Distributed Disk Services can be used to access Disk Group files that reside in a protected storage area network. (A SAN is a private network of servers with limited access to the public network, in which one or more servers may function as storage nodes with access restricted to specific access nodes.)
When configuring Distributed Disk Services, one machine can be configured as a Disk Services Server and associated with one or more servers where Disk Group files are stored.
The access nodes may have a high-speed private network interface to the storage nodes, and a standard network interface to the organization's intranet. The access nodes will contain Windows shared folders that map to the storage node, allowing indirect intranet access to the storage node. Distributed Disk Services ensures that the protected domain created for the SAN is respected.
For example, document scanning is performed in LAN2 to highly secure SAN nodes. Access to these nodes is through a Windows server (access node). Users outside LAN2 are not given access to the access node.
The service will open a port on the access node to allow highly secure file access to the SAN data nodes from LAN1. The access node is functioning as a router for file requests.