Storage Management Strategies for the CIO
Access "Ask the Experts: SANs with multiple OSes"
This article is part of the Vol. 7 No. 5 July 2008 issue of Exploring the solid-state storage advantage
Q: We're upgrading a SAN with multiple operating systems (OSes). Should we run a different OS version in each fabric or upgrade both together? A. Assuming you have separate fabrics, and thus redundant access, you want to isolate the adapter, switch, storage interface port and software from path failure. It would make sense to upgrade one fabric and ensure it's stable with the ability to revert to the previous OS. Even if the hosts usually don't notice the upgrades, there's a chance of that happening. You also need to factor in the interdependencies of the different host bus adapters, as well as interaction with the switches and storage devices. If you upgrade one path and leave the other at the older version, try to upgrade the other path or fabric to the newer version as soon as possible. From a support and management standpoint, you'll be better off updating both. --Greg Schulz, founder and senior analyst, StorageIO Group Access >>>
Access TechTarget
Premium Content for Free.
What's Inside
Features
-
-
Solid State: New frontier for storage
Solid-state media is starting to show up as an option for traditional storage arrays because it offers higher performance and lower power consumption. However, there are still reliability concerns related to wear out, the slower write performance of flash cells, and issues related to array management and interoperability.
-
Here comes 8Gig Fibre Channel
New 8Gb/sec host bus adapters (HBAs) and switch devices have started arriving. But with storage arrays incorporating the new, higher speed technology still months away, end-to-end 8Gb storage infrastructures are still in the planning stages. Storage managers can get a jump on their 8Gig configurations by upgrading switches and HBAs now, or by considering networking gear that supports Fibre Channel over Ethernet.
- HBAs finally getting some respect
- Testing from virtually anywhere
- SAS bumps up speed to 6Gigs
- Disaster Recovery By The Numbers
-
Ask the Experts: SANs with multiple OSes
We're upgrading a SAN with multiple operating systems (OSes). Should we run a different OS version in each fabric or upgrade both together?
- Our View: Like passwords for chocolate
-
Solid State: New frontier for storage
-
- DLT-S4 tape drives at bargain prices
-
Storage gets a dose of medical data
By 2014, healthcare providers will be required to make every patient's medical information available electronically. While having all of a patient's data in one place will make it easier to diagnose and treat them, many medical IT departments don't have the IT infrastructure, storage and network bandwidth to accommodate these records.
- What can storage vendors do to improve their tech support?
- Lack of meta data complicates file archiving
- Users hesitate on iSCSI adoption
- Does SAP eat more than its share of storage?
- No open-and-shut case for NAS gateways
-
Server blades and storage
by Ellen O'Brien
Many IT shops are moving from traditional rack-mounted servers to blade configurations in hopes of reducing power and floor space requirements in their data centers. But combining blade architectures with server virtualization can cause problems with I/O and storage systems.
-
Columns
-
Change that stands the test of time: Best Practices
by James Damoulakis
We're embarking on a period of significant market segmentation, with vendors creating offerings to target price points and specific feature-set combinations for various audiences.
-
What's red hot this summer? Common sense:Storage Bin 2.0
Information security, data deduplication and virtualization are booming. But as we finally put some of these common-sense themes into practice, we'll invariably expose the next set of weaknesses we'll have to contend with.
- Dedupe and virtualization don't solve the real problem: Editorial
-
FCoE: Coming to a data center near you: Hot Spots
by Bob Laliberte
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) has the potential to reduce data center complexity and make the world a little greener by decreasing the number of cards, cabling and network devices in the data center.
-
Change that stands the test of time: Best Practices
by James Damoulakis
More Premium Content Accessible For Free
How to improve your virtual server storage setups
E-Zine
One of the biggest challenges of building a virtual server infrastructure is fine-tuning the storage that supports the virtual machines. Having ...
Rethinking the way storage architectures are packaged and presented
E-Zine
Cloud storage, virtualization and the growth of unstructured data have contributed to the way storage architectures are built and used. Virtual ...
Archiving stays active with LTFS and the cloud
E-Handbook
While the concept of data archiving has existed for decades, archiving practices that were once considered standard are becoming inadequate. Factors ...