“Additionally, because storage virtualization allows for the transparent movement of data, the technology improves data integrity by simplifying off-site backup and archival.”
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applied to network attached storage resources that may be accessed through the Internet cloud. If the network connection dies, so can access to mission-critical data. What’s more, as data traverses the network, it can become subject to intercept or corruption. Encryption becomes an essential aspect of storage virtualization when it’s used for an external cloud environment.
Charting a Course for Storage
Virtualization Implementation Implementation of storage virtualization requires
that the enterprise first develop a plan for storage that includes acquiring servers for virtualization and metadata directories, building out a storage area network (SAN), and more. Essential questions to ask about storage virtualization implementation include the following: • What is the maximum amount of storage that is desired for online access?
• What are the backup and archival requirements? • Which applications will be accessing the virtualized data store?
• How secure must the storage facility be? • How will storage need to evolve over time to meet business needs? The answers to these questions determine how complex
and extensive the storage virtualization process will be. For example, if security requirements trump all others, then the enterprise is likely to deploy a SAN that is highly interconnected but does not include network access to the outside world. In any case, enterprises seeking to deploy a virtualized
storage environment will need to seek servers that can run virtualization applications and manage a metadata directory. Once these servers have been configured, existing
storage is then mapped to the directory. Additionally, a SAN needs to be deployed to manage the dynamic transfer of data across devices. This typically involves interfacing storage devices with high-speed network interfaces that interconnect through fiber or high speed Ethernet. Whether this requires substantial investments will largely depend on the kind of storage environment and the sorts of latency that can be accepted by the applications that access the storage facility. Additional configuration requirements include
determining how often data will require backup, whether data needs to mirrored across different storage facilities, and to what degree data must be encrypted. As part of this process, the IT shop will also need to determine whether cloud storage services have to be part of the virtualized
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Detailed implementation and testing Installation and startup by an experienced PC Connection System Engineer
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environment and to what degree that will include working data or archival data. Ultimately, it is likely that most IT operations will decide
that storage virtualization is worth the complexity, since businesses increasingly demand that data be collected and maintained for protracted periods. A dynamic storage environment can accommodate vast amounts of data and enable the use of cloud services.
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