The Benefits of Deploying Storage Virtualization
Overview
This article will share the results of a survey conducted by Aberdeen to measure the benefits companies have found in deploying storage virtualization products. During May of 2010, Aberdeen surveyed over 180 end-user organizations on the subject of virtualization. Aberdeen was able to compare the strategies, actions, and business benefits of implementing virtualized storage by comparing companies that had deployed it to companies that have not done so.
Storage Virtualization Defined
Today there is a great buzz around the benefits of virtualization. The term “virtualization” has taken on great marketing value. However, the term has disparate definitions - suppliers of network gear, desktops, operating systems, security, and outsourced services all have assigned the term very different meanings. Even within the storage industry, there are widely differing definitions as to what constitutes virtualization.
Most storage solutions support virtualization over and above the basic concept of Logical Unit Numbers (LUNs) and centralized management of the arrays. No two storage virtualization solutions are exactly the same, with some being widely different from the others. There is, however, a common element: storage virtualization means adding an abstraction layer of software that hides the physical devices from the user and allows all devices to be managed as a single pool.
This means data is represented differently from where it physically resides and it is managed as a logical unit. As the storage virtualization market matures, the definition will narrow into a commonly accepted set of functions. The common goal for everyone is to easily manage data across multiple platforms, solutions, and technologies and allow effective allocation and reallocation of resources with no planned or unplanned downtime.
Pressures to Deploy Storage Virtualization
The Aberdeen survey asked respondents to identify their top 3 pressures for deploying storage virtualization products. Five of the top six pressures cited by survey respondents come from the continuing demand to provide more storage and computing capacity. Far and away the number one pressure cited by 84% of responding organizations was the increasing demand for more storage. One contributing factor to this rising demand is the virtualization of servers and PCs, which increases the amount of data that needs to be stored centrally. For example each server VM (virtualized OS and application stack) has a copy of the operating system, rather than sharing one copy of the OS across multiple applications on the same server. Storage virtualization enables more efficient utilization as all forms of storage (NAS, SAN and server-based disk) by collecting and managing them together as a single unit with no stranding of storage assets.
The Top Three Pressures to Implement Storage Virtualization
Strategic Actions
The survey asked organizations to identify the strategic actions they have taken to deal with the pressures cited above. The strategy that survey respondents have most prominently implemented was to centralize and standardize their storage assets. Adding virtualization software and integrating NAS devices allows for putting all storage assets under a single management umbrella. Choosing a single type of SAN and type of management software makes managing that unified environment more efficient and simple.
