Mastering Storage Management Software

"Traditional backups of files create a point-in-time reference, and with

tape, the portability to protect data assets," Meyer said, adding that

"managing the tapes, hardware and software to access the individual

files on the tapes... becomes the challenge of long-term storage."

For that subset of static data that does not change, the extra burden on

the daily backups becomes unmanageable over time, he said, the reason

formalized archiving has evolved to solve these challenges.

Storage resource management (SRM) is another technology expected

to grow fast as organizations look to better manage storage utilization

and begin to automate management functions.

Many in the industry believe that the SRM space has matured in recent

years from monitoring and reporting to become a set of practices involving

storage, device management, backup monitoring, active management,

and more.

"What we used to describe as a 'nice-to-have' is certainly becoming a

'have-to-have,' as SRM vendors have a clearer sense of end-user

needs and end-users have begun to identify their need to manage

capacity and growth," says Harding. "IT infrastructures continue to grow

in size, complexity, and cost. At the same time, most organizations want

those infrastructures to be cost-effective and efficient. Data centers are

often run with shrinking staffs. Manual processes take time and are both

unreliable and subject to error. Coupling automation with SRM reporting

is a logical step towards a total management structure."

Customers can no longer afford to store massive amounts of data in first-class storage containers, says Clark. A

hierarchy of containers lets customers more cost-effectively migrate data from one class of resource to another,

depending on its availability, performance, security, and other requirements.

"But even with multiple classes of storage, resource management is required to ensure that the capacity of each

storage class is used efficiently," says Clark. This maximizes ROI and enables customers to rationally cope with

explosive data growth, he said.

Storage customers planning large storage management software implementations are faced with a number of

issues. For starters, since storage management software is designed to spot underused capacity and get it to where

it's most needed, storage users need to know how a storage product will fit into their applications and processes.

Topping the list is how storage management software fits into an ILM strategy. The first step, industry experts say, is

understanding the content to be stored.

McData's Clark says a hierarchical storage management infrastructure with different classes of storage containers,

delivery, quality of service, and security are necessary for ILM, but customers still need to identify the business value

of their data before decisions can be made about where it should be stored.

"This requires a much closer understanding of the business application and the data it generates," says Clark.

"Manipulating file metadata, monitoring frequency of access, tagging data, etc., are really application-specific tools

required to identify business value. Once that determination has been made, the data can be passed to the appropriate

policy-based mechanisms within the hierarchical SAN."

Meyer says the biggest challenge storage customers face today is understanding what unstructured data exists

within their environment and how to develop policies and procedures for managing it. Meyer says there are tools

available that can identify characteristics of the data, such as age, format, and file size.

"The challenge occurs when IT is asked to place business value on that data and to apply business policies in managing

that data," says Meyer. "A majority of customers with whom I work are waiting on the business to make decisions

on what to do with this data so they can then utilize the SRM tools and products available to them."

Meyer says e-mail archiving seems to be one of the solutions that IT has enough business requirements on to begin

moving forward with ILM solutions.

Still others look at ILM as more than a tool kit; it's a way of thinking about data and its management.

Harding says ILM involves managing data throughout its useful life. As its usefulness changes, so should the way it's

stored and managed. At their best, ILM strategies function to move data from one storage platform to another