Back to: Storage Area Network (SAN) Storage
The Storage Hardware & Ecosystem consists of various components that work together to store, manage, and access data efficiently. It includes both physical hardware and the software ecosystem that supports storage operations.
1. Storage Hardware Components
a. Primary Storage (Volatile)
- RAM (Random Access Memory) – Fast, temporary storage for active processes.
- Cache Memory – Small, high-speed memory used to store frequently accessed data.
b. Secondary Storage (Non-Volatile)
- HDD (Hard Disk Drive) – Magnetic storage with moving parts, used for bulk data storage.
- SSD (Solid-State Drive) – Flash-based storage, faster and more reliable than HDDs.
c. Enterprise Storage Systems
- NAS (Network-Attached Storage) – File-level storage accessible over a network.
- SAN (Storage Area Network) – High-speed block-level storage network.
- DAS (Direct-Attached Storage) – Storage devices directly attached to a server (e.g., internal HDDs/SSDs).
d. Emerging Storage Technologies
- NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) – High-speed SSDs optimized for PCIe.
- Storage Class Memory (SCM) – Bridge between DRAM and SSD, offering lower latency.
- Persistent Memory (PMEM) – Combines RAM-like speed with storage persistence.
2. Storage Ecosystem
a. Storage Protocols
- SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) – Traditional protocol for connecting storage devices.
- FC (Fibre Channel) – High-speed network protocol for SANs.
- iSCSI (Internet SCSI) – Uses TCP/IP to transport SCSI commands over networks.
- NFS (Network File System) – Protocol for accessing files over a network.
- SMB (Server Message Block) – Microsoft’s file-sharing protocol.
b. Storage Virtualization
- Software-Defined Storage (SDS) – Abstracts storage hardware to enable flexible management.
- Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) – Combines compute, storage, and networking in a unified system.
c. Cloud Storage
- Public Cloud Storage (AWS S3, Azure Blob, Google Cloud Storage)
- Private & Hybrid Cloud Storage
- Object Storage – Scalable, metadata-rich storage for unstructured data.
d. Data Protection & Management
- RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) – Data redundancy and performance optimization.
- Backup & Disaster Recovery – Solutions like snapshots, replication, and tape storage.
- Data Deduplication & Compression – Reducing storage footprint for efficiency.
3. Trends & Future Innovations
- AI & ML for Storage Optimization
- Edge Storage for IoT & 5G
- Quantum Storage Research
- Sustainable & Green Storage Solutions