Storage Networking Protocol Fundamentals

by James Long

A concise introduction to storage networking protocols

Introduces network administrators to the requirements of storage protocols Compares and contrasts the basic functionality of Ethernet, IP, and Fibre Channel The Fundamental series from Cisco Press launches the basis to readers for understanding the purpose, application, and management of technologies

A plethora of new storage networking products have appeared on the market, and more are expected to appear as the market continues to expand. The IDC predicts the total storage/storage networking market will reach $71.4 billion in 2006. With so many new storage networking products on the market, the Fundamentals series from Cisco press is the ideal series for a storage networking protocols book. Network administrators, system administrators, and storage administrators must develop new skills to effectively deploy and support new storage networking products as the paradigm continues to shift. This book is aimed at readers who have recently entered the storage networking field. The foundational learning in the book will provide the reader with a basic comparison of various networking technologies that are commonly used to transport mainstream storage protocols. In particular it provides a comparative analysis of Ethernet, TCP/IP and Fibre Channel in the context of storage. This book starts with an overview of the storage networking industry then proceeds to an overview of the OSI Reference Model and common network protocols. Next, implementation of common services within each protocol is compared. The book then turns its focus from general networking to storage networking by introducingthe reader to storage-specific protocols. The book concludes with a brief introduction to storage protocol analysis and technologies related storage networking.

Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2006

About the author

Aka Will Davenport

James Long was a BBC TV news correspondent until the end of the 1980s. After two years starting and running an international TV station out of Zurich, he returned to England to concentrate on writing, which had always been his first love. He wrote four thrillers, then went back to a story he had begun many years earlier and which grew into Ferney. The book was originally born from his disappointment at being unable to buy a derelict cottage he had found near the village of Penselwood and that house became the centre of the story. Many more novels followed, including two written under the pseudonym 'Will Davenport.' He moved into historical non-fiction in 2007 with The Plot against Pepys, co-written with his oldest son, Ben. Since then, he has co-written a play with his middle son, Harry. He lives with his wife, Annie and daughter Matilda in Totnes, Devon. His interests range from archaeology to motor racing. He is actively involved in the creative writing charity, the Arvon Foundation and tutors from time to time on Arvon courses. He is also a patron and adviser to the Dartington Literary Festival, 'Ways with Words.'

Reviews

[Bill Parr · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only got halfway through because it made my eyes bleed. I only give it 2 stars because it is thorough. The T10, T11 and T13 standards read almost the same as this book.

[Meirav Rath · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very thorough book, and structured very well, chapter-order wise.
There was one thing that made this book very, very difficult to read, though. It's a long book and a big book (lots of text in each page I mean). Technology names, technical names, protocol names, names of technical papers in which technology was defined, names od commitees that came up or regulated a specific protocol - all get mentiones once in full wording and later only appear as an abbreviation.
And, boy, does the writer enjoy using abbreviations! So, you read about something in page 35 and after 50 pages the abbreviation of it appearse (after 30 other names and abbreviations joined the long list of things to remember) and you're sitting there trying to remember what THAT specific abbreviation means.
There is an appendix with every abbreviation and term in it, yes, but it's a hassle to stop and go look things up in it every other minute.

So, it's very thorough and professional but it's not an easy read at all.

[Vasil Kolev · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is outdated and bad now, and was bad even when it was published. It doesn't match a lot of what is and was used in storage networks, and even though it has some useful information on SCSI, in general most of the book is somewhat useless and could've been replaced with "go read this and this", without trying to explain things in a useless way.