NAS vs SAN: Which is Better?

Date October 10, 2017 Author Catherine Category NAS

NAS is a wise place to store the large of data, you can upload the video, pictures, files to it and streaming video to other devices for playback. AT the same time, SAN is another inetrnet storage solution. Most users are eager to now the differences between them and want to know which way is the best. You can keep reading and find the answer in this post, we have made the comprehensive comparison for you. Before we start the comparison, you need to consider the below factors and make the final decision:

1. Capacity: How much data do you need to store?
2. Scalability: How much data will you need to store 5 to 10 years from now?
3. Reliability: Can your business survive without its data, files and applications? What would downtime do to your business?
4. Backup and Recovery: Where will you back up files and how often? What would happen if you lost files?
5. Performance: How many employees need to share/access or collaborate on files, from where (remote or in-house) and how often?
6. Budget: How much do you have to spend?
7. IT Staff and Resources: Do you have a dedicated IT staff person to manage your system?

Round 1: NAS vs SAN – Overview

NAS: Which is the short of the Network-Attached Storage. NAS storage is also a good solution for consolidating storage systems from DAS – plus, having one centralized, shared storage system will save money in the long run, eliminate confusion and increase reliability in case of system failure or an outage. NAS is known as a top choice for SMBs.

SAN: Which is the short of the Storage Area Network. A storage area network is a dedicated, high-performance storage system that transfers block-level data between servers and storage devices. SAN is typically used in data centers, enterprises or virtual computing environments. It offers the speed of DAS with the sharing, flexibility and reliability of NAS. SAN storage is a very sophisticated option that’s meant to support complex, mission-critical applications.

Round 2: NAS vs SAN – Technology

NAS: A NAS includes a dedicated hardware device called the head that connects to a local area network, usually through Ethernet. This NAS server authenticates clients and manages file operations in much the same manner as traditional file servers, through well-established network protocols like NFS and CIFS/SMB.

SAN: A SAN commonly utilizes Fibre Channel interconnects and connects a set of storage devices that are able to share low-level data with each other.

Round 3: NAS vs SAN – Usage Models

NAS: The administrator of a home or small business network can connect one NAS device to their LAN. The NAS maintains its own IP address comparable to computers and other TCP/IP devices. Using a software program that normally is provided together with the NAS hardware, a network administrator can set up automatic or manual backups and file copies between the NAS and all other connected devices.

SAN: Administrators of larger enterprise networks may require many terabytes of centralized file storage or very high-speed file transfer operations. Where installing an army of many NAS devices is not a practical option, administrators can instead install a single SAN containing a high-performance disk array to provide the needed scalability and performance.

Round 4: NAS vs SAN – Cases

NAS – Best Use Case Scenario: NAS is perfect for SMBs and organizations that need a minimal-maintenance, reliable and flexible storage system that can quickly scale up as needed to accommodate new users or growing data.

NAS – Worst Use Case Scenario: Server-class devices at enterprise organizations that need to transfer block-level data supported by a Fibre Channel connection may find that NAS can’t deliver everything that’s needed. Maximum data transfer issues could be a problem with NAS.

SAN – Best Use Case Scenario: SAN is best for block-level data sharing of mission- critical files or applications at data centers or large-scale enterprise organizations.

SAN – Worst Use Case Scenario: SAN is an expensive and sophisticated solution that’s typically reserved for serious computing needs. A small-to-midsize organization with a limited budget and few IT staff or resources likely wouldn’t need SAN.

How to Upload Any Dada to NAS or SAN?

You can upload the digital video to NAS or SAN for storage, for some DVD and Blu-ray fans, even you have many DVD disc or Blu-ray movies, it’s a little difficult to upload the multiple DVD and Blu-ray to NAS or SAN due to the disc and copy protection, you need one DVD/Blu-ray ripper which can remove the DVD and Blu-ray copy protection, rip and convert the DVD/Blu-ray ro popular digital video, then you can stream them to other devices.

 Pavtube ByteCopy for Mac can be your best friend which can remove the DVD/Blu-ray copy protection, like the CSS, RC, RCE, APS, UOPs and Sony ARccOS, AACS, BD+, RC, BD-Live, UOPs Blu-ray protection, Region Code, etc. You can choose any video formats you want from the 300+ video formats, at the same time, you also can adjust the video realated parameters and edit the video with the built-in video editor. Just 3 clicks, you can get the multiple digital DVD and Blu-ray files for NAs or SAN.

Click 1. After you have installed this software, open it with double-click, you can click “File” >”Load from disc” to load the DVD and Blu-ray disc. You also can load the disc images, folders.

Click 2. Click “Format”, you can find many different categories, like: Common Video, HD Video, 3D Video, Apple TV, etc. Choose one video format you want. Friendly suggestion: You can choose the Multi-track MKV which can keep all the video subtitles, audio tracks and chapters, you also can remove some of them you don’t want.

Click 3. Go back to the main interface, press the Convert button to start the video conversion.

Choosing the best storage option for your videos or other datas really comes down to deciding which network criteria are most important. Once you know which factors are essential to you you can find the storage option to fit your particular needs.