A storage area network (SAN) is a network which provides access to consolidated, block level data storage. SANs are primarily used to enhance storage devices, such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes, accessible to servers so that the devices appear to the operating system as locally attached devices.
See also: SAN.
This term is used in software engineering, programming, scripting, testing, application architecture, and development lifecycle work. It helps teams describe how software is designed, implemented, integrated, and maintained.