Praise For Storage Networking Fundamentals: An Introduction to Storage Devices, Subsystems, Applications, Management, and File Systems

Storage Networking Fundamentals
Reviewer Name: David Hodde, Instructor
Reviewer Certification: CCIE
Rating: **** out of *****

As the name indicates this book is an introduction to all aspects of storage networking. While you think it may just deal with SANs, it does not. Author Marc Farley starts with, as he calls it, "The Big Picture of Storage Netorking." These chapters cover basic storage principles and how storage I/O works. He then follows with a discussion of the different storage architectures available and their history. While this may not seem important, for the person entering the storage arena it's valuable information to know where storage has come in the last 20 years.

The next two parts cover data redundancy and storage and data management. Farley gives very good descriptions on the different redundancy options available. He also goes into an analysis of the different advantages and disadvantages of each. While it’s not an extensive discussion it does give an administrator a basis for an analysis. Discussions of remote file copy and multipathing, which are very important in storage networking, are described and broken down into terms that the novice storage person can comprehend.

While the first three parts of the book may seem like a review and unnecessary to most. They do provide a good foundation for Parts IV and V, which deal with storage and data management. As Farley points out these two areas are important and should not book overlooked by the storage administrator. With the ever changing legal environment and governmental regulations, data management and retention looks to be the next big evolution in storage management.

As advertised Storage Networking Fundamentals: An Introduction to Storage Devices, Subsystems, Applications, Management, and File Systems provides a good introduction to storage fundamentals for the person new to storage. For the person already familiar with storage it provides details that were either not know or forgotten. At the very least it provides some of the latest information in the storage arena.

I would highly recommend this book for anybody involved with storage administration or storage networking.

Storage Networking Fundamentals
Reviewer Name: Michael J. Morris, WAN Architect
Reviewer Certification: CCIE No. 11733
Rating: ***** out of *****

Storage Networking Fundamentals is a very well-written book. As the title implies, it provides a fantastic introduction to Storage Area Networking, providing details from disk drive mechanics to Information Life-Cycle Management (ILM). Furthermore, this book impressed me because it consistently did one thing: it did not push or suggest Cisco products. This book very clearly at the beginning stated it was not a networking book, but a storage book. It then sets out to explain Storage Area Networking in vendor neutral terms. If fact, it pokes fun at a few vendors because of the multitude of standards and technologies in Storage Networking. This should be commended as well as appreciated. The author does not adhere to one vendor's technology, but addresses general terms and explains where differences between vendors occur.

I particularly liked Part II of the book that covered the actual hardware and software that makes a SAN work. This nicely started with a detailed overview of hard drives, the building blocks of storage, and ended with technologies for connecting Storage Area Networks. Very nice growth and building on previous chapters.

My only small complaint about the book was its chapter layout. It would've been easier to understand Part II if Chapter 14 and 15 would've come first. This explains file systems and how they interact with storage. Being an introduction to Storage Area Networking, it would've been appropriate to explain storage to the reader as they perceive storage now. And since an introductory reader understands file systems, since they interact with a personal computer daily, it would've been nice to include these concepts earlier in the book. However, this is a minor flaw.

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone looking to start learning Storage Area Networking. A very well-written book with easy to understand concepts. 5 Stars!