SAN (Storage Area Network) has been the predominant on-site storage solution since the mid-1990’s, defined as a network dedicated and designed to attach storage software and hardware to servers. Interfaces, protocols, and networks such as SCSI, SAS, Fiber Channel, iSCSI, and ATAoE are utilized for sharing storage devices.

NAS (Network Attached Storage) uses various protocols such as IP/TCP over LAN/WAN, UNIX/NFS, Windows/CIFS/SMB, and Apple/AFP to permit access by multiple remote users to stored files. Many software programs see this as network storage and restrict access in certain settings.

DAS (Direct Area Storage) is defined as any storage device directly connected to a system, including internal/external drives, USB drives, and others storage devices. Currently S-ATA is most commonly utilized as the interface/protocol, among others.