Cost Analysis and Long Term Planning Over the Lifecycle of an Enterprise Storage Solution

Abstract

This document will cover the basics of Storage Area Networks (SAN), IP-Based Storage Networks such as NAS, and the basics of choosing a technology for an Enterprise Storage infrastructure. This document will focus on SAS (Serial Attached Storage) and SATA (Serial ATA) disk drive technologies. The primary focus for this document will be to aid a manager in making a purchasing decision for the selection of storage technologies. I will cover purchase options such as buy, lease, and lease-to-buy. This document will cover the basic costs associated with maintenance and upgrades over the lifetime of different storage technologies.