What is a storage area network (SAN)?

A storage area network (SAN) is designed as a high-speed network that provides access to consolidated block-level storage. It connects multiple servers to centralized storage resources, allowing them to share storage devices over a network instead of relying on direct attach storage. This configuration enhances the efficiency of data management and offers scalability, as additional storage can be integrated without major changes to the existing infrastructure.

By centralizing storage, a SAN also improves performance, as multiple servers can access storage simultaneously, and it facilitates data availability and redundancy, which are critical in enterprise environments. This setup is particularly valuable for organizations that require high throughput and low latency for their applications, making it an essential component for data centers and large IT environments.

Other options do not accurately encapsulate the concept of a SAN. For example, connecting a single computer to multiple disks does not leverage the multi-server capabilities of a SAN; rather, that describes simpler direct-attached storage configurations. Similarly, a local network for personal storage devices does not reflect the centralized and high-speed nature of a SAN, and an archival solution for offline storage does not align with SAN’s primary function, which is real-time data access and management rather than archiving large amounts of data for long-term storage.