the storage revolution has begun 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
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  , 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  , 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  , 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 . . 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 @ . 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 :
to change your email address , go to :
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
the storage revolution has begun
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
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  , 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  , 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  , 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 . . 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 @ . 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 :
to change your email address , go to :
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