What Does Storage Area Network (SAN) Mean?

A storage area network (SAN) is a secure high-speed data transfer network that provides access to consolidated block-level storage. An SAN makes a network of storage devices accessible to multiple servers. SAN devices appear to servers as attached drives, eliminating traditional network bottlenecks.

Techopedia Explains Storage Area Network (SAN)

Introduced in the early 2000s, SANs were initially limited to enterprise class computing. Today, high-speed disk costs have gradually dropped and SANs have become a mainstay for greater organizational storage.