Traditional server-attached storage is not equipped to handle companies' growing data storage and access requirements. Neither are traditional storage architectures, which lack the scalability, reliability, bandwidth, latency, and manageability to cost effectively meet increasing demands. The answer: Shared networked storage in the form of network-attached storage (NAS) or storage area networks (SANs). The two approaches are often described too simply or too complexly, and they are often portrayed as competing, rather than complementary, technologies. Perpetuating the confusion is the storage landscape, which is littered with proprietary solutions. This white paper explans how network-attached storage can be used as a stepping stone to storage area networks, and how it can coexist with them.. (September 1999)