D-Link DSN-2100-10 - xStack Storage Area Network Array Hard..., User Manual

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xStack Storage User’s Guide 165
SAN Storage Area Network. A high-speed subnetwork of shared storage devices that
makes all storage devices available to all servers on a LAN or WAN. As storage
devices are added to a SAN, they will be accessible from any server in the larger
network. In this case, the server merely acts as a pathway between the end user and
the stored data. Because stored data does not reside directly on any network
servers, server power is used for business applications, and network capacity is
released to the end user.
Server A computer or device on a network that manages network resources. For example, a
network server is a computer that manages network traffic. Servers are often
dedicated, meaning that they perform no other tasks besides their server tasks. On
multiprocessing operating systems, however, a single computer can execute several
programs at once. A server in this case can refer to the program that is managing
resources rather than the entire computer.
Striping A way to improve I/O performance on a volume by splitting data among multiple
drives.
Storage pool A collection of drives used as a group for common functions (for example, the space
used by a volume must be allocated from a specific storage pool).
Subnet
A portion of a network that shares a common address component. On TCP/IP
networks, subnets are defined as all devices whose IP addresses have the same
prefix. For example, all devices with IP addresses that start with 100.100.100. are
part of the same subnet.
TCP Transmission Control Protocol. Pronounced as separate letters, TCP is a main
protocol in TCP/IP networks. Whereas the IP protocol deals only with packets, TCP
enables two hosts to establish a connection and exchange streams of data. TCP
guarantees delivery of data and also guarantees that packets will be delivered in the
same order in which they were sent.
VLBN Virtual Logical Block Number. The number of an LB within a volume. The LB is used
to store customer data.
Volume
A fixed amount of storage on a disk. The term volume is often used as a synonym for
the storage medium itself, but it is possible for a single disk to contain more than
one volume or for a volume to span more than one disk.