Storing and retrieving data are vital functions to almost all companies. Planning for meeting the demands for storage in capacity, performance, data protection including security, storage management, and availability is really a business process that must take into consideration both business and technical factors. For most companies, this has been dealt with in a reactionary manner by relying on the talents of the storage professionals responsible to handle the situations as they occur. It is equally important to plan for regulatory compliance, business continuity, and operational efficiency.
This book introduces developing a storage strategy over a three to five year timeframe and a plan for implementing the storage strategy. Any storage strategy considers future requirements, integration of technologies and the risk associated, and meeting the current needs with a tactical plan. The book highlights the necessary information and a method for obtaining and analyzing the requirements as well as understanding the future technology impacts. Planning for technology change is one of the most overlooked elements in Information Technology. The process to employ in gathering information and making judgments regarding what and how to integrate into the storage strategy are highlighted in this book.
Table of Contents
| 1 Introduction | 1 |
| What is a storage strategy? | 2 |
| Who is responsible for the storage strategy? | 4 |
| Storage is more than just devices | 4 |
| The Ins and Outs of a Storage strategy | 5 |
| Storage is a critical business | 8 |
| Storage doesn’t necessarily mean complexity | 11 |
| 2 Business Issues | 12 |
| Storage Investment | 12 |
| Importance of Storage | 14 |
| Competitiveness in Business | 16 |
| Visibility of Failure | 17 |
| Storage Demand | 18 |
| Continuous Operation | 19 |
| Complexity | 21 |
| Effective Use of Resources | 22 |
| Investment Value | 23 |
| Consistency in Storage Strategy Implications | 26 |
| 3 Requirements | 27 |
| Business Requirements | 27 |
| How to Deliver Capacity and Business Continuity | 28 |
| Security of Information | 29 |
| Risk Management | 31 |
| Availability Requirements | 32 |
| Security Requirements | 37 |
| Financial Operation Requirements | 41 |
| Major Change Requirements | 42 |
| Measurement Requirements – Total Cost of Ownership | 42 |
| Measurement Requirements – Return On Investment | 44 |
| Obtaining the Requirements | 46 |
| Regular Business Process | 47 |
| 4 Storage Strategy Components | 48 |
| Storage Environment – Architecture | 48 |
| Storage Management | 54 |
| Disk Systems | 59 |
| Tape Systems | 66 |
| NAS Systems | 70 |
| Storage Device Special Features | 75 |
| Services | 80 |
| Operational Procedures | 83 |
| Organization | 83 |
| Business Procedures | 84 |
| Standards vs. “Standardize” | 85 |
| Strategic Developments | 88 |
| Future Technologies | 88 |
| Storage Virtualization | 90 |
| SCSI – Internet SCSI | 94 |
| InfiniBand | 99 |
| RDMA – Remote Direct Memory Access | 100 |
| Storage Grid | 102 |
| Global Namespace | 105 |
| De-duplication | 107 |
| Continuous Data Protection | 107 |
| 5 Strategic Decisions | 111 |
| Sources for Storage Information | 111 |
| Education | 114 |
| Product Information | 115 |
| Procedures | 117 |
| Decision Process | 120 |
| Time | 121 |
| Technology Turns | 122 |
| Tactics | 122 |
| Validation | 126 |
| Critical Choices | 126 |
| Selling the Strategy | 128 |
| 6 Development of the Strategy | 130 |
| Get the Requirements | 132 |
| Storage Infrastructure | 139 |
| Storage Management | 141 |
| Strategic Initiatives | 144 |
| Storage Practices | 148 |
| 7 Recommendations | 150 |
| Work with IT Staff | 150 |
| Cross Area Exposure | 153 |
| Business Economics Education | 153 |
| Managing to a Process | 153 |
| Implementation of the Storage Strategy | 156 |
| Evaluate and Measure Effectiveness | 158 |
| Refine the Process | 159 |
| 8 Summary | 161 |
| Appendix | 163 |
| Index | 169 |
| About Randy Kerns | 172 |
This book will be mailed upon ordering
