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NETWORK WORLD FUSION FOCUS: ANNE SKAMAROCK
on STORAGE IN THE ENTERPRISE 12/12/00 - Today's Focus: Aggregation of storage Dear Wincenty Kaminski, In this issue: * Two vendors' approaches to storage aggregation * Experts Exchange * Links related to Storage in the Enterprise * IT Job Spot(tm): Exclusive opportunities with hot companies. ~~~~~~~~~~~ This newsletter sponsored by StorageTek ~~~~~~~~~~~ Enter to win a free safari for two! Eliminate storage threats with the new StorageTek L20 Tape library and we'll make your next vacation totally wild! The new tape library is: Easy to install, easy to use and more control over your data for less money. Find out more about this tape library and enter to win a FREE safari! http://www.storagetek.com/safari4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CHECK THESE OUT! Network World is now offering EIGHT NEW FREE newsletters. Get the latest on available IT jobs, management strategies and how to best optimize your web site. Sign up today at: http://nww1.com/go/foc69.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today's Focus: Aggregation of storage --------------------------------------------------------------- By Anne Skamarock There are several ways vendors are allowing for aggregation of storage, and even though they all use the word aggregation, the word means different things to different companies. The prospect of aggregating storage devices is intriguing, but it raises several questions. How much storage can I aggregate, or logically collect, for ease of management, yet make it available to my business applications with a performance appropriate to the environment? By the way, once I have all this storage, how do I manage it easily? And does all of the storage have to be of the same type/class, or even from the same vendor? Also, in a perfect world, I would be able to define the quality of service needed for my business application and data handling and it would all just happen. But we don't live in a perfect world - yet. One company selling the ability to aggregate storage is XIOtech. XIOtech's Magnitude storage subsystem allows customers to aggregate disks on a volume basis. What this means is the server system attached to the Magnitude subsystem will see the disk volume that is presented to it. Using virtualization, the disk volume that is presented to the world looks like a normal disk volume when in fact it could be made up of pieces of many different disks within the Magnitude chassis or on many different Magnitude subsystems linked together. The software that allows for the virtual presentation of volumes is located within the Magnitude subsystem. XIOtech has partnered with Veritas to gain high performance and functionality on the server side, in growing these aggregations of disk with no downtime to a business application. Installation of the Magnitude subsystem requires an administrator to answer two or three questions, and takes just 10 minutes. XIOtech has a leg up on the competition in its technology, but because this is a fairly new company with only one base product, one size must fit all. In reality, customers need to be able to choose the appropriate price/performance characteristics of their storage and match it with their business applications. And wouldn't it be nice to have only one storage-management environment for the whole enterprise, from very small to very large storage? Last week, Tivoli announced a new initiative code-named Storage Tank (where did they get that name?). This initiative goes a long way in addressing end-to-end storage management, if Tivoli can pull it off. While the Storage Tank initiative spans all areas of storage-area network (SAN) management, aggregation is a large part of this initiative as well. Within a SAN appliance that would interoperate with agents located on server systems, Tivoli plans to implement capabilities similar to what XIOtech has today. Again, using virtualization, the SAN appliance would present storage groups (logical volumes) to the servers. The one advantage this architecture has over storage subsystem- based implementations is it is both server- and storage-vendor "agnostic." Theoretically, you can have many different storage subsystems behind the virtualization layer to present to your business applications, running on many heterogeneous servers as you please. You could, in effect, manage an entire enterprise's storage from one place, obtaining storage that was appropriate for the business need, when you need it. This is an admirable goal. I think the road will be rocky for Tivoli for several reasons. The interoperability testing for verifying that different storage subsystems play well together is a huge task. Ease of installation, configuration and reconfiguration will be issues as well. Will current Tivoli agents need to be upgraded? How much will that cost? Will I have to pay consultants every time I want to trade out a subsystem for something new? Even though Storage Tank holds great promise, it is impossible to know if it will live up to that promise because it is not available today. You will continue to hear the terms "aggregation" and "virtualization" when talking with storage and storage management vendors. These concepts not only promise to make managing the plethora of storage that is, or soon will be, part of your enterprise much easier. But they also start to move into the realm of business data and information management, the true goal of businesses. To contact Anne Skamarock: ----------------------- Anne Skamarock is senior analyst with Enterprise Management Associates in Boulder, Colo., an analyst and market research firm focusing exclusively on enterprise management. She can be reached at mailto:askamarock@enterprisemanagement.com. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FOR RELATED LINKS -- Click here for Network World's home page: http://www.nwfusion.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Got a technical question related to new technology on your corporate network? Post it at Experts Exchange on Fusion at http://nwfusion.experts-exchange.com/. Another network professional may have the solution to your problem. XIOtech Web site: http://www.xiotech.com Veritas Web site: http://www.veritas.com Tivoli Web site: http://www.tivoli.com Virtualization and storage Storage in the Enterprise newsletter, 11/06/00 http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/stor/2000/1106stor1.html WQuinn software looks after NT storage resources Network World, 12/11/00 http://www.nwfusion.com/archive/2000/114133_12-11-2000.html EMC box called NetApp killer Network World, 12/04/00 http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2000/1204emc.html *************************************************************** IT Job Spot(tm) presented by http://www.ITcareers.com With LeadersOnline, your eCommerce career advancement is in the hands of recruiting professionals...not monsters. We bring exclusive opportunities to you through our convenient web-based search process. LeadersOnline finds high-quality, $75K-$200K eCommerce positions meeting your specific requirements. Developed by Heidrick & Struggles, the world's leading executive search firm, LeadersOnline matches top IT professionals with clients needing emerging leaders in mission- critical positions. Invest 10 minutes to register with LeadersOnline today. It's free and confidential. We'll do the rest. http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;2192248;4831248;j *************************************************************** Breaking storage news from Network World, updated daily: http://www.nwfusion.com/topics/storage.html Archive of the Storage newsletter: http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/stor/index.html May We Send You a Free Print Subscription? You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered at your fingertips each day. Now, extend your knowledge by receiving 51 FREE issues to our print publication. Apply today at http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/nl ********************************************************* Subscription Services To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World e-mail newsletters, go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/news/scripts/notprinteditnews.asp To change your email address, go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/news/scripts/changeemail.asp Subscription questions? Contact Customer Service by replying to this message. Other Questions/Comments Have editorial comments? Write Jeff Caruso, Newsletter Editor, at: mailto:jcaruso@nww.com For advertising information, write Jamie Kalbach, Fusion Sales Manager, at: mailto:jkalbach@nww.com Network World Fusion is part of IDG.net, the IDG Online Network. IT All Starts Here: http://www.idg.com Copyright Network World, Inc., 2000
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