Title: Module 8 Discussion: NAS, SAN, or CAS?
Course: CGS 1560 Microcomputer Operating Systems > Section: Module 8 - Storage Devices

NAS, SAN or CAS? What do those acronyms stand for? The answer is, Network Attached Storage (NAS), Storage Area Network (SAN) and Cloud Attached Storage (CAS). NAS and SAN have two different approaches to achieve the goal of additional network storage. NAS uses a file system approach where SAN uses a block level approach. Advances in technology are quickly closing the gap between the two. Then there is the newest kid on the block, CAS. Currently CAS uses a NAS approach for storage on the cloud. As new technology emerges, this may mean an entirely new approach for cloud storage.

Watch the videos and read the short articles below in order:

- What is network storage?
- What is cloud computing, and what part does Intel play?
- SAN vs. NAS: The Critical Decision
- Too Many Options Can Be a Problem: SAN, NAS and the Cloud

For your discussion you are to create a mini-case study that will require one or a combination of the three storage strategies above. The mini-case study will require a minimum of two to three paragraphs outlining some history of the company to set the stage for the problem in the mini-case. The remainder of the mini-case should be directed at describing the problem and end with provoking a decision from the reader.

What is a case study? It is a narrative based on actions or events that allows for discussion, problem analysis and virtual decision-making. In academics it places the student in the position to think through a simulated real-life situation. The purpose is to help the student develop and refine their analytical skills for solving some real-life choices they may face.

Effective decision-oriented case studies are generally written placing the reader in a key central role in a specific time line. Eventually the case arrives at a point where the reader is left to make a choice among several solutions. The reader should be allowed to analyze a problem or situation and then make a decision based on the information provided. The mini-case study is just an abbreviated form of the larger case study.

Once everyone has completed their discussion mini-case, go back and read your classmates' posts. Respond to two of them with at least one complete paragraph, outline your choice of a solution to the mini-case that was presented to you. Your reply to the mini-case must include a rationale of why you chose that particular solution.

Use the information in the rubric as a guide toward successful completion of this module's discussion.