Building an Affordable Portable Storage Area Network (SAN) with Raspberry Pi: Design, Implementation, and Performance Evaluation

In a digital landscape demanding cost-effective yet robust data storage solutions, Portable Storage Area Network (SAN) became an affordable alternative for data storage systems. A portable SAN system using the Raspberry Pi solution offers personal users the ability to easily expand their storage capacity, improve data organization and management, protect their data, and have a flexible and mobile solution. Users can share any sort of data. This project aims to address the increasing demand for efficient storage solutions by constructing a portable SAN system using the Raspberry Pi's compact size and budget-friendly hardware. The proposed SAN system enhances data organization, expands storage capacity, and offers secure, flexible data access. Targeting individual users and small to medium-sized enterprises, the project covers hardware specifications, intricate design elements, and the seamless integration of OpenMedia Vault, Raspberry Pi OS, and the iSCSI protocol. Performance, stability, and practicality of the SAN solution are visually presented through extensive testing, to prove its potential benefits for diverse storage needs.