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News Release from: Storage Expo | Subject: Storage Expo 2006
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 02 October 2006
Complexity Made Simple
According to a recent IDC survey, 74 percent of IT problems arise from network infrastructure complexities
When buying a house, the old adage of location, location, location is often recited While this is an over simplistic view given all the different variables that need considering when investing in a property, it doesn't stop a property's location dictating its market value
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 11 Jul 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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Data protection requirements have moved on from the purely technical question of "Did the backup work?" to the much more complex question of "Is my business protected?"
Do I really need to archive all this email?
Storage managers are waking up to the realisation that they need to dedicate a large amount of storage to email.
For technology investments, the same can be applied to the service IT provides.
Whether it is processing power, storage capacity or convergence, the proposition is always the same; you need to buy a product or service that has the latest functionality and is future proof.
But, as functionality explodes, the challenge is to find the optimum balance between complexity and usability; service and cost; risk and availability; people and software.
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Email generated by the corporate world continues to grow dramatically and storage-related costs of email are an escalating concern for IT executives.
Only by balancing these often conflicting areas and shielding complexity from end-users, will new innovations realise their potential.
This is certainly the case for IT.
According to a recent IDC survey, 74 percent of IT problems arise from network infrastructure complexities.
With chief information officers (CIOs) across the world citing complexity as their number one problem, the case for simplified IT management has never been stronger.
This is not just a big company issue either, small and medium size businesses face similar challenges.
Managing an organisation's data shows just how complex a CIO's task is.
At the heart of this is data storage, which in itself can be incredibly complicated.
It is not just a case of managing storage resources or even a storage area network, the task is far more complex.
Switches and servers of varying kinds are combined with heterogeneous operating systems, volume managers, file systems and database management systems to name but a few of the technologies involved.
Add to this the diverse applications that run on top of this infrastructure - each with its own availability, performance, capacity connectivity security and retention requirements and the management challenge becomes horrendous.
While it is a daunting task, CIOs need to address this complexity in order to manage their ever increasing data burden.
Research consistently puts the year-on-year growth of data that firms need to manage at between 30 - 50%, some higher! Combine these with the CIO's prime goals of improving service levels to the business, managing risk and reducing costs and it is no wonder that the average tenure of a CIO is less than two years! What can be done to improve this tenure? Consider the "simple" process of parcel delivery to anywhere in the world.
The delivery company may use motorcycles, vans, trucks, trains, ships, cargo planes or any combination of these different transport methods to complete the delivery.
Each mode of transport has its own cost, capacity, security, speed, scalability, operational procedure, language (international deliveries), customs regulations and so on.
The process is managed by "Track and Trace" applications that span the globe and accommodate individual county's regulatory requirements.
The customer will be charged according to weight and speed - in fact charged according to the "value" of the parcel to him and the recipient.
This in turn will dictate the mode of delivery and management deployed.
To the end user the problem is virtualised - he/she will see none of this.
It's the same in IT.
Throughout its lifecycle, data may be stored on monolithic storage (high-end), modular/mid range storage, ultra low end storage, Virtual Tape Libraries, Automatic Tape Libraries, Optical, tape, USB Flash drives and so on.
This poses a difficult challenge to vendors; namely, how to mask this complexity from the end user whilst allowing them to maintain absolute control of their data at all times.
Virtualisation is the answer and Tiered Storage is the implementation.
Taking virtualisation out of the network gives organisations the ability to manage all available storage space as a single resource, independent of the make, model and type of storage technologies deployed.
It simplifies these issues, creating a single pool of storage capacity than can be centrally managed and easily provisioned.
Thus, businesses can maximise existing assets and simplify management whilst reducing costs, maximising service levels and mitigating risk.
Once a single, centrally managed view of all storage resources is achieved, your company can then aim to match the needs of its business applications to the most suitable storage resources available.
For example, for obvious reasons, mission critical files should be saved on a different class of storage device to employees' personal emails.
In effect - like parcel delivery - it's all about the value of the data to you! Hitachi Data Systems is exhibiting at Storage Expo 2006 the UK's largest and most important event dedicated to data storage.
Now in its 6th year, the show features a comprehensive FREE education programme and over 90 exhibitors at the National Hall, Olympia, London from 18 - 19 October 2006.
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