A logical unit number (LUN) is an identifier used on a SCSI bus to distinguish b

etween multiple devices (logical units) with the same SCSI ID.
A bus is the channel or path between the components in a computer.
The chip or circuit that translates computer data and commands into a form suita
ble for use. Also known as the disk controller. A controller card is an expansio
n card that interprets the commands between the processor and the disk drive.
Direct Attached Storage (DAS) servers are added around the network to create an
environment in which all applications run on their own server. Each server has a
storage node directly attached to it that is customized to each server's applic
ation.
A differential interface is a SCSI bus configuration that is more noise immune (
as compared to a single-ended configuration) and supports longer (up to 25 meter
s) SCSI bus lengths. Differential interfaces are generally used to externally in
terconnect systems and peripheral devices.
fabric
Switched fabric (fabric) is a network topology that uses one or more fibre chann
el switches to interconnect multiple servers and storage devices.
fault-tolerant system
Fault-tolerant systems can recover from a failure so quickly that users do not n
otice an interruption in service. Fault-tolerant systems rely on complex hardwar
e and software to recover more quickly than highly-available systems.
Fibre channel (FC) is a highly reliable gigabit serial data transfer technology
that provides concurrent communications among servers, storage systems, switches
, and other peripherals.
GBIC
A gigabit interface converter (GBIC) converts the light stream from a fibre chan
nel cable into electronic signals for use by the network interface card.

HBA
A host bus adapter (HBA) is used to connect servers to devices
Highly available systems recover from a failure in a matter of minutes (sometime
s, seconds).
JBOD
JBOD ("just a bunch of disks") presents multiple disks as one. JBOD does not del
iver any advantages over using separate disks independently and does not provide
any of the fault tolerance or performance benefits of RAID.
Long wave mode cables use 9-micron single-mode fiber for connectivity up to 10 k
ilometers.
A logical unit number (LUN) is an identifier used on a SCSI bus to distinguish b
etween multiple devices (logical units) with the same SCSI ID.
MIA
A media interface adapter (MIA) enables copper-to-optical transmissions. The MIA
can be an external device or embedded in a GBIC.
mirroring
A mirror consists of two equal sized disks. All data written to one physical dis
k is replicated on the other physical disk.
Multimode cable is made of of glass fibers, with a common diameters in the 50-to
-100 micron range for the light carry component (the most common size is 62.5).
Multimode fiber gives you high bandwidth at high speeds over medium distances. T
ypical multimode fiber core diameters are 50, 62.5, and 100 micrometers.
Network attached storage (NAS) features a disk array that attaches directly to t
he network.
RAID
Redundant array of independent disks (RAID) is the term used to describe a stora
ge system consisting of multiple disks acting as a single logical disk with diff
ering levels of data redundancy and differing techniques of data distribution.
SAN
Storage area network (SAN) is a network whose primary purpose is the transfer of
data between computer systems and storage elements and among storage elements.
short wave mode
Short wave mode cables use either 50- or 62.5-micron multi-mode fiber for connec
tivity up to 500 meters.
single-ended
A single-ended interface is a SCSI bus electrical signal configuration. Single-e
nded buses are more susceptible to noise than differential buses. These busses c
ost less, are smaller, more restrictive in physical device spacing, and more res
trictive in length (up to 6 meters). Single-ended interfaces are generally found
inside subsystems that use SCSI cables to interconnect internal components (for
example, RAID arrays.)
single-mode cable
Single Mode cable is a single stand of glass fiber with a diameter of 8.3 to 10
microns that has one mode of transmission.
striping
Striping is a technique for spreading data over multiple disks.
TCO
Total cost of ownership (TCO) is a measure of the purchase price of the new tech
nology plus the cost of ongoing maintenance the technology requires.
throughput
Throughput is a measure of the speed of data movement through a system. It is mo
st commonly measured in megabytes per second (MB/sec.) or gigabytes per second (
GB/sec.)