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Storage Area Network (SAN)

5 minutes 5 Questions

A SAN is a high-speed network of storage devices that is accessible by multiple servers and can be managed centrally. This network provides block-level storage and is often used for mission-critical applications or large-scale data processing tasks. The main advantages of a SAN include improved per…

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CompTIA A+ - Storage Area Network (SAN) Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Storage Area Network (SAN)

Question 1

A company decided to deploy a SAN for their increasing data storage needs in their data center. Out of the following options, which protocol should they use to connect the SAN to the servers?

Correct Answer: iSCSI

iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface) is the best protocol for connecting a SAN (Storage Area Network) to servers in a data center. iSCSI enables block-level data transfer over standard Ethernet networks using the TCP/IP protocol, making it a cost-effective and efficient solution for SAN connectivity. SMB (Server Message Block) and NFS (Network File System) are file-sharing protocols used for accessing files over a network, not suitable for block-level storage access required by SANs. HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is a protocol used for web communication and is not designed for storage connectivity.

Question 2

A client is concerned about the performance of their new Storage Area Network (SAN). Which of the following would be the most appropriate solution to test and improve SAN performance?

Correct Answer: Implement a tiered storage system

The best solution to test and improve SAN performance is to implement a tiered storage system. Tiered storage involves categorizing data based on its importance and access frequency, and storing it on different types of storage media accordingly. This approach optimizes performance by placing frequently accessed, critical data on high-performance storage devices, while less important data is stored on slower, more cost-effective devices. Tiered storage helps balance performance, capacity, and cost in a SAN environment. Increasing firewall security measures, changing the server's operating system, or deploying antivirus software do not directly address SAN performance issues and are not the most appropriate solutions in this context.

Question 3

A technician must replace a failed disk on a SAN configured with RAID 5. Which of the following actions should they perform?

Correct Answer: Replace the failed disk and wait for the RAID array to rebuild

In a RAID 5 configuration, data is striped across multiple disks with distributed parity. This allows the array to continue functioning even if one disk fails. When a disk fails, the best action is to replace the failed disk with a new one and allow the RAID controller to rebuild the array using the parity information. This process restores the array to a fully redundant state. Replacing all the disks is unnecessary and would result in data loss. Operating the array with a failed disk is risky as it eliminates the fault tolerance provided by RAID 5. The failed disk must be replaced and the array rebuilt to ensure data integrity and redundancy.

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