A crucial part of any network are the data storage devices that allow data to be organized, cataloged, and mapped in permanent storage for the purposes of retention and retrieval. In our day-to-day computer use, we almost take the hard disk drive in our desktop or portable computer for granted. It's just there, after all. Data storage on a network, which uses basically the same storage technologies as the disk drive in the desktop computer, is more complicated and does require more attention.
In this chapter, we'll focus on the technology, devices, protocols, medium, and applications of data storage on a network. In doing so, we'll look at the following topics:
- The hardware specifications of data storage devices
- The primary disk drive interface protocols
- Data storage systems
- File systems
- Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID)
- Capacity planning...