Storage systems

[Slobodan]

It doesn't get any more specific than that. I have even provided a example storage system: http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/technotes/tips1003.pdf

[CiPHER]

I love storage, too bad everyone is using old technology (NTFS, Ext4, UFS) instead of cool new storage technologies like ZFS.

In response to your question:

NAS = Network Attached Storage; this is where the server stores the files; the client uses a protocol where it retrieves files from the server, without knowing what filesystem is underneath; i.e. SMB/CIFS, FTP, SFTP, NFS are all NAS protocols.

SAN = Storage Area Network. Typically this means that the server has a virtual harddrive stored. The server itself cannot access files; the client uses its own filesystem which the server does not need to understand. SAN basically means storage is centralised but in most cases the client is the only consumer of the storage; whereas with NAS many clients on the network can utilise the same filesystem.

Probably more interesting is the difference between RAID and ZFS. ZFS is *the* hot item in storage land and i recommend you take a look at this awesome next-generation filesystem.

[liam]

FWIW while I agree Wikipedia is good for getting an overall image on the subject, it's not an acceptable source of information to most universities for thesis. But yes, Wikipedia does typically link to some external sources that could be.

It's funny you say that because, while true, it's used in the "field" all the time. Field being both programming and scientific (physics, in my own experience, but I've heard of at least one person who found an alternative to graphene as a semiconductor (phosphorene) through a Wikipedia article) area.