A Storage Area Network (SAN) is a high-speed data storage network that provides access to data from multiple servers. A SAN typically consists of a storage controller, which is a device that manages the flow of data between the servers and the storage devices, and one or more Storage Processors (SPs), which are special-purpose computers that perform tasks such as storing and retrieving data.
SANs are used to increase the speed and reliability of the access to stored data,
and they can also be used to provide redundancy in case of failure of one or more components. A SAN may be connected to multiple servers so that if one server fails, another can take its place without interruption. In addition, SANs often have built-in security features such as encryption and authentication that help protect stored data from unauthorized access.