Sniffing Out Super-SANs

It isn't easy to say for certain who possesses the world's largest SAN. Even vendors who are normally desperate for publicity suddenly go quiet when asked which of their customers have built massive SANs, explaining that they have been sworn to secrecy.

And then there are firms that everyone knows have got storage coming out of their ears, such as Google, but their actual infrastructure remains shrouded in secrecy. Estimates of Google's disk capacity range from 20 Petabytes to 200 Pbytes, so if there is a SAN inside the notoriously secretive search giant, it's going to be a big one.

Other users' reticence about their SAN deployments is something of a mystery -- it's not as if SAN technology is so cutting edge that CIOs are risking their careers by deploying it.

Or are they? Clearly, there are plenty of firms getting a real competitive edge out of their SANs. What's more, the mechanisms they've added to enable enormity are part of that edge. So perhaps it's no surprise after all that they're playing things close to the vest.

We think the search for the world's largest SAN is still worth undertaking, and we're pleased to offer our first take with today's article. We're still on the hunt, and we'd like to hear from you. If you have a SAN as big as, or bigger than, the ones we've profiled, call us or send us a message.Have a comment on this story? Please click "Discuss" below. If you'd like to contact Byte and Switch's editors directly, send us a message.