4.7. Summary

In this chapter, we discussed how to implement storage solutions on your OS X clients using network protocols such as AFP, NFS, and SMB. This includes the traditional members of the Mac OS X storage ecosystem. We also covered Fibre Channel and connecting to iSCSI targets, but didn't delve deeply into providing non-Apple LUNs for either—attempting to show how to build a LUN for hundreds of products—those from EMC, HP, Hitachi, NetApp, Sun and a slew of other vendors isn't an effective use of anyone's time. Each vendor (and open-source project provider, if you prefer) will offer extensive documentation. The important knowledge to convey was how to deploy the solutions that can run on Apple iron.

The chapter heavily focused on SAN-based storage for a reason: Storage centralization and virtualization—made possible through SAN technologies—benefits IT departments by delivering immense flexibility and increased data management capabilities. Concurrent simultaneous access to data opens up a world of possibilities—clustered services, live backups over FC without saturating public networks or servers, and a cornucopia of other options. Additionally, storage virtualization allows for growth and expansion, adding performance or storage-based nodes as needed. SAN technology is at the center of the virtualization movement, and it's here to stay.

In the next chapter, we'll discuss various groupware options available to your OS X clients. We'll cover topics such as integrating with Exchange, Groupware, and Lotus Notes, as well as some Apple-hosted products such as iCal Server and Address Book Server. Where appropriate, we'll also discuss how to store back-end assets (if they're running on Mac OS X) on Xsan or other clustered Mac OS X file-storage offerings.