Building Storage Networks

While there is a lot of industry hype abouts SANs, NAS and related technology, there is little hard information. Mr. Farley's book cuts through the marketing dross and gives a reader the "skinny" on what's real, what's possible, and what you need to do now to control storage in the future. If this isn't the Bible of the storage industry, it's at least the New Testament.

This is the first book I've seen that addresses the topic of modern storage in a manner that allows both the layperson and the skilled professional to understand the issues involved. The key word here is BUILDING, the first word in the book's title.Storage has long been an important topic, but it used to be adequate to depict a storage subsystem as simply a series of boxes attached to a host computer. "Subsystem" is now an antiquated term when it comes to describing modern storage systems. The term "network" is often more apropos, and this book delves into what it takes to create such a network.What is so valuable about this book is that it provides both an overview of various storage topics (disk partitioning, RAID, Storage Area Networks, Network Attached Storage, SCSI, Fibre Channel, caching, etc., etc.) as well as in-depth discussion of the kinds of issues that system architects must address to effectively create a modern storage network.The modern age of storage involves many more complex issues to insure that storage does not become an overall system bottleneck. Mr. Farley's book is an essential guide to allow system architects to effectively create high-bandwidth systems, whether they be for today's internet applications, for intranets, for enterprise systems or for workgroups.

Where does one get started in understanding the impact of storage area networks on conventional direct attach and network attach storage architectures? How are they similar, can they be combined, or are they different all together? As a professional in the storage industry with responsibility for answering these questions to those around me, I have found this book to be the ultimate resource. Not only does it describe in detail what today defines a storage area network, but it also fills in areas relating to network topologies, protocols, and general server I/O while giving a complete context in which decisions can begin to be formed.If you are in any way responsbile for storage infrastructure, or in planning products to enable networked storage, this is the first book you should buy. It has the breadth to provide your foundation, and suffucient depth to allow questions to be asked. You'll read other books, but like a good textbook, this is the reference you want on your shelf while you explore this complex and rewarding topic.Mike HardyVP Business DevelopmentChaparral Network Storage

Every storage, SAN, and NAS executive, engineer, marketeer, sales person, administrator, Wall Street analyst, and investor should read this book. It is easy to read and comprehend while conveying remarkable depth of knowledge. The reader need not have a EE degree to understand how this technology works and is applied. The illustrations are crisp, clear, and easy to follow. Marc Farley cuts through the market hype and clearly articulates the facts about storage networking. "Building Storage Networks" is an outstanding resource for both the novice and the expert. I strongly recommend this book!

With Storage Area Networks becoming so important to Enterprise computing, it is amazing that there are so few good books for systems integrators and administrators. This book is the first truly comprehensive book on the subject of SANs. It is a must read for IT professionals, especially if you are thinking that there is a SAN in your future.