Quiz

Pop quiz: Storage area networks (SANs)

Storage area networks (SANs) may be top of mind in storage circles, but do you understand the concepts well enough to speak confidently on the topic at client sites? Take our exam, evaluate your knowledge and pitch SANs to your next prospective storage customer with more confidence.

  1. In thin provisioning, this term applies to the practice of setting aside more storage capacity for an application than has been physically reserved for the application.
    What is it?

  2. This is a portion of a SAN that has been broken up into logical sections, or partitions, allowing traffic to be isolated within a portion of the network.
    What is it?

  3. This is the term applied to a method that offloads backup procedures from a server so that the time ordinarily devoted to backup functions can be used to carry out other server tasks.
    What is it?

  4. This is the name for an open source network protocol designed to connect storage devices and servers in a SAN.
    What is it?

  5. This is the process of optimizing the efficiency and speed with which available drive space is utilized in a SAN.
    What is it?

  6. This is the mechanism used to overcome limitations due to latency and enable data communication in a Fibre Channel SAN where there are long spans of fiber optic cable.
    What is it?

  7. This is the name for the pooling of physical storage from multiple network storage devices into what appears to be a single storage device that is managed from a central console.
    What is it?

  8. This is the term for the process that automates the often tedious task of assigning storage, usually in the form of server disk drive space, to optimize the performance of a SAN.
    What is it?

  9. This is the allocation of resources for device load balancing and for selectively allowing access to data only to certain users.
    What is it?

  10. This is the term used to describe several ways of providing the Internet Protocol (IP) in a SAN, usually over Gigabit Ethernet; it's expected to promote the widespread adoption of SANs.
    What is it?

This was first published in October 2007

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