Executive Viewpoint: Wai Lam, FalconStor By Wai Lam published: Monday, December 22 2008
Towards the Virtual Data Center
There has been much industry
discussion about the future direction of corporate computing and the evolving
architecture of a new, more responsive data center. Going by many titles - on-demand computing,
utility computing, and, most recently, cloud computing - they all point towards
the same vision of a virtual pool of data center resources dynamically responsive
to user demands. Industry visionaries and
enterprise IT managers have been working toward defining and developing this new
data center architecture. Not everyone
agrees on how it should look, but most agree that it consists of three interrelated
functions: compute resources (servers), network infrastructure, and storage. These are conceived to be much more than a
collection of mechanical components; they are virtual pools of scalable
resources made up of intelligent, modular and scalable equipment that can be
deployed or decommissioned as needed without interruption to daily operations.
How this vision evolved is no
mystery. Any IT manager can attest to
the current inefficiencies of managing large banks of standalone servers with dedicated
storage trying to keep up with the computing demands of new applications,
mergers with other companies, and multiple remote offices. The trend towards consolidation and
virtualization of both server and storage has been underway for some time, driven
by a real business requirement for efficiency and responsiveness, and this
trend is culminating in the virtual data center.
Virtual servers have led the way in
this effort, since application servers are the leading edge of the IT
infrastructure's interface with users - and not far behind has been virtual
storage. However the first wave of
storage virtualization has been dominated by proprietary systems. Innovative new vendors have emerged over the
past few years with modular storage arrays that have successfully challenged
the old paradigm of monolithic mainframe disk arrays. These new systems have arrived with automated
storage management that relies on an underpinning of virtualization dedicated
to its own kind - leaving many IT managers still asking for true virtualization of heterogeneous
storage environments. Virtualization of
storage arrays across vendor boundaries is what will be needed to bring the
full vision of the virtual data into reality.
In 2009, as the current economic
downturn continues, a key concept for the IT industry will be "return on
assets," as companies of all sizes investigate how to extend the use of
existing assets by deriving value from them in innovative ways. For servers and storage, virtualization
extends the life of these assets, enabling them to deliver a higher level of
automation and intelligent services. As
the momentum of virtual server technology grows and expands into all levels of
the market, the need to create a virtual pool of storage out of existing
storage arrays - even if they are from different vendors - will increase,
discouraging IT managers from performing forklift upgrades to new storage
platforms and encouraging the deployment of storage virtualization software
that can run on any appliance and virtualize any storage environment.
There is no question that the reality
of the virtual data center, enabled by innovation in virtualization technology
for servers, storage, and networking resources, will evolve in 2009 as more and
more IT managers demand that their data center systems be completely integrated
and automated. This is a positive development
for customers and vendors alike. The paradigm shift towards simplicity,
integration, and automation has enormous operational benefits to customers and
presents a compelling business opportunity for those vendors creative enough to
engage with it.
Related Links:
FalconStor
All Executive Viewpoint Articles
Mr. Lam came to FalconStor from Computer
Associates International, Inc. As Vice President and Architect at CA, he was
responsible for the eTrust Internet security product strategy and design. Mr.
Lam joined CA in 1996 with its acquisition of Cheyenne Software, Inc., where he
was Director and Architect of the HSM product line. He joined Cheyenne in 1993 with its acquisition of
Applied Programming Technologies, Inc., where he was a partner and developer of
network storage systems using the newly available optical libraries. Before
joining APT, Mr. Lam worked at Hughes Aircraft, where he was a microwave
circuit designer for space communication systems, and he was appointed Senior
Staff Engineer. Mr. Lam received a Master of Science degree from UCLA in 1984,
and a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Stony Brook in 1982.
|
