Storage Management Strategies for the CIO
Access "This is only a test"
This article is part of the Vol. 5 No. 1 March 2006 issue of Strategies to take the sting out of microcode upgrades
There probably isn't a backup administrator out there who hasn't heard--or maybe even said--the old line about how backups always work, but restores might be a problem. If it didn't have such a resounding ring of truth to it, it'd be funny. Think about how often you actually test to see if backed up data can really be restored. Weekly? Once a month? Once in a while? Never? Today's backup apps are sophisticated and can provide reasonable reassurance that a backup was completed as planned, but they simply can't account for every variable. And they won't tell you for certain that your restores will actually work. The list of things that could go wrong with a backup is long: orphaned servers, open files, media flaws, and on and on. Even after what appears to be a successful backup, heat, moisture or just clumsy handling can damage tapes. And a lot of these backup snafus can go unnoticed--that is, until you need to get to that backed up data. Disk-based backup methods will improve recoverability odds, but they're far from perfect and don't eliminate restoration ... Access >>>
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What's Inside
Features
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- EMC takes the HighRoad (again)
- Virtualization--a hard habit to kick
- Adding old e-mail to an archive is no easy task
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Cut out the fat
It's not too tough to make short-term cuts to reduce costs, but most companies find it difficult to sustain those cost savings over a longer stretch of time. Here's how to make cost cutting a long-range, ongoing effort.
- Survey Says: Clustered file systems are still not widespread
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Microsoft's storage push
It's not news that Microsoft wants to become a major player in the storage market, but how the software titan plans to do it may open some eyes. We focus on the four areas that storage managers should track to keep a bead on Microsoft's storage efforts.
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- NetApp joins the VTL fray
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Surviving microcode upgrades
Vendors often claim that the upgrades to their systems' microcode will be non-disruptive, but installing upgrades often becomes an arduous process. Storage pros, burned by so-called non-disruptive upgrades, have come up with strategies to take the sting out of software updates.
- HP has a cool idea
- Relief for remote-office backup blues
- Snapshot: Do you replicate your data remotely?
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Columns
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IT vendors have spent more time and money helping to inflate the tech bubble than on building succes
Storage Bin: For a few years, the IT vendor world spent more time and money helping to inflate the tech bubble than on building successful products. When the bubble burst, it put us in a hole that we're only now digging our way out of.
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Virtual reality: The inevitability of storage virtualization
Storage virtualization has been a controversial subject for years. But now that we know the technology actually works, what's keeping it from widespread adoption?
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Continuous data protection: Check IT List
by Ed Tittel, Contributor
Continuous data protection might cost more in the short term, but the benefits will outweigh the cost for small and medium-sized businesses in the long run.
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Continuous data protection technology trends in storage
by Jon Oltsik
Continuous data protection (CDP) has great potential benefits, but it shouldn't be viewed as an isolated technology widget. Rather, CDP should be treated as a little piece of a much more profound process and business change.
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This is only a test
This is only a test
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IT vendors have spent more time and money helping to inflate the tech bubble than on building succes
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