EXAMINING NETWORK STORAGE

Question 1

What are Storage Area Networks?

Answer 1

High-speed, dedicated networks that provide access to consolidated, block-level data storage.

Designed to handle large volumes of data in enterprise environments and improved performance.

Question 2

What are the connection protocols used in Storage Area Networks?

Answer 2

• Fibre Channel (FC)
• Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
• InfiniBand
• iSCSI

These protocols facilitate data transmission in SAN environments.

Question 3

What is Fibre Channel?

Answer 3

A high-speed network technology widely used in storage networking.

Supports multiple transmission speeds.

Question 4

What are some of the Fibre Channel speeds?

Answer 4

• 1 Gbps (1GFC)
• 2 Gbps (2GFC)
• 4 Gbps (4GFC)
• 8 Gbps (8GFC)
• 16 Gbps (16GFC)
• 32 Gbps (32GFC)
• 128 Gbps (128GFC)

Each speed increment enhances performance to meet growing data demands.

Question 5

True or False: Each speed increment in Fibre Channel corresponds with a new version of the Fibre Channel standard.

Answer 5

True

This includes improvements in technology, security, and efficiency.

Question 6

Fill in the blank: The initial speed of Fibre Channel is _______.

Answer 6

1 Gbps (1GFC)

This foundational speed was critical for early SAN implementations.

Question 7

What was the purpose of the 2 Gbps (2GFC) Fibre Channel speed?

Answer 7

Doubled the data transfer rate, improving performance.

This speed was introduced to meet the increasing demands for data.

Question 8

What does the 16 Gbps (16GFC) Fibre Channel speed manage?

Answer 8

Larger, more data-intensive environments.

This speed is part of the progression to support modern data centers.

Question 9

What are the latest Fibre Channel standards?

Answer 9

• 32 Gbps (32GFC)
• 128 Gbps (128GFC)

These standards provide high-speed connections for modern data centers.

Question 10

What does SMB stand for?

Answer 10

SMB stands for Server Message Block.

Question 11

What is the primary function of SMB?

Answer 11

SMB enables network file sharing.

Question 12

What is SMB 1.0 used for?

Answer 12

SMB 1.0 is used for legacy systems.

Question 13

What improvements does SMB 2.0 offer?

Answer 13

SMB 2.0 offers improved performance and security.

Question 14

What enhancements does SMB 3.0 provide?

Answer 14

SMB 3.0 provides enhanced capabilities and encryption.

Question 15

What does NFS stand for?

Answer 15

NFS stands for Network File System.

Question 16

What is the primary function of NFS?

Answer 16

NFS facilitates file access over networks.

Question 17

What is NFSv3 known for?

Answer 17

NFSv3 is known for stateless protocol operations.

Question 18

What improvements does NFSv4 introduce?

Answer 18

NFSv4 introduces stateful operations and improved security.

Question 19

What is the significance of NFSv4.1?

Answer 19

NFSv4.1 introduces parallel NFS (pNFS) for performance.

Question 20

What does iSCSI stand for?

Answer 20

iSCSI stands for Internet Small Computer Systems Interface.

Question 21

What is the function of iSCSI?

Answer 21

iSCSI allows for the transmission of block-level data over IP networks.

Question 22

How does iSCSI work?

Answer 22

It utilizes iSCSI initiators to send data requests and iSCSI targets to receive and store them, streamlining storage management and access.

Question 23

What does FCoE stand for?

Answer 23

FCoE stands for Fibre Channel over Ethernet.

Question 24

What is the function of FCoE?

Answer 24

FCoE encapsulates Fibre Channel frames over Ethernet networks.

Question 25

What does FCoE enable?

Answer 25

FCoE enables the convergence of storage and IP protocols over a single network infrastructure.

Question 26

What is InfiniBand?

Answer 26

InfiniBand is a high-performance networking technology that offers very low latency and high throughput.

Question 27

Where is InfiniBand typically used?

Answer 27

InfiniBand is used in high-performance computing and enterprise data centers.