Introduction to Storage Networking
Storage Networking Applications
Storage Service Providers
• Storage Service Providers (SSPs) allow
companies to outsource storage services:
– Storage Transport Services (STS)
– Storage Hosting Services (SHS)
– Storage Management Services (SMS)
IIO Storage, Inc.
• Key benefits of SAN:
– Connectivity
– Disaster-tolerance services
– Scalability without service disruption
– Robust management services
Storage Service Providers (SSPs) allow companies to outsource storage
services. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, SSPs primarily used NAS
because only NAS provided long-distance connectivity services. However, the
SSP business model was not very successful, partly due to lack of customer
confidence, and partly because the SSPs reached beyond the capabilities of
the technologies that were available at the time. Most of the original
generations of SSPs closed their doors.
SSPs are coming back again, this time largely as subsidiaries of network
infrastructure providers. The new generation of SSPs are starting with the
basics instead of trying to provide end-to-end solutions immediately.