SAN Security Protocols and Mechanisms
Storage or shortly NAS. NAS architecture consist of a dedicated device named Filer which is actually a stripped down and optimized host for very fast network file sharing. Two most typically supported file Systems on Filers are NFS (Network File Systems) for a Unix world and CIFS (Common Internet File System) for the Microsoft world. . While NAS solution has its main advantage in simplicity in maintenance and installation, its main drawback is limited file and operating system support or support of futurę new file systems. Architecture of a NAS is illustrated in Exhibit 2.
The latest mechanism of attaching storage remotely with a błock level access is commonly referred as Storage Area Network or SAN. SAN consist of hosts, switches and storage devices. Hosts eąuiped with Host Bus Adapters (HBA) are attached via optical cable to a storage switches which act as a fabric between the hosts and the storage devices. SAN architecture is illustrated in Exhibit 3.
Exhibit 3: SAN Architecture