Overview

Storage Area Network (SAN) is an architecture for managing storage, typically over fibre-channel cables and switches that connect your server's HBA with the storage's service processor. The components asking for storage data are called initiators, the components being asked are the targets. Every target and initiator is identified by a world-wide name (WWN). The difference to iSCSI is that iSCSI uses the normal IP stack, so every target and initiator is identified by a MAC address and, based upon that, by an IP address.

SAN addresses its data block-wise, this means you do not ask for a file from the storage (as with Network Attached Storage NAS), but for a block. This means your server needs to be aware of the file system used on the disk.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storage_area_network

How to...

Find out your HBAs' types in your server

with Linux

hwinfo --storage-ctrl

Find out your HBA's WWN

with Linux

SUSE Linux 10 SP 1

cat /sys/class/fc_host/host1/node_name
note that host1 can vary if you have more than one HBA built-in.