Storage Area Networks For Dummies

If you’ve been charged with setting up storage area networks for your company, learning how SANs work and managing data storage problems might seem challenging. Storage Area Networks For Dummies, 2nd Edition comes to the rescue with just what you need to know. Whether you already a bit SAN savvy or you’re a complete novice, here’s the scoop on how SANs save money, how to implement new technologies like data de-duplication, iScsi, and Fibre Channel over Ethernet, how to develop SANs that will aid your company’s disaster recovery plan, and much more. For example, you can: Understand what SANs are, whether you need one, and what you need to build one Learn to use loops, switches, and fabric, and design your SAN for peak performance Create a disaster recovery plan with the appropriate guidelines, remote site, and data copy techniques Discover how to connect or extend SANs and how compression can reduce costs Compare tape and disk backups and network vs. SAN backup to choose the solution you need Find out how data de-duplication makes sense for backup, replication, and retention Follow great troubleshooting tips to help you find and fix a problem Benefit from a glossary of all those pesky acronyms From the basics for beginners to advanced features like snapshot copies, storage virtualization, and heading off problems before they happen, here’s what you need to do the job with confidence!

Introduction. Part I: SAN 101. Chapter 1: The Storage Area Network. Chapter 2: SAN Building Blocks. Chapter 3: What Makes a SAN Go. Chapter 4: What Makes a SAN Stop. Part II: Designing and Building a SAN. Chapter 5: Designing the SAN. Chapter 6: SANs and Disaster Recovery. Chapter 7: Putting It All Together. Part III: Using Advanced SAN Features. Chapter 8: Networking SANs. Chapter 9: SAN-Based Backup. Chapter 10: Mirror, Mirror: Point-in-Time Copies. Part IV: SAN Management and Troubleshooting. Chapter 11: Approaches to SAN Management. Chapter 12: Troubleshooting SANs. Part V: Understanding the Cool Stuff. Chapter 13: Using Data De-Duplication to Lighten the Load. Chapter 14: Continuous Data Protection. Chapter 15: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Virtualization. Part VI: The Par t of Tens. Chapter 16: Ten Reasons to Use a SAN. Chapter 17: Ten Reasons NOT to Use a SAN. Index.