SANniveau

SANniveau is a term used in information technology to denote a rubric for evaluating and classifying Storage Area Network (SAN) architectures. The word combines SAN with niveau, a French word meaning level or standard, and is used informally by some vendors, integrators, and IT teams to express the sophistication or resilience of a SAN design. It is not an official international standard.

Definition and purpose: A SANniveau framework provides a structured way to describe SAN design characteristics across levels, from basic to enterprise-grade. It helps compare deployments, guide procurement, and align with organizational risk tolerance and budgets.

Levels and criteria: A typical SANniveau scheme may include multiple levels (for example, Level 1 to Level 3). Criteria commonly considered include redundancy of controllers and paths, data protection mechanisms (RAID, snapshots, backups), storage virtualization, scalability, zoning and LUN masking, replication and disaster recovery, performance features (pools, tiering, QoS), and management, monitoring, security, and compliance.

Governance and standards: There is no universal SANniveau standard; definitions vary by organization or vendor. Some organizations map SANniveau to existing standards and best practices from bodies like SNIA, ISO/IEC, or NIST, but the mapping is internal rather than normative.

Applications and impact: Enterprises use SANniveau to plan capacity, set service levels, and communicate architecture to stakeholders. It can influence procurement decisions, risk assessments, and governance processes.

See also: Storage Area Network, data protection, disaster recovery, data center, SAN security, storage virtualization.