Storage implementations combine many different technologies, and any in-depth discussion of a real-world storage implementation could use concepts from every chapter of this book. One could certainly read the book in chapter sequence, but it is much more likely that readers will first read the chapters that are most immediately applicable to specific tasks and responsibilities in their environments.
Chapter 1 discusses the rationale for network storage.
Chapters 2 and 3 present a broad picture of how storage I/O processes work.
Chapters 4 and 5 illustrate the functions and architectures of storage devices and subsystems.
Chapter 6 is primarily about the architecture and protocols of SCSI. A brief discussion of HBAs and NICs appears at the end of this chapter.
Chapter 7 examines the various storage interconnects used for device attachment.
Chapters 8 and 9 discuss redundancy, mirroring and RAID.
Chapters 10 and 11 present the processes used for remote copy and multipathing redundancy protection.
Chapter 12 is about virtualization and volume management.
Chapter 13 covers backup and recovery.
Chapters 14 to 16 look at file system designs for network storage.
Chapter 17 discusses data management.
Appendix A contains answers and explanations for the Q & A review questions at the end of each chapter.
Appendix B is a brief listing of INCITS standards pertaining to storage networking.
The glossary defines key storage terms used throughout the book.