Shared storage is central to most business networks. NAS and SAN are the two classic approaches.

NAS (Network Attached Storage)

A NAS is a storage device that serves files over the network (SMB, NFS). Think of it as a dedicated file server.

– Pros: simple, affordable, easy to manage, good for file sharing and backups

– Cons: lower performance for demanding workloads and less suited to databases or large VM clusters

SAN (Storage Area Network)

A SAN provides block-level storage over a dedicated network (iSCSI, Fibre Channel). Servers see it as a local disk.

– Pros: high performance, advanced features, ideal for virtualization clusters and databases

– Cons: more expensive and complex, and it needs specialized knowledge

How to choose

– File shares, backups, small offices: NAS

– Small virtualization, light workloads: a NAS with iSCSI may be enough

– Clustered virtualization, high-performance databases: SAN or hyperconverged infrastructure

Alternatives

– Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) combines compute and storage in one platform

– Cloud storage (SharePoint, OneDrive, Azure) reduces the need for local storage at all

Don’t forget

Neither replaces backups. Plan for redundancy, snapshots, and offsite copies.

DBR Soft can help you select, install, and protect the right storage. Contact us for more information.