Many of our readers started asking about their careers in networking & most of them had one motive, to become a NETWORK ADMIN. To be said SAN or Storage Area Network is a also a career in which you would be administering a part of a network setup. To be more precise Network admins would be responsible for handling, say they would handling only bytes of data. But as a SAN admin, you would be handling TERA Bytes of data. I think you better know the difference between those!
What is SAN?
A Simple definition – A storage area network (SAN) is an architecture to attach remote computer storage devices (such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes) to servers in such a way that the devices appear as locally attached to the operating system. Although the cost and complexity of SANs are dropping, they are uncommon outside larger enterprises. A SAN is a network of storage devices that are connected to each other and to a server. In some configurations a SAN is also connected to the network. It is forecast to become the data storage technology of choice in the coming years.
NAS – NETWORK ATTACHED STORAGE
Network attached storage (NAS), in contrast to SAN, uses file-based protocols such as NFS or SMB/CIFS where it is clear that the storage is remote, and computers request a portion of an abstract file rather than a disk block.
Careers
There are many careers in these starting from simple HBA RAID controllers to Bit complex NAS. Finally they end up with High complex SAN systems which are employed in huge enterprises. They may sound a bit complex, maybe I said that before, But One thing if you can master these SAN devices not only you would be earning a lot it is one of the better careers to grow with.
Some SAN Manufacturers: LSI , Promise Vtrak Systems, Adaptec
Some certification to start with –
Storage Networking Certification Program (SNCP)
The SNIA Storage Networking Certification Program (SNCP) provides a strong foundation of vendor-neutral, systems-level credentials that integrate with and complement individual vendor certifications. The structure of the SNCP has been enhanced to reflect the advancement and growth of storage networking technologies over the past few years, and to provide for expanded offerings in the future. Through evolving and enhancing the SNCP, the SNIA is establishing a uniform standard by which individual knowledge and skill sets can be judged.
* Validate your skills and knowledge
* Gain peer recognition
* Make yourself more valuable to your company
* Target and build upon the skills you have as an industry professional
For More information on how to do this certification, you can refer here
Future of SAN is Virtualization
Storage virtualization refers to the process of completely abstracting logical storage from physical storage. The physical storage resources are aggregated into storage pools, from which the logical storage is created. It presents to the user a logical space for data storage and transparently handles the process of mapping it to the actual physical location. This is currently implemented inside each modern disk array, using a vendor’s proprietary solution. However, the goal is to virtualize multiple disk arrays, made by different vendors, scattered over the network, into a single monolithic storage device, which can be managed uniformly.
For latest news in the SAN world
Any queries and comments are welcome…
Compiled by
Gobind V
Business Development Manager,
GSG
Thanks for giving such a great information about networking, myfriend is learning networking, he knows hardware problems. he wants some more information about networking please provide him yaar, his email is gunti.balaji@gmail.com.
And give me reference in apna circle.com and linkedin.com please……………
Hi Venkata Srinivas,
Please post all your queries here. We’ll be happy to answer.
thanks for posting the details it is very help full.
am ccna certifiend and i am planning to get certified in SNIA, coud you help me how to prepare / get trained.
praveen19n@gmail.com
INDIA-Bangalore
Hi Praveen,
Thank you for visiting GSG.
If you trying to get SNIA certification , please follow the below link & check in the details of that.
http://www.snia.org/education/certification/”
http://www.isanindia.com/index.php
The Curriculum is like this. The first test you have to take is SNIA Network foundations exam which could be cracked easily.
Link for the Certification : Path http://www.snia-india.org/index.php?q=content/certifications
Link for that Curriculum Chapters involved in the SNIA Foundation course : http://www.snia.org/education/certification/Exam%20Prep%20Guide%202008%20logo%2010-04-07.pdf
Regards,
Gobind Vijay,
BDM , GSG Team.
Hello sir,
thanx alot for such a great explanation.
I graduated as a masters in computer science from NJIT. In u.s.a. please clarify my doubts, it wil make my future sir.
1) Now im looking for a job. But im really confused that i shuld go into Websphere Admin jobs or into SAN?
1.b) From where i shuld start getting training becoz i dont know anyone of them.
2) which one has future if i go back to india also?
3) or is there any other tachnology where i can start ?
Im leaving my number if u culd call or u email. U response is most awaited sir
thanx
Hi Preet,
Thanks for contacting Getsetgrow.org.
Regarding your query, It all depends on which domain you are interested in.Both are equally good and have their own career path. If you really think Storage Industry attracts your interest then you will have variety of career options like Storage Administrator, Storage Development Engineer or you will have many options in Support based domains like technical Support or Field Engineer.
My advice would be to first land in a Job in a company where you have oppprtunity of pursuing your area of interest. Today most big companies have a Storage Department or working on Storage products. Few common companies working on storage area are EMC, IBM, Amazon,Microsoft,etc to name a few. Once On-Job you will surely learn a lot and then you can take up SNIA courses or CompTIA+ Storage which will aid your learning. Also Storage is a field which is everywhere in IT industry and Talent is always needed. With right mix of experience you will get good career choices when you move to any country.
In India Authorized training centers for SNIA/CompTIA+ Storage courses are very less. But I am sure you should be able to find one in US. But below are the two centers I have heard of but not sure how good they are.
http://www.sancentre.com/
http://isanindia.com/
Please let us know if you have any more queries.
Regards,
Gobind.
Editor GSG
Hello sir,
As i am in windows admin from past 2 years and i want to Upgrade.Here i coinfused to take up VMWare or Storager aree network for rest of my career.can you please suggest me what to take.
Hi Bharath,
Thanks for writing to us.
Firstly since you are in IT Administration field both these fields will suit you.
SAN Administration – Need to understand the concepts of Storage arena and the ability to work in Heterogeneous environment.
Vmware – Need to understand End-to-End deployment/Tshoot scenarios with Respect to Vmware.
Currently IT industry is in demand of VMWare admins and same goes with SAN too. And since you are currently primarily working on Microsoft Server OS’s , switching over to VMware would be a complete new career path for you. And in SAN administration you would still have opportunity to continue learning with Windows as well as various flavors of Linux and Vmware since they are all used in SAN for various usage scenarios. Then you can focus your career towards Storage solutions/Consultant which will help you out further in your career.
Finally it all depends on your interest and we would be happy to guide you further if yo u have any more queries.
Best Regards,
Gobind
GSG Editor
Hello sir,
I am working on storage and backup domain in my company.
As a storage admin i get a chance to work on Hitachi 9985v stroage.EMC clariion,SUn 6540
here in my company.
So as a admin i just do allocating LUN,Deaalocating and expanding LUN. not any thing more than this.
But i want to learn more.How do i proceed over it.,How to go ahead with learning.Guide i am not getting any idea.Is there any Higher studies there to become Master’s IN SAN.
My ambition is become a person who can totally work on creating storage.for eg:designing and developing storage.
I have worked on creating SAN network between servers to Storage.
can u suggest me a way on how to proceed with it.
please
Hi Kushaal,
I believe you are in the right path to become a Storage Architect. Currently you are able to understand the basics blocks in creating in SAN. What you need to work on how you can optimize it so that customers can effectively use it for their SAN deployment scenario.
I would recommend you to go through the SNIA Certification – SCSP which will lead you to the right path. In Addition approach the day to day work in a solution scenario. That will give you a clear idea what problems customers will face on the field and what are the ways to overcome it.
Please let me know if you have any queries. Contact @ info@getsetgrow.org for further queries.
Regards,
Gobind.
Editor GSG