ABSTRACT
Computers need to store programs and data for those programs to work with. These programs range from games and video players through inventory management and production planning. A mechanical keyboard consists of an enclosure, a few dozen plastic keys, springs and electrical contacts under each, and a way to tell a computer when a switch closes. A Storage-Area Network (SAN) is a self-contained system that includes storage plus one or more specialized computers to manage that storage. Those computers access the storage devices over a high-speed network inside the SAN. Compared to an ideal storage device, disk drives have several drawbacks. They are slower than one might wish, they fail from time to time, their interfaces are designed for attaching to a single computer, and they don’t provide the mix of speed and cost that an organization with a lot of data requires.
