The Three Primary Functions of Storage Networking

Storage processes can be broken into the three different functional areas shown in Table 2-1. The fastest way to gain in-depth understanding of network storage is to know what each of these three functional areas does and what products typically provide them.

Table 2-1. The Three Primary Functional Areas Involved with Storage Networking

Functional Area	Description
Connecting	Provides the transmission of data between systems and storage.
Storing	A lower-level application with specialized commands and control protocols for system/device interactions.
Filing	Directs the placement of data objects in storage and is responsible for presenting data to applications and users.

NOTE

Readers who are familiar with my writing on this subject might notice a change with the use of the word "connecting" to replace the word "wiring." Connecting more accurately conveys the breadth of hardware and software that were intended to be included together. The word "wiring" has strong connotations for many people that limit its interpretation to physical cables. It does not communicate the larger sphere of technologies containing such things as switches, routers, gateways, routing algorithms, addressing schemes, and network management.