NAS vs SAN vs DAS

Three storage models, three different jobs. Here is a plain comparison.

At a glance

Type	How it connects	Typical use
NAS	Over the network, file level	Shared files, backups, media
SAN	Dedicated storage network, block level	Databases, virtualisation
DAS	Directly attached to one server	Single-server storage

NAS

Easy to share files across users. Popular in offices, schools and small businesses.

SAN

High performance block storage for servers, more complex and costly.

DAS

Simple and fast for one machine but not shared.

Which to choose

• Shared files: NAS
• Databases and virtual machines at scale: SAN
• One server with local storage: DAS

Whichever you choose

Monitor it. For NAS, see NAS monitoring software.

NAS Capacity Planning & Storage Usage MonitoringNAS Alerting & Notification SoftwareNAS Monitoring Software in FaridabadWhat Is NAS Monitoring?NAS Ransomware Protection Best PracticesNAS Backup and the 3-2-1 Rule

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