems that need to store large amounts of video/images over a long
period of time. Network-Attached Storage is made up of hard drives and
management software. NAS can serve files across a network. NAS makes
it possible to access files over a network and relieves the server from storage
and file-serving responsibilities.
SAN (StorageArea network):
A Storage AreaNetwork is a high-speed, secure data transfer network that allows storage
devices to access multiple servers. This high-performance storage network
transfers data between servers and storage devices, independent from the local
area network. SAN is used when large areas of high-speed storage are
required and where fast input-output space may be needed.
Contrary to DASand NAS, which are optimized to data sharing at the first layer, the strength
of SAN is its ability to move large blocks. This is crucial for Band-Width
intensive tasks such as IP/Megapixel system recording. It offers
block-level storage. This means that a host can send a block-based request to
access a storage unit. SAN storage devices include disk-based devices like
RAID.
SANimplementation can be done in one of the following ways. This allows for
consistent and secure data transferring. Different types of cabling and
protocols are used depending on the type.
Fiber channel(FC). Storage and servers are connected via a high-speed network made up of
unified fiber channel switch switches. This is useful for mission-critical
applications that require continuous data access. Fiber channel offers
data retrieval speeds greater than 5 Gbps.
Internet SmallComputer System Interface Protocol (ISCSI) Protocol. SCSI is a protocol that
allows for communication between storage devices and servers. This
infrastructure allows for flexibility and low-cost IP networks.
Data transferfrom one storage device to another in a SAN network is done without any server
intervention. SAN offers dynamic failover protection, which means that
even if a server goes down or is unavailable for maintenance, the network can
continue to function. SAN can also be expanded as needed. These are
some of the benefits of SAN. Cost and complexity are the main drawbacks to
SANs. Because SAN hardware can be expensive, and it also requires special
skills to build and manage a SAN.
SAN'sdistributed architecture allows it to provide higher levels of reliability and
performance. SANs offer fast data transfer and reduce latency.
VSA (VirtualStorage Appliance).
Virtual StorageAppliance (VSA), a storage controller, runs on a virtual machine. It creates
shared storage without the use of additional hardware. It can present
file-level and block-level storage to the network.
VSA is notconnected to any particular hardware. VSA can either access local physical
drives or the local disk of the host system to store data. The VSA creates
virtual storage similar to networked storage, by adding direct-attached
capacity to each physical host. The virtual storage appliance is a good
choice for small businesses that require redundancy and high availability in
shared storage, as well as large enterprises that transfer data between
different arrays.
Differencesbetween NAS, SAN, and DAS
NAS is differentfrom SAN in how they distribute storage to other devices. This means that
access protocols are the key difference between the two. NAS supports data
storage at file-level using NFS protocols and CIFS protocols, while SAN access
protocols are ISCSI (block level) and Fiber channel (file-level).
DAS, on theother hand, may appear to be faster than other storage methods. Because it
requires data to be transferred over the network, all data transfer will occur
on a dedicated connection between server and storage device. SAN can
transfer data at speeds up to 10 times faster than DAS due to its fiber channel
connection. SAN is able to separate storage from servers and place them in
a location that can be accessed by all applications. This allows for greater
flexibility, availability, and storage performance than DAS. SAN storage
is more efficient than DAS, and organizations will not need to purchase
additional storage hardware. However, SAN hardware can be
expensive. Separating storage devices from servers allows computing
resources to be used for other tasks.
DAS is differentfrom Network Attached Storage (NAS). A DAS device connects directly with a
server, without requiring a network connection. DAS offers good
performance but has limitations such as the number of servers it can
access. DAS storage must be within close proximity to the server in the
same rack. NAS is more convenient than DAS in that it allows file sharing
between multiple users. It is all about how the computer and the server
treat a specific storage. If the attached storage is managed by the
server's processor, it will be a DAS. If the attached storage is treated as
another computer that shares its data over the network, it will become a NAS.
Storage serversfor DVR and NVR:
In order toattain the desired surveillance system, the NVR/DVR must use external storage
servers to meet video surveillance requirements. No matter what format you
choose, DVRs or NVRs can use external storages that were mentioned in previous
sections to increase their reliability and capacity.
DAS is the mostcommonly used storage device in DVRs. It has become the main part of these
recording systems. Newer storage options like SAN or NAS are better than
fixed DAS storage for medium- and large-scale video surveillance.
