Interview Questions in Storage technology area are not that easy to predict

It does not help if you just prepare for a set of interview questions. Specifically in a technology domain like Storage or even Virtualization you need to have strong foundation. You should have got hands on experience. Also you should have spent time to learn many things which can be termed as advance technical skill. Some people just collect interview questions & start attending interviews JUST on the basis of those questions. Its worse. True some questions may repeat. But more than depending on few qustions why not spend some solid hours,days, months if time is available to perfect what you are working on.

I've seen people coming from real experience background in storage not able to clearly explain some of the basics. I've also seen people in FC segment not being aware of anything from iSCSI or FCOE areas. Also many people have forgotten the good old Clariion they just know latest stuff & latest CAS etc.

I would always encourage you to prepare seriously for your storage interviews. Having few questions as refence is fine but in Storage any topic you take can become an interview question. So stop searching for interview questions since I know you came here searching for that in Google. Google thankfully lists this website in Top 1 position for "storage interview questions". I've been forced by some of the blog readers to post more interview questions. So before I do that I just want you to start reading "Storage Complete Reference" by Tata McGraw hill. Also get as much handson experience as possible as there is no replacement for that.

Interview questions most frequently asked for Storage pros but this is just the basics

Many Storage job interviewer ask one or other question about Luns, Lun management, Lun secure,Lun relocation, Lun replication. But the below one is the most frequently asked question in any storage technology interview. So better you get the basics right.

Interview question: What is Lun Mapping,Lun Masking,Persistent Binding,Fabric Zoning.All these are with respect to a FC SAN array. (Fibre Channel Storage Area Network Array)

LUN Mapping:
LUN Mapping is host-centric method of storage LUN visibility management. LUN Mapping selectively allows a system administrator to scan for specified SCSI targets and LUNs at storage-driver boot time and to ignore selectively non-specified SCSI targets and LUNs.

The advantage of LUN Mapping is that it provides a level of security management in SANs where LUN Masking is not an option, perhaps because it is not supported
on the storage hardware.

The disadvantage is that LUN Mapping is configured and enabled on a host-by-host basis. It requires good coordination among the administrators of the systems sharing the storage, which ensures that only one host sees certain storage unless planned, as in a clustered server configuration.

LUN Masking:
LUN Masking is RAID storage subsystem-centric method of LUN visibility management to
hosts or servers.

LUN Masking makes sure that each RAID controller is configured to allow each host to see only a subset of the actual LUN's & hide all other LUNs from it. so all connected hosts will see only those LUNs that are assigned to them.

The advantage of LUN Masking is easy to implement in storage subsystems and no changes needed in Hosts or servers that are connected to them.
The disadvantage is multi-vendor devices might be present in the real SAN networks & not all the vendors implemented in same way.

Persistent Binding:
It is another host-centric method. This can be implemented in Operating systems (OS) by assigning specific SCSI-Target IDs to the Storage LUNs.

Fabric Zoning:
It is Network-centric method & basically Switch (or Fabric) present in the SAN networks have the capability to allow grouping of Ports from Storage Sub-systems to Connected Hosts in the form of Zoning.
The disadvantage is that Fabric zoning cannot mask individual LUNs that sit behind a port. All hosts connected to the same port will see all the LUNs addressed through that port.

NOTE:
Each of these Host-centric, Storage centric & switch-centric methods provide their own benifits & drawbacks. Usually to provide very good solution, combination of any two methods will be implemented in real SAN networks.

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This is a sponsored post. But my opinions are not influenced by the sponsor.

After a long long time im hearing some good news - People are being Hired

I was waiting from a long time to hear news like this.
Yes Companies have started hiring again. Joining the hiring trend are companies starting from Dell,Sun Microsystems,IBM,HP,NetApp,EMC2,Vmware,Cisco,Brocade.

Thats like message from heaven for many of the people who've been struggling just to get their resumes shortlisted. Yes I understand a lot of people's situation. They've been applying like hell but the response was not at all there.I just was getting many emails saying they are not getting interview schedules. They are not being called for any interviews. There was a lot of frustration growing among people who were in a stable domain like Storage technology.

But things are starting to brighten up now.

I'm getting more emails now saying their resume has been shortlisted,they are getting interview schedules, also I got 2 emails saying they got their offer letters & joining in next 15 days. Thats like the best news I've heard from people who read this blog over a long time. Im glad you guys made it. Help others too.

Just to keep you all updated openings are coming up but NOT in large numbers, its appearning more like strategic hirings or replacement hiring. But still atleast people are getting jobs thats what matters to me.

Email me about your job search process in detail & we'll see if there is any way we can be of some help. Remember interviews are dynamic processes so dont just go by theory or small set of questions.

Are EMC NetApp IBM hiring Storage professionals - Yes they do

EMC,NetApp,IBM all these companies were in news sometime back for massive layoffs. Yes even 100 people being laid off I call as massive. I hate Layoffs as much as you do. But this post is not about layoffs. I've also got news that all these companies are hiring for Storage technology openings. There are openings for Storage administrators, Storage Architects, Storage consultants, Storage support engineers.

As per my source the hiring is mainly for experienced pros with more than 3 years experience in this core field. Atleast there is some good news so I thought of sharing with you all.

Dont loose hope I got news that even HP,Accenture are hiring for Storage technology, Data Center Admin roles. Just make your job hunt accelerate with more speed. I'll get you more details soon on which other storage companies are hiring now.

Main Tip : For sure upload your resumes to Major Job websites. Not just that apply through the career sections of each of these Company websites. Also reach out more to hiring consultants(head hunters) the more you network the better in these times.

Interviews for these openings are going little more tough, there will be more rounds of technical interviews. Dont expect it to be easy & dont neglect your interview preparations. There will be more emphasis on practical handson experience coupled with good skill in troubleshooting & advanced configurations, support issues awareness. Keep trying & dont loose hope.