[lug] SANS v. NAS

[Siegfried Heintze]

I just started work for a storage company in Longmont about two months ago
and I feel I should understand SANS v. NAS better.

I was pleased to learn about the linksys NAS controller. I assume this works
with the GBit network cards and consists of a dedicated embedded processor
that by default runs SMB/CIFS but can hacked with a firmware upgrade to run
linux/nfs. This box has a bunch of IDE slots in it to which one connects
external drives? When you use one of these controllers, do the disks look
like local or remote disks? Is there a problem with your network I/O
competing with your DISK I/O?

Is there such a thing as a consumer grade SAN controller? I read originally
SAN as fibre optic only but that they now accommodate copper. How would a
consumer grade SAN disk connect to my PC? I don't think I have fibre optic
connection on the back of my new desktop PC. Can one boot from a SAN disk?

Thanks,
Siegfried