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NETWORK WORLD FUSION FOCUS: AMY LARSEN DeCARLO
on STORAGE IN THE ENTERPRISE Today's Focus: The storage revolution has begun 03/07/00 Dear Wincenty Kaminski, Today's Focus: The storage revolution has=20 begun --------------------------------------------------------------- By Amy Larsen DeCarlo Believe the hype. We are in the middle of a storage revolution. Virtually overnight, businesses have gone from storing gigabytes to terabytes of data, and the number of users accessing that information is skyrocketing. The subsequent requirements are forcing companies to rethink their storage strategies and to recognize the importance of storage management in the equation of efficient information delivery. It isn=01,t just the volume of data or the higher scalability demands that are changing how businesses handle storage. The premium that companies place on much of their enterprise information is having a profound effect on their storage requirements. Businesses demand fault-tolerant storage systems that deliver swift and reliable data access to their employees, suppliers and customers. But given the fact that hard disk capacity requirements, on average, double every 12 months, while processor speeds double every 18 months, companies are left with a quandary: How can they manage the proliferation of stored information efficiently enough to compensate for the differential between capacity requirements and processor speeds? The simple answer to this question is to institute a well-executed storage management plan that anticipates capacity requirements in advance and leverages the best technologies and techniques to support those needs. Bear in mind that the majority of storage costs come not from the equipment but from the implementation and support of those systems. There are several ways to efficiently manage storage. One of the best routes is consolidation that is, pooling resources and managing storage as a system, as opposed to a decentralized collection of file servers. This may sound like a throwback to an earlier era, when enterprise storage resided on mainframes. But it=01,s actually a progressive step, as the consolidation has more to do with centralizing the planning, management, and ongoing support of storage systems than it does with the physical location of the files. Next, it is important to recognize that not all information is equally important to the organization. Consequently, storage requirements vary by business application. As in all areas of IT, it is important to make storage implementation decisions based on business needs. Businesses trying to more efficiently manage storage are looking for alternatives to the distributed file server storage model. They want to speed access to stored files and remove bandwidth-intensive backup and recovery operations from the LAN. Network-attached storage (NAS) supplies IT professionals with one answer, giving workstations and servers a way to gain direct access to stored data. NAS devices, which have been widely available for years, are optimized to process I/O transactions. Though they promise better performance, they don=01,t remove backups from the transport network. Instead, they supply a relatively easy-to-deploy solution to cross- platform storage problems for most heterogeneous environments. Many consider storage-area networks (SAN) to be the best long-term answer to current and future storage challenges. Because SANs are designed with a topology separate from the corporate data network, they alleviate many of the availability and performance issues associated with more traditional storage models. Yet, given the early deployment stage most companies are still in, many of those capabilities are still largely untested in a production environment. This newsletter will examine how, through effective storage management, IT professionals can reduce support costs and improve service delivery to their customers. This newsletter will not focus on items like the least expensive tape drive or the fast tape library. Instead, it will look at how businesses can reduce inefficiencies and leverage emerging technologies to resolve their particular storage application issues. Ultimately, the goal is to identify storage technology options and practices that work in real-world environments. To contact Amy Larsen DeCarlo: ------------------------------ Amy Larsen DeCarlo is an analyst with Enterprise Management Associates in Boulder, Colo., (http://www.enterprisemanagement.com), a leading analyst and market research firm focusing exclusively on all aspects of enterprise management. She focuses on storage management, application management, and security. In her position, she oversees market research and contributes to custom project work in her focal coverage areas. Prior to joining EMA, Amy spent five years covering enterprise management for industry trade magazines, including InformationWeek and Data Communications. She can be reached at mailto:decarlo@enterprisemanagement.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FOR RELATED LINKS -- Click here for Network World's home page: http://www.nwfusion.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The National Storage Industry Consortium (NSIC) http://www.nsic.org The Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) http://www.dmtf.org Storage Systems Standards Working Group of the IEEE http://www.ssswg.org The IETF http://www.ietf.org ********************************************************* 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, Account Executive, 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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