Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The inside scoop on a leading-edge data storage technology

The rapid growth of e-commerce and the need to have all kinds of applications operating at top speed at the same time, all on a 24/7 basis while connected to the Internet, is overwhelming traditional data storage methods. The solution? Storage Area Networks (SANs)--the data communications technology that's expected to revolutionize distributed computing. Written by top technology experts at VERITAS Software Global Corporation, this book takes readers through all facets of storage networking, explaining how a SAN can help consolidate conventional server storage onto networks, how it makes applications highly available no matter how much data is being stored, and how this in turn makes data access and management faster and easier. System and network managers considering storage networking for their enterprises, as well as application developers and IT staff, will find invaluable advice on the design and deployment of the technology and how it works. Detailed, up-to-date coverage includes:

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Acknowledgments (p. xix)
• Foreword (p. xxi)
• Introduction (p. xxiii)
• Part 1 Understanding Storage Networking (p. 1)
• Chapter 1 What Storage Networking Is and What It Can Mean to You (p. 3)
• What Is a Storage Area Network? (p. 3)
• Why Connect Storage to a Network? (p. 7)
• The Secret to SANs' Success: Software (p. 9)
• The Best Is Yet to Come: Radical Changes in Information Storage and Processing (p. 13)
• Back to Earth... (p. 16)
• A Couple of Closing Clarifications (p. 16)
• Summary (p. 19)
• Chapter 2 Benefits: What to Expect from SANs (p. 21)
• The SAN Paradigm Shift (p. 21)
• A Model for Enterprise Information Processing (p. 27)
• Ten Ways the SAN Paradigm Shift Changes Information Processing for the Better (p. 29)
• Summary (p. 47)
• Chapter 3 Leading Up to SANs: One View of Data Center Evolution (p. 49)
• A Bit of History (p. 49)
• Mainframe Generation I: The Rise of the Data Center (p. 50)
• Mainframe Generation II: Timesharing (p. 52)
• Online Transaction Processing: Instant Gratification for Users (p. 54)
• Minicomputers and Beyond: Diseconomies of Scale (p. 55)
• Local Area Networks (p. 57)
• The Standardization of Software (p. 58)
• A Pause to Take a Breath (p. 59)
• The PC and Client/Server Computing (p. 59)
• Specialized Servers (p. 61)
• Global Enterprises and the Need for Global Data (p. 63)
• External Storage Subsystems (p. 65)
• Summary (p. 66)
• Chapter 4 Killer Apps for SANs (p. 67)
• Killer App 1 Backup--The Application Everyone Loves to Hate (p. 67)
• Killer App 2 Highly Available Data (p. 88)
• Killer App 3 Disaster Recoverability (p. 98)
• Killer App 4 Clusters--Continuous Computing (p. 102)
• Killer App 5 Data Replication (p. 113)
• The Bottom Line: Continuous Global Access to Timely Information (p. 119)
• Summary (p. 120)
• Part 2 The Parts: What's in a SAN (p. 125)
• Chapter 5 Storage Networking Architecture (p. 127)
• The Path from Data to Application (p. 127)
• Network Storage Systems (p. 133)
• Summary (p. 148)
• Chapter 6 The Storage in Storage Networking (p. 149)
• Challenges for Network Storage (p. 149)
• The Cost of Online Storage (p. 150)
• Making SAN Storage Perform (p. 153)
• Keeping SAN Storage Up and Working (p. 157)
• Choosing among Storage Options (p. 167)
• Summary (p. 169)
• Chapter 7 The Network in Storage Networking (p. 171)
• Fibre Channel: The 800-Pound Gorilla of SANs (p. 171)
• Emerging SAN Interconnect Technologies (p. 186)
• Summary (p. 191)
• Chapter 8 Basic Software for Storage Networking (p. 193)
• Software for SANs (p. 193)
• Shared Access Data Managers (p. 199)
• Computer System I/O Performance (p. 202)
• Volumes: Resilience, Performance, and Flexibility (p. 204)
• File Systems and Application Performance (p. 213)
• Summary (p. 229)
• Chapter 9 Advanced Software for Storage Networking (p. 231)
• Data Replication (p. 231)
• Types of Data Replication (p. 232)
• Different Types of Data Replication (p. 235)
• Synchronous and Asynchronous Replication (p. 238)
• Using Data Replication (p. 240)
• Clusters: The Processing in Data Processing (p. 244)
• Cluster Data Models (p. 255)
• Disaster Recovery and Global Clusters (p. 262)
• Clusters and Storage Area Networks (p. 266)
• Summary (p. 267)
• Chapter 10 Enterprise Backup Software for Storage Are Networks (p. 271)
• Backup Management for SANs (p. 271)
• Enterprise Data Protection (p. 272)
• Enterprise Backup Architecture (p. 273)
• Enterprise Backup Policies (p. 277)
• Minimizing the Impact of Backup (p. 279)
• LAN-free and Serverless Backup (p. 291)
• Summary (p. 293)
• Part 3 SAN Implementation Strategies (p. 297)
• Chapter 11 Adopting Storage Networking (p. 299)
• Why Adopt Storage Networking? (p. 299)
• Developing a SAN Deployment Strategy (p. 306)
• Nine Steps to Successful SAN Deployment (p. 308)
• Critical Success Factors (p. 318)
• SAN Adoption Alternatives (p. 319)
• The Potential for Disaster: One Egg, One Basket (Also Known as the SAN Two-Edged Sword) (p. 328)
• Summary (p. 330)
• Chapter 12 Managing SANs (p. 331)
• SAN Management Defined (p. 331)
• The Basics: What's Special about Managing a SAN (p. 334)
• An Ideal SAN Management Environment (p. 342)
• SAN Management and Online Storage Cost (p. 343)
• SAN Management and Quality of Online Storage Service (p. 346)
• SAN Management and Backup Cost (p. 353)
• SAN Management and Backup Impact (p. 355)
• SAN Management and Application Availability (p. 357)
• SAN Management and Asset Utilization (p. 358)
• SAN Management Tools (p. 359)
• Who's in Charge, Anyway? Organizing to Administer a Storage Network (p. 361)
• The State of SAN Management (p. 363)
• SAN Management and Standards (p. 364)
• SAN Management Challenges (p. 366)
• SAN Management Tomorrow: The Race to the Storage Dial Tone (p. 368)
• Summary (p. 370)
• Afterword: Speculations on the Future of SAN (p. 373)
• The Enterprise Data Wish List (p. 373)
• New Interconnects, New Dynamics (p. 374)
• Different Models, Different Capabilities (p. 377)
• In Closing... (p. 380)
• Appendix Storage Networking Organizations (p. 381)
• Industry Associations (p. 381)
• Standards Organizations (p. 384)
• Dictionary of Storage Networking Terminology (p. 389)
• Index (p. 485)

Author notes provided by Syndetics