The Recipe for Storage Success


At its most fundamental level, storage virtualization can be thought of as equal parts efficiency and optimization. Storage virtualization uses a layer of software to improve the management of resources, availability, disaster recovery options, and energy consumption of traditional physical storage appliances—allocating little pieces of storage space based on capacity, time, and performance considerations. It’s this management layer that makes storage virtualization such a powerful tool for improving an organization’s IT agility and flexibility.


Known as “storage pooling,” this concept of allocating storage resources on an as-needed basis aligns nicely with converged infrastructure (CI) initiatives. Instead of using a series of individual disks to store data, we can now combine their capacity into one pool from which we draw resources when needed. If your organization is looking into convergence, an effective storage virtualization program is an integral part of that strategy and cannot be overlooked.


What to Look for in Your Virtualized Storage Solution


While the concept of virtualized storage is fairly straightforward, you’ll want to make sure you design and build a solution that takes your unique environment into consideration. First and foremost, it’s important to select a solution that uses a reliable platform. If you’re trusting one piece of technology to oversee the entire storage aspect of your data center, you want to know it will function exactly the way you need it to. Building a virtualized storage program that can handle a wide range of downtime causes, from planned maintenance to disasters, will go a long way in protecting your organization.


It’s also a smart idea not to limit your flexibility—choose a solution that’s independent of your physical infrastructure so you can change server and storage hardware without worrying about affecting the underlying virtual resources.


Another good tip is to ensure you’re extending protection—including data protection, availability, and disaster recovery—across the entire range of applications and operating systems on your virtual machines. Not only does this reduce the overall cost of protection for your organization, it also simplifies management requirements and frees up considerable time resources.


Turn to the Experts for Guidance


If you’re considering implementing a virtualized storage solution, the best way to start is by conducting an assessment of your existing infrastructure. With an in-depth understanding of how your current storage environment operates, you can design, plan, and build a solution that ensures your data is well protected and your capacity usage is optimized for performance and availability— all while lowering operational costs. PC Connection can help you assess your current environment and implement a virtualized storage solution that helps you achieve your IT goals.


Turn the page to learn more about storage solutions designed for virtual environments, then call your Account Manager to get started optimizing your data center today.


Services to Help You Optimize Servers and Storage


PC Connection’s Server and Storage Assessments and Healthchecks provide easy to understand information about your servers, storage, and data growth and usage. We can help you make changes and improvements that reduce costs, shorten backup and recovery times, and accelerate performance and operational efficiency.


Your organization can use this data to:  Measure CPU, memory, disk, IO utilization, and peak time  Plan for disaster recovery and business continuity goals


 Measure Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and Return On Investment (ROI) expectations


 Make decisions regarding regulatory compliance and data retention


 Make immediate changes that reduce costs, shorten backup/recovery times, and improve overall operational efficiencies


 Strategically schedule follow-up projects like storage consolidation, storage virtualization, and tiered storage design and implementation


Call your Account Manager to schedule a healthcheck or assessment today.


1.800.800.0014 www.pcconnection.com/assessments


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