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)
• Key benefits of SAN: – Connectivity – Disaster-tolerance services – Scalability without service disruption – Robust management services
IIO Storage, Inc.
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.