Hitachi Data Systems was the first vendor to deliver a switch based storage architecture over ten years ago. Recently we are starting to see storage vendors deliver storage systems that include a switch in their architecture. However, the new switch architectures are designed for loose coupling of modular storage nodes while the Hitachi architecture is designed for tight coupling of storage resources.
I recently spoke to two storage analysts about the effect of server virtualization on storage resources. Both agreed that the effect of virtual machines will be to increase the I/O workload coming from the VM hardware platform by the number of VMs that are virtualized and that the resulting I/O would be very random.
By: Hu Yoshida on January 31, 2010
IT costs are increasing about 7 to 8 % per year. But when you look at industry spend on storage hardware that spend has been flat for many years, primarily due to Moore’s law. Storage densities continue to double about every 18 months. So where are we spending our IT budget? Most customers will agree that it is in increasing operational costs.
Tiered storage is one of those terms which people use freely and assume that everyone understands. The basic concept is that you can reduce the cost of storage by assigning your data to different cost tiers of storage depending on the requirements of the data. However, there are different technologies to address tiered storage which can make a great deal of difference in the value or benefits that can be derived. In fact some implementations of tiered storage may end up causing more complexity and cost. Here are a number of considerations which may be helpful.
Greg Schulz posted a very comprehensive set of predictions on his StorageIO blog.
While Cloud computing is touted as a new way to mask the complexity of the IT infrastructure and provide IT services as “a pay as you grow” service, these concepts were introduced over 10 years ago with the service providers of the late 1990’s. These concepts were so appealing that they helped to fuel the dot com boom, but disappeared in the dot com crash of 2001/2002. What has changed to make us think that a shared services model like cloud computing and cloud storage will be successful this time around? Key to the success of cloud storage providers, as with the dot com storage services providers (SSP) of earlier days, will be the ability to leverage their resources and be more efficient in managing the growth of storage compared to their end users.
Happy NewYear and welcome to 2010! I wish you all a healthy and productive new year.
While the economy seems to be getting better, budget planners are still very cautious and so we will continue to see a drive to consolidate to reduce cost and thin down the fat to be more agile. Therefore data center virtualization will be a top priority for 2010. We have already seen the adoption of server virtualization platforms with more competitive offerings and faster more powerful processors and networks becoming mainstream. The next major step in data center consolidation will be in the consolidation of storage through thin provisioning. Read More
I would like to wish you all the best for the holidays. I will be taking some time off and will be back after New Years day. Thanks to all of you who read this blog and special thanks to those who take the time to add your comments. Even if you don’t agree with me, I value and respect your perspective and will publish your comments.
If you saw the comments by EMC’s Barry Burke to my last blog post, Barry give his explanation of how VMAX works.
EMC announced FAST version 1 this week and one of the more insightful articles was by Beth Pariseau of SearchStorage.com.
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