InformationWeek Storage Weblog

The Future Of Storage As A Virtual Machine

George Crump — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:49:40 -0500

In our last few entries we looked at what can be done today with storage software running as virtual machines. In this entry we will consider what the future holds for storage as a virtual machine. Storage as a virtual machine may be the only way you apply data services in the future.

Storage As A Virtual Machine Details - Part Two

George Crump — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:09:28 -0500

Completing our storage as a virtual machine re-interviews were conversations we had with EMC and Nexenta. While our last entry focused on systems that leveraged virtual machines to deliver block I/O storage services these two companies are delivering something a little different, NAS services and backup services.

Don�t Just Manage Your Data -- Know it

George Crump — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:11:32 -0500

There are countless ways to manage data available to the storage manager today but most of these solutions look at data as a problem. Few take an asset view of data, understanding that it is something to be cultivated and leveraged for future use. Storage managers should do more than just manage their data, they should know it.

Storage As A Virtual Machine Part Two - Details

George Crump — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:15:00 -0500

As we dive deeper into the storage as a virtual machine concept we went back and re-interviewed some of the players in the storage as a virtual machine market, focusing specifically on what they provide. The first two conversations were with DataCore and HP. We will cover more suppliers as the series unfolds.

Data Thinkage

George Crump — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:45:52 -0500

Data storage capacity is cheap. For most environments obtaining enough capacity is no longer a challenge, it is managing that capacity that becomes the problem. Growth, especially in unstructured data, continues unabated. Deciding what data should be where is one of the biggest challenges that the storage manager has to face today. Users don�t want to think about where data should be stored and storage managers don�t have the time to think about it.

Storage Services As A Virtual Machine

George Crump — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:36:45 -0500

Traditionally storage systems and other storage related services have been delivered as customized systems. This was done to maintain performance and to reduce support costs to the manufacturers. As server technology continues to increase in performance, the concept of providing storage services as a standalone application installed on your own server hardware is becoming increasingly popular. Now with virtualization the storage as an application concept is being applied to virtual machines.

What To Do With Too Much Storage Performance

George Crump — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:37:13 -0500

I recently concluded a series that examined the components of the storage environment that can impact overall storage I/O performance. There was storage I/O bandwidth, controllers and drives. What if you are like many data centers and you don�t need to wring out every drop of storage I/O performance from your storage infrastructure? What should you do with too much storage performance?

Mainstreaming SSD

George Crump — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:43:23 -0500

Most of the major Solid State Disk (SSD) manufacturers and providers are reporting record sales both in terms of units and capacity being purchased. Much of this success is being driven by cost reductions in the technology and an increased understanding of how to best implement the technology. Mainstreaming SSD is going to require more than just price drops, its going to require intelligent leveraging of the technology.

File Virtualization, The Ultimate Cloud Gateway?

George Crump — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:24:46 -0500

In our last entry we talked about the use of cloud storage as a backup target, but another ideal use case for cloud storage is to use it as an archive area. Almost every IT organization has old data that they want or must keep, but are struggling with where to keep it. Its ability to identify, automatically move and transparently recall data could make file virtualization the ultimate cloud gateway.

Cloud Based Backup, Ready For Business?

George Crump — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:59:09 -0500

Cloud based backup services have been successful in the consumer space. Companies like Mozy, Carbonite and others are protecting thousands of laptops and home desktops, but can cloud based backups services move beyond protecting consumer or prosumer data and into the data center? Are cloud based backups ready for business?

Reducing Storage Complexity In Server Virtualization

George Crump — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:35:08 -0500

The storage component of a virtualized server infrastructure has been labeled as complex and expensive. In our prior entries about selecting a storage foundation we discussed what systems and protocols are available that might help simplify and reduce costs for storage in a virtualized environment. Beyond physical hardware you need software tools that can link the abstract virtual machine to the physical storage.

Understanding Hard Drive Performance

George Crump — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:43:46 -0500

In the last performance entries we discussed understanding storage bandwidth and understanding storage controllers. Next up is to understand the performance characteristics of the hard drive itself and how the mechanical hard drive can be the performance bottleneck.

InformationWeek SMB Virtual Event: Dealing With Data Centers

Fredric Paul — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:04:00 -0500

Whether your company's data center is a couple of servers stashed in a closet or a gleaming, state-of-the-art climate-controlled facility, you're still facing the same set of challenges: how to keep the IT lights on while controlling costs, take advantage of new technologies to stay competitive, and position your company for an economic recovery in the midst of the toughest times for IT that many of us can remember.

On Wednesday, October 21, 2009, help is on the way.

Here Comes Automated Storage Tiering

George Crump — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:24:35 -0500

At Storage Networking World, at least one new category in storage is coming to the forefront; Automated Storage Tiering. These are typically devices that can sit in front of your existing storage platform and allow some of it to leverage a high speed solid state front end without you manually having to move data to a Solid State Disk (SSD).

Understanding Storage Controller Performance

George Crump — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:52:27 -0500

Storage controllers are the engine that drives the storage system you own. They are essentially a compute engine for storage arrays. Understanding storage controller performance and what can impact storage controllers is an important step in the optimization of your storage environment. It is also something that many storage managers assume is good enough.

Hitachi Data Systems Reaches For The Cloud

Andrew Conry-Murray — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:02:27 -0500

HDS announces a move into public and private cloud storage, primarily through rebranding

Understanding Storage Bandwidth Performance

George Crump — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:06:57 -0500

Storage bandwidth is the connectivity between servers and the storage they are attached to. When it comes to understanding storage bandwidth performance you have two challenges to deal with. The first and most obvious is can the storage get the data to the application or user fast enough? The second and less obvious is can the applications and hardware those applications run on take advantage of that bandwidth?

Understanding Storage Performance

George Crump — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:50:13 -0500

For most storage managers improving storage performance is an endless loop of upgrades that are taken until the problem goes away. Understanding where to look and how to configure the environment is often a series of "best guesses" instead of a thorough understanding of it. In today's economy best guesses are not allowed. Making the right move, the first time, is critical.

Selecting A Storage Protocol For Virtualized Servers

George Crump — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:36:29 -0500

In our last entry we discussed selecting the right storage foundation and I advised that you may want to initially ignore what protocol to use. That said, part of building a storage foundation for server virtualization is selecting the protocol.

Selecting A Storage Foundation for Virtualized Servers

George Crump — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:13:36 -0500

The storage component of a virtualized server infrastructure has been labeled as complex. The storage and server virtualization suppliers have both tried to deliver solutions that reduce storage complexity in server virtualization projects. The challenge for virtual infrastructure administrators is that there are so many options that it can be confusing. There are several steps to take when selecting a storage foundation for virtualized servers and our next series of entries will cover these steps.

Making Server Virtualization Storage More Scalable

George Crump — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:07:37 -0500

Storage scalability in a virtualized environment is quickly becoming a concern for some data centers. Unlike the very predictable single server world which had a single application, single NIC card and single host bus adapter, the virtualized host can have dozens of virtual machines and multiple network interface cards. This leads to a very unpredictable and random workload that can push storage controllers to their limits.

Reducing The Storage Costs In Server Virtualization

George Crump — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:17:42 -0500

One of the most expensive components of a server virtualization project is the storage which it is attached to. This is one of the reasons that VMworld seems more like a storage event than a server virtualization event. One of the key themes from vendors at this years event was reducing the storage costs in server virtualization projects.

Implementing Power Efficient Drives

George Crump — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:11:29 -0500

Most green storage methods really allow you to store more data in the same physical space, for the same amount of power consumption. To get serious about power efficiency you have to be able to turn things off. The ideal way to do this is have the drives either spin down or turn them off, but there is limited information about implementing power efficient drives.

Classifying Green Storage

George Crump — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:07:00 -0500

There is an ever increasing emphasis by storage suppliers on the power efficiency of their systems. There is also an increasing interest from IT managers on making their environment more power efficient. This is being driven not so much by the desire to be environmentally sensitive, but more because an increasing number of data centers simply can't get more power to the building.

Backup Vs. Recovery

George Crump — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:45:22 -0500

One thing suppliers and analysts are quick to point out is that when it comes to data protection it is not about how well you backup, it is about how well you recover. That sounds very catchy and for the most part is accurate. I believe however, that backup is an equally important part of the data protection puzzle. It is after all poor backup strategies that make recovery so hard and unpredictable.