iSCSI, twin-tailed disk, cheap-cheap fibre channel, ???

[Fraser Campbell]

William Park wrote:

>>More useful?  They are essential, my shared disk (SAN or not) is useless 
>>without them.
> 
> 
> How is SAN different from just a file server?

Main difference is how a client system accesses the disks

* a file server serves filesystems over the network, typically using NFS
   or SMB protocol
* a SAN serves block devices, typically over fibre channel

A client system mounting SAN disks can partition up those disks and 
format them however it sees fit, just like local disks effectively.

The advantage of SANs are mostly from a data management perspective 
(backup, failover, redundancy, etc.).
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