by David Sacks

IBM Storage Consultant

Demystifying Storage Networking
DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways,
Fibre Channel, and iSCSI
IBM Storage Networking
J une 2001
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
Page 2
Contents
3 In a Nutshell
6 Introducing the Concepts
6 Connectivity
8 Media
9 I/O Protocols
10 The Storage Networking Acronyms
11 A Tabular Comparison
12 Legend
13 Exploring the Alternatives
13 Direct Attached Storage (DAS)
14 Storage Area Networks (SAN)
16 Network Attached Storage (NAS)
17 Ease-of-installation
17 Backup
17 Resource Pooling
18 File sharing
18 Performance
20 NAS Gateways
21 Tivoli

SANergy

23 iSCSI
27 Future Directions
29 Selecting the Best Alternative
31 Summary
Options for connecting computers to storage have increased dramatically in a
short time. Variations (and associated acronyms) for storage networking seem
to be materializing out of thin air faster than they can be tracked. Storage
networking offers significant capabilities and flexibilities not previously
available, and understanding the technology basics is essential to making
the best choices.
This paper provides an easy-to-understand comparison of the storage
attachment alternatives you can select from to build the infrastructure
to access your most important digital asset your data. Information is
presented beginning at a high level and slowly adding increasing detail.
The focus is on connectivity options for midrange platforms such as IBM
AS/ 400

, NetWare, Microsoft

Windows NT

, Microsoft Windows

2000
and UNIX

.
1
Storage management and storage network management, while
important topics, are not discussed in detail.
1
M idrangeis essentially shorthand for non-m ainfram e, non-standalone PC .
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
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In a Nutshell.
Well start with a brief description of the major storage networking variations.
The paper will then develop the concepts in a more structured manner.
D A S : D i rect A ttach ed S to rag e. Storage
(usually disk or tape) is directly attached
by a cable to the computer processor.
(The hard disk drive inside a PC or a
tape drive attached to a single server
are simple types of DAS.) I/ O requests
(also called protocols or commands) access
devices directly.
S A N : S to rag e A rea N etwo rk . Storage
resides on a dedicated network. Like DAS,
I/ O requests access devices directly. Today,
most SANs use Fibre Channel media,
providing an any-to-any connection for
processors and storage on that network.
Ethernet media using an I/ O protocol
called iSCSI is emerging in 2001.
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
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N A S : N etwo rk A ttach ed
S to rag e. A NAS device
( appliance ), usually an
integrated processor plus
disk storage, is attached to
a TCP/ IP-based network
(LAN or WAN), and
accessed using specialized
file access/ file sharing
protocols. File requests
received by a NAS are translated by the internal processor to device requests.
N A S g ateway : A NAS
device without integrated
storage (i.e., just the
NAS processor). Instead,
the NAS device connects
externally to storage by
direct attachment or by
a SAN.
S A N ergy: SANergy is
software from IBM and
Tivoli that provides NAS-
like file sharing, with data
sent over the SAN rather
than the LAN for improved
performance. (IBM NAS
gateways also include
SANergy function.)
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
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Why are there so many forms of storage networking? For one, new
technologies emerge and evolve but dont replace the investment in previous
technologies overnight. And no single storage networking approach solves
all problems or optimizes all variables. There are tradeoffs in cost, ease-of-
management, performance, distance and maturity, to name a few of these
variables. For the foreseeable future, multiple storage network alternatives
will coexist often within the same organization.
The benefits of the major types of processor-to-storage connectivity can be
briefly summarized as:
DAS is optim ized for single, isolated processors and low initial cost.
SAN is optim ized for perform ance and scalability. Som e of the m ajor potential
benefits include support for high-speed Fibre C hannel m edia w hich is optim ized
for storage traffic, m anaging m ultiple disk and tape devices as a shared pool
w ith a single point of control, specialized backup facilities that can reduce
server and LA N utilization and w ide industry support.
NAS is optim ized for ease-of-m anagem ent and file sharing using low er-cost
Ethernet-based netw orks. Installation is relatively quick, and storage capacity is
autom atically assigned to users on dem and.
NAS gateways are optim ized to provide N A S benefits w ith m ore flexibility
in selecting the disk storage than offered by a conventional N A S device.
G atew ays can also protect and enhance the value of installed disk system s.
Tivoli SANergy is optim ized for data sharing (like a N A S), but at SA N speeds.
Tivoli SA N ergy is disk vendor-independent, and can be added to an existing
SA N to enhance its value.
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Introducing the Concepts.
Lets step back and introduce the concepts that will lead to understanding
the storage attachment alternatives. There are just three key concepts to
be understood:

C o n n ecti v i ty : how processors and storage are physically connected.
Think of this as how the connections would be drawn in a picture.

M ed i a: the type of cabling and associated protocol that provides the connection.

I /O p ro to co l: how I/ O requests are communicated over the media.

It is how these three items are combined in practice that differentiates
the various ways processors (hosts) and storage can be connected together.
Essentially, storage is attached to processors over a direct or network
connection, and they communicate by the way of an I/ O protocol that
runs on top of the media protocol. Lets examine the three concepts
one at a time.
Connectivity.
The pictures below illustrate the two basic ways to physically connect storage
to processors.
D i rect attach a single storage device is
connected to a single processor (host).
N etwo rk attach one or more
processors are connected to one or
more storage devices.
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The simplest form of direct attached storage (DAS) is a single disk drive or
single tape drive connected to a single processor. Some disk systems allow
the aggregate disk capacity to be carved into partitions (subsets) of capacity
where each partition can be assigned to a different processor. Further, the
subsystem may allow partitions to be manually reassigned from one processor
to another.
2
This is essentially still a DAS approach to storage.
Direct attach can be thought of as a minimal network. For simplicity,
and as is common in the industry, this paper will sometimes refer to storage
networking alternatives without explicitly mentioning direct attach, but it
should be considered as one such alternative.
Following industry convention, a cloud is used to indicate a network
without showing the inner details of how cables, and devices such as hubs
and switches, may be connected to form a particular implementation. Such
implementations will vary from organization to organization and do not
need to be understood in order to explain storage connectivity alternatives.
The idea is that all objects connected to the same cloud can potentially
communicate with each other. (Such any-to-any flexibility can be managed
in practice to prevent undesired communications.)
2
For exam ple, the IB M Enterprise Storage Server disk system offers this exibility.
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
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Media.
The media is the physical wiring and cabling that connects storage
and processors.
Media is always managed by a low-level protocol unique to that media
regardless of the attached devices. A protocol is the rules for exchanging
information between two objects. In computers, this specifies the format
and sequence of electronic messages. In storage-to-processor connections,
the following media and associated protocols are prominent. All are open,
industry standards.

E th ern et: Ethernet began as a media for building LANs in the 1980s. Typical
bandwidths are 10Mbps, 100Mbps, and 1Gbps.
3
Ethernet is a media and its
protocol. IP-based protocols such as TCP/ IP generally run on top of Ethernet.
F i b re C h an n el: Fibre Channel is a technology developed in the 1990s that
has become increasingly popular as a storage-to-processor media (for both
SANs and DAS). Bandwidth is generally 100MBps, with 200MBps expected
in 2001.
P arallel S C S I S m all C o m p u ter S y stem s I n terface) : (Pronounced
scuzzy ). Parallel SCSI is an evolving technology with origins in the
1980s. Typical bandwidths are 40MBps (also called UltraSCSI), 80MBps
(also called Ultra2 SCSI), and 160MBps (also called Ultra160 SCSI). Parallel
SCSI is limited to relatively short distances (25 meters or less, maximum)
and so is appropriate for direct attach, especially when storage and processors
are in the same cabinet, but is not well-suited for networking.
S S A S eri al S to rag e A rch i tectu re) : SSA is a media technology optimized
for high-performance and used to connect disks together inside some disk
systems. Bandwidth is 160MBps.
3
M B ps= m egabytes/second, M bps= m egabits/second, and G bps= gigabits/second. 1G bps generally
equals 100M B ps since the (Ethernet and Fibre C hannel) protocols involved use special 10-bit bytes.
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
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I/O Protocols.
I/ O processing uses specific protocols that run on top of the underlying
media protocols. (In the case of Ethernet, I/ O protocols generally run at
some level on an IP protocol stack.) The following are the most common
I/ O protocols supported on midrange platforms.

S C S I S m all C o m p u ter S y stem s I n terface) : The I/ O protocol most

prevalent in the midrange world. A SCSI I/ O command might tell a disk
device to return data from a specific location on a disk drive, or it might tell
a tape library to mount a specific cartridge. SCSI is often called a block
level protocol, or block-I/ O, because SCSI commands specify particular
block (sector) locations on a specific disk. Originally, SCSI I/ O commands
could only be sent over media called parallel SCSI . Today, SCSI commands
can be issued over different types of media such as Fibre Channel, SSA, and
Ethernet, as well as over parallel SCSI.

N F S N etwo rk F i le S y stem ) : A file-level (also called file-I/ O) protocol for
accessing and potentially sharing data. This protocol is device-independent in
that an NFS command might just request reading the first 80 characters from
a file, without knowing the location of the data on the device. NFS has its
origins in the UNIX world.

C I F S C o m m o n I n tern et F i le S y stem , o ften p ro n o u n ced si ffs ) :
A file-level protocol for accessing and potentially sharing data. This protocol
is device-independent in that a CIFS command, like NFS, might just request
reading the first 80 characters from a file, without knowing the location of the
data on the device. CIFS has its origins in the Microsoft Windows NT world.
With SCSI (block-I/ O), disk volumes are visible to the servers attached to
them. With NFS and CIFS (file-I/ O), only files are visible to the attached
processors, but the disk volumes on which those files reside are not visible
to those processors.
4
4
W hile sim ilar in principle, N FS and C IFS differ in m any aspects such as user authorization and locking
protocols. For the purposes of this guide those differences are unim portant. O ther protocols that deal w ith
les but not disk volume s include FTP (File Transfer Protocol) for transmi tting entire les over a networ k,
and H TTP (H ypertext Transfer Protocol) for transm itting W eb pages over a netw ork. These protocols are
not further discussed in this paper, though they are supported by som e N AS appliances.
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
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The Storage Networking Acronyms.
Storage networking acronyms such as DAS and NAS can be viewed as various
combinations of the three key concepts discussed above: connectivity, media
and I/ O protocol. Not every possible combination is implemented today, or
may be implemented in the future.
5
Please refer to the figure on page 3.

D A S D i rect A ttach ed S to rag e) : Storage is directly attached by a cable to the

processor. The media could be any (i.e., Fibre Channel, SCSI, SSA, Ethernet).
The I/ O protocol is SCSI.

S A N S to rag e A rea N etwo rk ) : Storage resides on a dedicated network,

providing an any-to-any connection for processors and storage on
that network. The most common media is Fibre Channel, but Ethernet-based
SANs are emerging. (See iSCSI below). The I/ O protocol is SCSI.

N A S N etwo rk A ttach ed S to rag e) : A NAS device is attached to a TCP/ IP-

based network (LAN or WAN), and accessed using CIFS and NFS
specialized I/ O protocols for file access and file sharing. A NAS device
is sometimes also called a file server, or filer or NAS appliance . It
receives an NFS or CIFS request over a network and has an internal processor
which translates that request to the SCSI block-I/ O commands to access the
appropriate device only visible to the NAS product itself.

N A S g ateway : A NAS device with the internal processor but without

integrated storage. Instead, the NAS device connects to storage by direct
attachment or by a SAN. This term is most meaningful when there is a
choice of the disk storage to attach to the gateway.

i S C S I : Storage is attached to a TCP/ IP-based network, and is accessed

by block-I/ O SCSI commands. iSCSI could be direct attached or network
attached (i.e., DAS or SAN).

T i v o li S A N erg y : This is a software product from IBM and Tivoli that

provides NAS-like file sharing using NFS or CIFS I/ O protocols, but
with data sent over the SAN (using SCSI I/ O protocols) rather than
the LAN for improved performance. SANergy can run without a NAS
appliance, and also is included with IBM NAS gateways to provide enhanced
I/ O performance.
5
For exam ple, it is possible to run TC P/IP over Fibre C hannel and so use Fibre C hannel as a LAN , and thus
potentially use it for N FS and C IFS requests. H ow ever, this is rarely if ever im plem ented in practice.
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
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Note that while the terms NAS and SAN seem similar, SAN refers to a
dedicated storage network and NAS is a device on a LAN/ WAN network
(whether the network is shared or dedicated to storage). Occasionally, the
industry uses the term SAS to refer to SAN Attached Storage. As you may
realize, storage networking terminology is not intuitive, and isnt standardized;
you may want to take care that you and others are talking about the same
thing when using a given term.
A Tabular Comparison.
The various storage networking alternatives are summarized in the following
table.
Processor- N etw ork M edia I/O B andw idth C apacity D ata
storage Protocol Sharing Sharing
connection
DAS N o U nder the SC SI 40M B ps up M anual N o
processor covers to 160M B ps, or no
w iring, parallel depending
SC SI, Fibre on m edia
C hannel, or SSA
SAN Yes Fibre C hannel is SC SI 100M B ps Fibre Yes R equires
m ost com m on, C hannel, specialized
w ith Ethernet w ith 200M B ps softw are
em erging expected such as
during 2001 SA N ergy
NAS Yes Ethernet N FS, C IFS 10M bps to Yes Yes
1G bps
NAS gateway Yes Ethernet N FS, C IFS 10M bps to Yes Yes
1G bps
iSCSI Yes Ethernet SC SI 10M bps to Yes R equires
1G bps specialized
softw are
such as
SA N ergy
Tivoli SANergy Yes SA N m edia N FS, C IFS, SA N speeds Yes Yes
SC SI
A Tabular Comparison
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
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Legend.

P ro cesso r-sto rag e co n n ecti o n : DAS or SAN or NAS, etc.

N etwo rk : whether storage can be accessed by only one or by

multiple processors.

M ed i a: the name of the media technology that connects the processors

and storage. You can think of this as the cable and the basic low-level
protocol to send data over the media.

I /O P ro to co l: types of messages sent over the network media to

access storage.

B an d wi d th : the bandwidths supported by the various media. Bandwidth is

a technical specification of maximum potential throughput and does not
indicate the performance a particular application will see. That performance
will vary based on many factors beyond the scope of this discussion.

C ap aci ty sh ari n g : the ability to pool disk space or tape drives for use by
multiple processors. For disk systems, capacity can be divided into partitions
assigned to specific processors. In a large disk system, it may be possible to
manually reassign storage from one partition to another. For tape, a software-
based management facility is used to ensure only one processor uses a given
tape drive and cartridge at a given time.

D ata sh ari n g : whether files can be shared concurrently among multiple

hosts. This carries disk system capacity sharing to the next stepsharing
of the data within the same partition by multiple processors at the same time.
Benefits include reduced number of copies of data, access to current data,
and reduced need to transfer copies of data between processors. In addition,
by accessing data over a network using file-I/ O protocols that are used for
file sharing, processors and operating systems can be changed without having
to reformat the data.
6

6
In general, every operating system , including every U N IX-based variant, stores data in a form at that only
that sam e operating system understands. File-I/O puts data on the netw ork so that operating system s can
access it using industry-standard protocols w ithout any dependence on data form at.
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Exploring the Alternatives.
Lets explore each of the storage network variations one at a time.
Direct Attached Storage (DAS)
Direct Attached Storage is storage that
is generally restricted to access by a
single host (processor); sometimes by two
hosts in small cluster (failover or failback)
configurations. Even an enterprise-class
disk system such as an IBM Enterprise
Storage Server

(ESS) can be effectively

configured as DAS by assigning portions
(partitions) of the internal disk capacity to
designated hosts. Each of these partitions is connected directly to the ESS by
way of SCSI or point-to-point Fibre Channel paths.
For an individual, isolated processor, such as a laptop, a desktop PC, or
a single server in a small business, disk storage usually resides inside the
processor enclosure and is a simple form of DAS. When an organization has
multiple processors, DAS may initially appear to be low cost from the point of
view of each user or department. However, from the wider perspective of the
entire organization, the Total Cost of Ownership of DAS may be higher than
for networking approaches due to the difficulty of sharing unused capacity
with other processors, and the lack of a central point of management for
multiple disk systems.
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
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Storage Area Networks (SAN).
A SAN is a dedicated network for storage
devices and the processors that access those
devices. SANs today are usually built using
Fibre Channel technology, but the concept of
a SAN is independent of the underlying type
of network.
I/ O requests to disk storage on a SAN
are called block I/ Os because, just as for
direct-attached disk, the read and write I/ O
commands identify a specific device (disk drive
or tape drive) and, in the case of disks, specific
block (sector) locations on the disk.
The major potential benefits of a SAN can be categorized as:

A ccess: longer distance between processors and storage, higher availability,

improved performance (because I/ O traffic is offloaded from a LAN to a
dedicated network, and because Fibre Channel is generally faster than most
LAN media). Also, a larger number of processors can be connected to the
same storage device compared to typical built-in device attachment facilities.

C o n so li d ati o n : replacement of multiple independent storage devices by fewer

devices that support capacity sharingthis is also called disk and tape
pooling. SANs provide the ultimate in scalability, because software can allow
multiple SAN devices to appear as a single pool of storage accessible to all
processors on the SAN. Storage on a SAN can be managed from a single point
of control. Controls over which hosts can see which storage (called zoning and
LUN masking) can be implemented.
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
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P ro tecti o n : LAN-free backups occur over the SAN rather than the (slower)
LAN, and server-free backups can let disk storage write itself directly to
tape without processor overhead.

D ata S h ari n g : sharing data, as noted earlier, offers benefits such as

reducing the number of copies of files, increasing accessibility to current
data and reducing the need to transfer copies of data between servers over
the network.
Because it uses a specialized network usually based on Fibre Channel, the
initial cost to implement a SAN will generally be higher than for DAS or
NAS. SANs require specialized hardware and software to manage the SAN and
provide many of its potential benefits. Additionally, an organization must add
new skills to manage this sophisticated technology. However, an analysis may
justify the cost due to the long-term lower Total Cost of Ownership compared
to an alternative connectivity approach.
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Network Attached Storage (NAS).
A NAS is a device that
resides on a network that
may be shared with non-
storage traffic. Today, the
network is usually an
Ethernet LAN, but could be
any network that supports
the IP-based protocols that
NAS uses.
In contrast to block
I/ O used by DAS and SANs, NAS I/ O requests are called file I/ Os . File
I/ O is a higher-level type of request that, in essence, specifies the file to
be accessed, an offset into the file (as if the file was a set of contiguous
bytes), and a number of bytes to read or write beginning at that offset. Unlike
block I/ O, there is no awareness of a disk volume or disk sectors in a file
I/ O request. Inside the NAS product ( appliance ), an operating system or
operating system kernel tracks where files are located on disk, and issues a
block I/ O request to the disks to fulfill the file I/ O read and write requests
it receives.
A NAS appliance generally supports disk storage, and sometimes CD-ROM,
in an integrated package; tape drives may often be attached for backup
purposes. In contrast to SAN devices that can usually also be direct-attached
(e.g., by point-to-point Fibre Channel) as well as network-attached by SAN
hubs and switches, a NAS device is generally only a NAS device and attaches
only to processors over a LAN or WAN. (NAS gateways, discussed later, offer
some flexibility in combining NAS and SAN characteristics.)
Which is better, NAS or SAN? Neither and both. There are
tradeoffs, and the best approach depends on the particular environment.
Some organizations may implement a mix of NAS, SAN and DAS solutions.
Consider the following.
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Ease-of-installation.
NAS is generally easier to install and manage than a SAN. A NAS appliance can
usually be installed on an existing LAN/ WAN network. NAS manufacturers often
cite up and running times of 30 minutes or less. (Customization procedures
may take additional time.) Hosts can potentially start to access NAS storage
quickly, without needing disk volume definitions or special device drivers. In
contrast, SANs take more planning, including design of a Fibre Channel network
and selection/ installation of SAN management software.
Backup.
Most NAS appliances in the marketplace include a snapshot backup facility, to
make backup copies of data onto tape while minimizing application downtime.
For SANs, such facilities are available on selected disk systems or in selected
storage management packages.
Resource pooling.
NAS allows capacity within the appliance to be pooled. That is, the NAS
device is configured as one or more file systems, each residing on a specified
set of disk volumes. All users accessing the same file system are assigned space
within it on demand. That is certainly more efficient than buying each user
their own disk volumes (DAS), which often leads to some users having too
much capacity and others too little. So NAS pooling can minimize the need to
manually reassign capacity among users. However, NAS pooling resides within
a NAS appliance, and there is little if any sharing of resources across multiple
appliances. This raises costs and management complexity as the number of
NAS nodes increases. In contrast, an advantage of a SAN is that all devices on
a SAN can be pooledmultiple disk and tape systems. So, at some point as
total capacity grows, a SAN may be easier to manage and more cost effective.
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File sharing.
NAS provides file sharing, but with products like SANergy discussed later, a
SAN can do this as well. Many organizations install a NAS, not for file sharing,
but for its ease of installation and management.
Performance.
How do NAS and SAN performance compare? It may depend on the
particular configuration, but SAN is generally considered to be faster. This
is mainly due to:

SANs use of a dedicated network (though this is possible with NAS).

SAN network speed (100MBps Fibre Channel vs. 10Mbitps or 100Mbitps

Ethernet, though Gigabit Ethernet at 100MBps is becoming more common).

host overhead (Fibre Channel protocol handling is done in the host bus
adapter, while TCP/ IP protocol handling is done in host software and can
add considerable overhead. There is work in the industry to offload TCP/ IP
protocol handling to host bus adapters, which will eventually help with the
processor overhead problem.)
For relatively low amounts of activity, NAS and SAN may both perform
acceptably well. Today, however, NAS will generally not scale as well as SAN
in performance. It is not clear where the break even point is, but NAS
devices often can handle several thousand I/ Os per second with good average
response time (e.g., under 10 milliseconds average for small random I/ Os).
To summarize the comparison between NAS and SAN, while a NAS
appliance is generally less scalable and less grandiose than a SAN, it can
satisfy storage requirements in numerous environments ranging from small
businesses to workgroups or departments in large organizations. NAS alone
is, and will remain, a good fit in many environments. NAS and SAN hybrids
(by way of NAS gateways, discussed below) will be a good fit in the largest
environments, combining the best of both worlds.
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NAS will generally cost more than DAS (because of its built-in file sharing
intelligence), but has the following potential advantages: distance (because it is
attached over a network), large number of users being able to access the same
storage device, capacity pooling within the NAS appliance (sharing capacity
among all hosts using the NAS), and file sharing (as opposed to data transfer
or multiple copies on distributed hosts).
NAS appliances support standard file access protocols such as NFS,
CIFS, and sometimes others, that run over an IP network. These protocols
were developed before dedicated NAS appliances existed, and are often
implemented in software that runs on most client and server processors. So, in
fact, anyone could build their own NAS device by taking a server of any size
and installing NFS programming on it, for example. NFS is actually supported
directly by most operating systems, or is available from software vendors. The
builder or integrator can use any disk products they want, even a single,
internal disk for a small NAS built using a low-cost desktop PC.
Building your own NAS means flexibility. But buying an integrated NAS
means less time, assurance that the package works, vendor support for the
package, and usually specialized software tuned for the NAS environment and
thus providing much higher performance than possible in a general purpose
server and OS environment.
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NAS Gateways.
A NAS gateway provides
the function of a
conventional NAS
appliance but without
integrated disk storage.
The disk storage is
attached externally to
the gateway, possibly
sold separately, and may
also be a standalone offering for direct or SAN attachment. The gateway
accepts a file I/ O request (e.g., using the NFS or CIFS protocols) and
translates that to a SCSI block-I/ O request to access the external attached
disk storage. The gateway approach to file sharing offers the benefits
of a conventional NAS appliance, with additional potential advantages:

increased choice of disk types.

increased capability (such as large read:write cache or remote copy functions).

increased disk capacity scalability (compared to the capacity limits of an
integrated NAS appliance).

ability to preserve and enhance the value of selected installed disk systems
by adding file sharing.

ability to offer file sharing and block-I/ O on the same disk system.
Disk capacity in the SAN could be shared (reassigned) among gateway
and non-gateway use. So a gateway can be viewed as a NAS/ SAN hybrid,
increasing flexibility and potentially lowering costs (vs. capacity that might
go underutilized if it were permanently dedicated to a NAS appliance or
to a SAN).
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
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SANergy.
In brief, SANergy is
software from IBM
and Tivoli that provides
NAS-like file sharing, with
data sent over the SAN
rather than the LAN for
improved performance.
Some in the industry
are calling SANergy and
similar facilities SAFS -
SAN Attached File
Systems.
SANergy has attributes of NAS and SAN, with additional flexibility.
SANergy supports the
NFS and CIFS protocols, but allows the installation to use virtually any disk
storage they want (Fibre Channel, iSCSI, parallel SCSI, and SSA storage will
all work.)
Here is a typical SANergy scenario. A set of processors run SANergy
client software. The initial CIFS or NFS request for a file is intercepted by
the SANergy client and sent over a LAN to a processor running SANergy
Meta Data Controller (MDC) software which handles standard CIFS and NFS
protocol functions such as authorization. The SANergy client dynamically
transmits the actual I/ O (data) traffic over the LAN or over the SAN,
whichever is optimal.
Functionally, SANergy supports the protocols of a conventional NAS
appliance but with significantly higher performance while not requiring the
dedicated NAS processor front-end to the disk storage. Instead, SANergy sits
as software in the client hosts (plus the MDC). See www.tivoli.com/sanergy
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
Page 22
for more information.
IBM NAS gateways support running SANergy internally. This allows
applications to access data using protocols supported by the gatewayCIFS,
NFS, FTP, HTTP and NetWare File Systemyet process I/ Os at SAN speeds.
An additional benefit is the ability to use multiple NAS gateways each with
SANergy to access the same files, providing very high performance by scaling
beyond the limits of a single NAS appliance. This can lower costs compared to
adding NAS appliances each with dedicated disk storage.
Consider the following scenario that illustrates how IBM NAS gateways and
SANergy can work together:
A Web server receives HTTP requests for Web pages and sends them to an
IBM NAS gateway which in turn connects to disks over a SAN. Performance
is degraded due to a large volume of Web pages being returned to the server
over the LAN. So, the installation adds an adapter connecting the server to
the SAN, adds SANergy client software to the Web server, and enables the
SANergy MDC in the gateway. Now, Web pages travel from the disk to the
Web server directly at SAN speeds. If traffic increases so that high server
utilization becomes the bottleneck, then a second server with a SANergy
client could be added, and connected to the MDC and the SAN similar to
the first server. Both servers access the same Web pages at high-speed by
using SANergy.
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
Page 23
iSCSI.
iSCSI is a proposed industry-standard
that allows SCSI I/ O commands to be
sent over a network using the popular
TCP/ IP protocol. This is analogous to
the way SCSI commands are already
mapped to Fibre Channel, parallel
SCSI, and SSA media. The proposal
was made to the IETF (Internet
Engineering Task Force) standards
body jointly by Cisco Systems, Inc.
and IBM, and is expected to be ratified
in mid 2001. The iSCSI standard
is also supported by SNIA (Storage
Networking Industry Association).
iSCSI connectivity can be
implemented in different ways.
Assume that an iSCSI device driver is installed in a server to accept
application I/ O requests and send them over a LAN using the iSCSI protocol.
The target storage device could be directly attached to the LAN. An example
of this configuration is the IBM TotalStorage IP Storage 200i disk system.
An alternative to a native iSCSI device would be to use a router (protocol
converter) that connects to the LAN, but has a Fibre Channel port on the
other side so that it also connects to a storage device that supports Fibre
Channel attachment. This allows storage products without native iSCSI ports
to be accessed via iSCSI, and allows servers to access that storage without
needing a Fibre Channel host bus adapter card. An example of this approach
is the Cisco 5420 Storage Router connected to a Fibre Channel port on an
IBM Enterprise Storage Server (Shark) disk system.
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
Page 24

Because the concepts and products surrounding DAS, SAN and NAS
preceded iSCSI, it is natural to try to understand where iSCSI fits in the
world by comparing it to those concepts.

D efi n i ti o n . iSCSI is a mapping of the SCSI I/ O protocol to the TCP/ IP

protocol (which in turn usually runs over Ethernet). SAN and DAS are
connection alternatives, while a NAS is a device.

C o n n ecti v i ty . iSCSI can be used for DAS or SAN connections to devices.

iSCSI devices could be placed on an existing LAN (shared with other
applications), or on a LAN dedicated to storage I/ O, or even on a LAN
connected to only one processor (DAS). The same applies to NAS as well.

M ed i a. iSCSI and NAS devices both attach to IP networks. This is attractive

(vs. the newer Fibre Channel) because of the widespread use of these
networks, meaning they are already in place in most organizations and
are supported by existing skills. The well-known early-life interoperability
problems of devices on Fibre Channel SANs would seemingly disappear on
networks using the familiar TCP/ IP protocol. TCP/ IP-based networks can
potentially support longer distances than can pure Fibre Channel SANs.

I /O p ro to co l. iSCSI uses the SCSI I/ O protocol. Therefore, it is block

I/ O-oriented like a DAS or SAN, rather than file I/ O-oriented like a
NAS appliance.

F i le sh ari n g . NAS supports file sharing while iSCSI SANs and Fibre Channel
SANs generally do not. However, the SANergy product can add file sharing
capabilities to iSCSI SANs and Fibre Channel SANs.

M an ag em en t. iSCSI is managed like any direct-attach SCSI device.

iSCSI-connected disk volumes are visible to attached processors. Backup of
data is done through any method that supports SCSI-attached volumes. A NAS
appliance, because it hides disk volumes from its clients and often includes
specialized backup facilities, may be easier to install and manage. Compared
to newer Fibre Channel SANs, iSCSI benefits from using networks with
established network management tools and people skills. SANs currently have
more storage-related management tools than iSCSI, such as support for tape
sharing for backup; this advantage will likely diminish as iSCSI matures and
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
Page 25
the market demands SAN-like management for iSCSI devices.

P erfo rm an ce. A performance comparison is difficult to generalize,

because there are so many variables. That said, Fibre Channel at 100MBps
(1 Gbps) is generally more efficient for I/ O traffic than TCP/ IP over
Ethernet at equivalent bandwidth. iSCSI may perform better than NAS
(both on Ethernet) due to reduced protocol overhead, since it handles
SCSI directly rather than translating between file-I/ O protocols and SCSI.
Another performance consideration is impact on processor utilization. Fibre
Channel SANs support SCSI commands mapped directly to Fibre Channel
media, and processor overhead for this mapping is low. In iSCSI, handling
of the TCP/ IP protocol requires processor cycles at both ends. Therefore, at
this early time in the evolution of iSCSI, it is likely best suited for situations of
relatively low I/ O activity. This point generally applies to NAS as well. ( Low
in this case can still be thousands of I/ Os per second, but will be less than the
highest performance levels a SAN could support.)

C o st. Cost comparisons are difficult to generalize and will likely depend
on particular products. An iSCSI SAN likely has a lower cost than a Fibre
Channel SAN. For example, iSCSI network hardware such as Ethernet host
adapters are generally lower cost than Fibre Channel host adapters; if iSCSI
(or NAS) is attached to an existing LAN, no new host adapter cards may
be needed at all. An iSCSI SAN can be built more quickly and with fewer
new skills than a Fibre Channel SAN. An iSCSI disk device, all else equal,
may be lower cost than a NAS appliance since the iSCSI device does not
need to support file systems, file sharing protocols, and other facilities often
integrated into NAS products.
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
Page 26
The fundamental technical difference between iSCSI and NAS is that iSCSI
is block-I/ O oriented while NAS is file-I/ O oriented. The fundamental
technical difference between iSCSI and Fibre Channel SANs is that iSCSI uses
TCP/ IP networks. Therefore, iSCSI devices fill a void by uniquely supporting
block-I/ O applications over TCP/ IP (usually Ethernet) networks.
The small table below summarizes this discussion. The columns show
media alternatives, while the rows show how Block I/ O and File I/ O are
supported on the media.
An example where iSCSI would be a good fit is an environment with a
database system that uses block-I/ O to raw volumes without an underlying
file system, and using Ethernet as the preferred connection media. Another
good fit is an application that uses operating system logical volume facilities to
control placement of data on specific disk locations (e.g., using outer vs. inner
cylinders), and Ethernet is the preferred connection media. Some disk utilities,
such as those that relocate data on disk to minimize seek times, likely use
SCSI commands directly. Any program that issues SCSI commands directly
rather than file system commands will not work with NAS, but will work with
iSCSI or Fibre Channel SANs.
Block I/O
File I/O
Fibre Channel
Fibre C hannel D A S or SA N
N ot directly supported. Indirectly,
SA N ergy reroutes File I/O data
over Fibre C hannel for im proved
perform ance
IP-Based media (Ethernet)
iSC SI D A S or SA N
C IFS and N FS through N A S
or N A S gatew ay, or through
SA N ergy w hich reroutes
I/O s over Fibre C hannel for
im proved perform ance
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
Page 27
Future Directions.
The storage networking industry is moving so fast that any predictions should
be treated cautiously. Certainly, higher speed media, both 200MBps Fibre
Channel and faster Ethernet are expected soon.
The ability for organizations to implement open SANs and mix-and-match
heterogeneous vendor storage and network components is increasing as experience
with storage networks grows and as standards for interoperability evolve and are
complied with. Tivolis Storage Network Manager, for example, is a vendor-neutral
SAN management product that adheres to open industry standards.
The industry is developing specialized chips and device adapters that
will offload the TCP/ IP protocol handling from the host and disk system
processor, making iSCSI (and probably NAS as well) increasingly practical
in more I/ O-intensive environments. While iSCSI will likely start small, it is
expected to increase in capability and popularity over time, providing SAN
benefits such as scalability and storage network-oriented management tools,
but without the need for a specialized Fibre Channel network.
NAS, SAN, and iSCSI will be increasingly converging. For example, if a
NAS appliance is on a LAN dedicated to just the NAS storage traffic, it is
SAN-like in its dedication to storage. A NAS gateway appears NAS-like to
clients, but may attach to disks or tape through a backend Fibre Channel SAN.
With iSCSI, a SAN can be built using Ethernet media, which is the media NAS
generally uses today. Organizations will have increasing ability to customize
storage connectivity to their particular needs, but the choices also mean more
expertise is needed to make the best decisions.
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
Page 28
iSCSI may accelerate the convergence of NAS and SANs. TCP/ IP is
already the entrenched vehicle for file-level protocols (such as CIFS, NFS,
FTP and HTTP). Adding block-I/ O to Ethernet by way of iSCSI appears to
be a major industry direction, while adding file-I/ O to Fibre Channel does
not appear to have the same momentum (though it is possible since TCP/ IP
can be mapped to Fibre Channel media). To be clear, this does not mean
Fibre Channel SANs will disappear anytime soon or are even declining in
acceptance. Quite the contrary. Fibre Channel SANs still provide the fastest
and most scalable network, offer pooling and other management functions not
yet available for iSCSI storage, and there is extensive industry and customer
commitment to Fibre Channel.
Today, different operating systems have different file system formats.
NFS and CIFS hide the format, but have few if any management capabilities
above file sharing and no pooling of capacity across appliances. IBM has
previewed its plans to deliver IBM Storage Tank, a product based on work
done by IBM Research. Storage Tank is planned to provide a common file
system across multiple, heterogeneous storage systems, offering more efficient
utilization of capacity and support of policy-based file placement to simplify
storage management.
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
Page 29
Selecting the Best Alternative.
Which storage networking alternative is best for a given organization may be
obvious based on organizational objectives, current storage infrastructure and
what the alternatives provide. Or, it may be a totally open question. Storage
technology has clearly become more varied and sophisticated, and accordingly
decisions have become more complex than ever. Choice means flexibility and
thats good, but which choice to make is not always clear.
Some Rules of Thumb
If you knew nothing else, the following basic guidelines may help you get
started:
If DAS, NAS, SAN, or iSCSI are currently implemented in the organization,
and growth using that same technology meets requirements (including cost),
then it is probably easiest (e.g., least disruption) to stay with what exists.
If a group of individual users with PCs needs to share disk storage capacity
and perhaps also share files in that storage, then NAS may be easiest to install
and manage.
If application servers need to share disk storage, and are each accessing
independent (block I/ O) databases, SAN or iSCSI may be appropriate. If a
SAN already exists, it probably makes sense to integrate with it. For a small
number of servers where no SAN exists, iSCSI may be less expensive and less
complex. The larger the number of servers accessing a pool of storage, and
the higher the performance requirements, the more likely SAN is a better
solution than iSCSI today.
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
Page 30
Situation
A n organization has only a very sm all
num ber of servers and low I/O loads,
but w ants to replace installed, aging
direct-attach disk storage.
A n organization has an existing SA N
using a variety of disk system s and
w ants to do som e le sharing.
A large organization has heavy I/O
loads including heavy database
activity against a relatively sm all
am ount of capacity.
A n organization has an existing LA N
that has a lot of unused bandw idth.
A n organization has an existing
IB M ESS, IB M N w ays

M ultiprotocol
Sw itched Services Server (M SS) or
an IB M 7133 Serial D isk System
and w ants to do som e le sharing.
Solution Considerations
Either N A S, updated direct-attached storage,
or iSC SI are likely best. A Fibre C hannel SA N
m ay not be justi able or necessary. C om pared
to direct-attach and iSC SI, N A S offers better
sharing of capacity even if there is no le
sharing, and sim pler m anagem ent, but it w ill
likely cost m ore than D A S. If disk system
functions like snap backupare of value,
that m ay tip the scale in favor of N A S.
SA N ergy preserves the SA N and adds le
sharing. O r, a N A S gatew ay could be placed
in front of the disk system . O r, the les to be
shared could be m oved to a N A S, of oading
som e SA N traf c if that is of value.
A SA N w ill likely provide the best perform ance.
A N A S offers ease-of-attachm ent and
avoids adding a new netw ork. iSC SI m ay
be attractive if data sharing is not needed or
block-I/O is required.
Either SA N ergy or a N A S gatew ay w ill w ork,
preserving the existing disk investm ent.
The table below identifies a few simple scenarios and perspectives on what may
be effective storage connectivity approaches.
A n organization w ants to reduce the
high costs of buying dedicated tape
drives for backup w henever they buy
a new server.
A n organization has m ultiple
departm ents m aking independent
storage decisions.
Several softw are backup products in the
industry, such as Tivoli Storage M anager
(TSM ), can share a pool of tape drives am ong
all clients to be backed up. O r, a single N A S
appliance m ay support direct-attached tape
for backup of internal les.
Either leave things be for political reasons,
or evaluate if cross-departm ent storage
netw orking solutionsSA N s or N A S or both
m ight m ake better global use of resources,
low ering Total C ost of O w nership.
Demystifying DAS, SAN, NAS, NAS Gateways, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI.
Page 31
Summary.
This paper has explored the exciting area of storage networks. If it has
clarified what can be a rather complex subject, then it has been a success.
Solution Considerations
N A S and direct-attach w ill be sim pler to
m anage than SA N s. N A S m ay offer m ore
function and ease-of-m anagem ent com pared
to som e direct-attach solutions. M anaging
a N A S appliance m ay be easier than trying
to m anage SA N or D A S volum e de nitions
on m any different servers. B uilt-in backup
support w ith autom ated scheduling can
further sim plify N A S m anagem ent.
A N A S G atew ay allow s m ultiple users to access
an existing SA N for available storage, w ithout
requiring direct access to the SA N (e.g.,
w ithout installing Fibre C hannel adapters on
each host). A fter the project com pletes, the
storage can be released back to the SA N for
use by other users. Snapshot backup functions
are also available through the gatew ay. A n
alternative w ould be to add iSC SI or N A S to
an existing LA N , and later redeploy its capacity
to other projects.
O ne solution w ould be to use disk system s,
such as IB M ESS or IB M M SS, that m aintain
realtim e rem ote copies (m irrors) of local data
at a rem ote site. This of oads the process
from the host system s. A lternatively, host-based
m irroring is com m on in m any operating system s
and w ould allow the host operating system
to w rite a copy of data in realtim e to a disk
attached at a distance using Fibre C hannel
or iSC SI, w hether D A S or SA N . Som e softw are
products, such as The IB M H igh A vailability
G EO graphic cluster (H A G EO ) for A IX

and
various third-party offerings, provide rem ote
m irroring over LA N /W A N netw orks.
iSC SI supports this, allow ing I/O s to ow over a
LA N w ithout the need to install a SC SI or Fibre
C hannel H ost B us A dapter in the servers.
Situation
A n organization has few personnel
w ith storage skills.
A n organization needs a large am ount
storage for a tem porary project but
does not have access to a SA N .
A n organization w ants to im prove
its disaster tolerance, and ensure a
realtim e copy of data is m aintained
in a rem ote location.
A n organization w ants to use its LA N
for disk storage but has applications
that use SC SI block-I/O protocols.
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IB M Storage System s G roup
5600 C ottle R oad
San Jose, C alifornia 95193
Produced in the U nited States of A m erica
06-01
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