Learning Guide: SAN management

Webcast break:
Title: Learning the business side of storage management
Speaker: Norbert Haag, Independent Storage Consultant
Topic: Join Norbert Haag, SearchStorage.com expert on storage management, as he describes the fundamental business steps and processes you need to follow to prepare your staff and infrastructure for using high-powered storage management features.
Listen now

Webcast break:
Title:SAN School, Chapter 12: Approaches to SAN management
Speaker:Alex Nikitin -- co-author, Storage Area Networks for Dummies
Topic: This lesson shows you how to approach SAN management in a different way -- from a systems level (as opposed to a component level). Get insight on what a solid SAN framework will give you and how you can match up your management process with the goals of the business unit.
Listen now

It's important not to forget the "network" part of storage area networks. Here are a few links that can help you understand Fibre Channel and other SAN connectivity options.

And, before you get too deep into your SAN planning, it's important to understand where SANs are headed in the next few years. Plan accordingly with these tips and advice...

Getting started with storage management? Check out these continually updated sections on SearchStorage.com:

How should I design my SAN?

Return to Table of Contents

Effective management of a SAN starts with a gold-star design. If you go about architecting your SAN incorrectly from the start, you are going to run into major problems down the road. You've explored a lot of the aspects of planning, now put them to use with the information in this chapter.

It's probably good to start understanding SAN design with the KISS cliché -- keep it simple stupid! SAN design can get a bit dicey but in the early stages, so it's often better to keep it simple. Also, to get you started here are seven steps for building and scaling SANs.

A good place to start is by looking at the basic building blocks of a SAN, this "guide within a guide", called Building a SAN from A to Z, was assembled to help answer these questions: How large a SAN can or should you build? What overriding framework will you use to manage the SAN? Which type of switch and HBA driver is best for your environment? Should you consider a SAN/NAS hybrid? Also, which networking protocol is best for your environment? This guide can also help you learn how to ignore vendor hype.

Webcast break:
Title:SATA Storage, Reliable Enclosure Design Matters
Speakers: Mike Bell -- consulting design engineer, owner of Bell Design, J. Peter Herz -- 3ware: Senior Vice President of Business Development Gene Lee -- Advanced Industrial Computer, Inc. (AIC): Corporate VP
Topic: 3ware and AIC examine what constitutes a properly built storage enclosure so that you can evaluate and select a storage system that meets your cost, performance, and reliability needs.
Listen now

Webcast break:
Title:SAN School Webcast Series: Chapter 8, Tying SAN's Together
Speakers:Christopher Poelker -- SearchStorage Expert on Storage Networking: SANs and Storage Architect, Hitachi Data Systems
Topic: Join Christopher Poelker, co-author, "Storage Area Networks for Dummies" for a webcast on how to create a full scale network by tying SANs together. This lesson looks at how to extend the SAN, connectivity between SANs and SAN islands, IP storage, virtualization (in-band, out-of-band) and SW/HW pooling.
Listen now

Webcast break:
Title: How to sidestep SAN implementation complexities
Speaker: Peter Galvin, Chief Technologist, Corporate Technologies
Topic: Learn what it takes to install a SAN, what to watch out for and how to make this transition go as smooth as possible.
Listen now

Additional design criteria:

Webcast break:
Title: Taming your e-mail data hogs
Speaker: Michael D. Osterman , President and Founder, Osterman Research
Topic: View this expert webcast to find out some useful tips and best practices for controlling the voracious storage appetite of your own organization's e-mail.
Listen now

Storage magazine extras:
"Best Practices: Hackers can't get into your SAN? Baloney! Here's how to block the four paths to your data" -- Darryl Brooks, March 2003
"Storage managers grapple with Windows" -- David Braue, April 2003
"IP SANs take their place" -- Alan Radding, July 2003
"CAD for SANs" -- John Vacca, July 2003

Managing switches

Return to Table of Contents

It's been said that the switch is the heart of a SAN. So, it would make sense that the health of your switches would also dictate the health of your network. Managing that network is key in avoiding heart problems.

Proper management of switches can be traced back to selecting the right switch for your environment.

There are two main types of switches, modular and director. Both of these have distinct differences that you need to be aware of when designing your systems.

This two-part series also further explains how traffic flows in switches, directors and hubs. (Also see: Switches and hubs, do they function the same?)

Discuss switch management with your peers in ITKnowledge Exchange.

Additional switch management advice and tips:

For all your SAN needs, attend SAN School...

Storage area networks have proven themselves a boon to IT managers, but mastering the nuances of SAN implementation and troubleshooting is often another story.

Until now...

SearchStorage.com is excited to announce the most comprehensive online storage area network (SAN) learning tool -- SAN School. But, unlike advanced college courseware, you can forget about taking out a second mortgage or waking up early for a final exam. Heading back to our school for an advanced SAN degree is free and available at any time.

The curriculum:
SAN School is a series of 14 short webcast lessons that mirror the chapters in Christopher Poelker and Alex Nikitin's book, Storage Area Networks for Dummies. After exposing pupils to the fundamentals of a SAN, each lesson gets progressively more advanced -- touching on tuning techniques, advice on linking SAN islands and the most effective techniques for managing SANs today.

For a syllabus, click here.

Policies and process

Return to Table of Contents

Good SAN management is not all about hardware and software. Policy and procedure are key in maintaining quality management. But, first you need to define your storage management process, policy and priorities.

Webcast break:
Title:Building a Storage Management Group
Speakers:Stephen Foskett, Senior Consultant at GlassHouse Technologies
Topic: Stephen Foskett of GlassHouse Technologies discusses what it takes to set up an effective storage management department.
Listen now

Webcast break:
Title:How PBS deployed IP SANs in its storage infrastructure
Speakers:Bob Boggan, VP Marketing, StoneFly Networks and Ken Walters -- Senior director enterprise platforms, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
Topic:Integrating an IP SAN into your existing IT infrastructure -- learn how PBS successfully deployed an IP SAN to meet increased storage demands.
Register now

Webcast break:
Title: Improve your actual storage utilization
Speaker: Stephen Foskett, Senior Consultant at GlassHouse Technologies
Topic: This webcast gives you an overview of the current tools and best practices for measuring and improving storage utilization.
Listen now
Storage magazine supplement:
Integration: Stephen Foskett takes a real-world look at how storage is being utilized and the answers are shocking.

Additional policy and procedure advice and tips:

Storage management tools

Return to Table of Contents

To understand which tools are best for your environment, GlassHouse Technologies Senior consultant Stephen Foskett believes it makes more sense to look at storage management from a different perspective and really evaluate the requirements of your business. One way to do so is to ask such questions as, "What tasks do I need to perform?" and "How will this product help me?" Esentially, Foskett thinks it's crucial to align storage management tools with operational processes. These questions will also help you choose the right storage management console.

One major slice of the tools available to you will be SRM tools. According to Norbert Haag, "this software will help you gather the data, identify it and get a report detailed enough to take action. However SRM software only reveals the information but doesn't take any automated action like deleting or moving files, so you need to either write some scripts or make it a manual task." But, which SRM tools are right for your organization? And where are the SRM tools in the storage industry headed? SRM can also help ease capacity planning pain. But, watch out for some new pricing models.

Webcast break:
Title: How to select storage management tools that fit your needs
Speaker: Jamie Gruener , Yankee Group Senior Analyst
Topic: Join Jamie Gruener in this expert webcast to learn methodologies for selecting and evaluating your company's own storage management strategies, tools/processes and vendors.
Listen now

Tool time!

Virtualization: Fact or fiction?

Return to Table of Contents

There are a few unanswered questions hanging out there. What is the Matrix? How do they figure out expiration dates on milk? And, of course what is virtualization? More and more virtualization is being defined and actually implemented by storage managers. So, how do you go about choosing a good SAN virtualization solution? You also need to know what types of virtualization are available and who the players are in the virtualization space.

Advanced management techniques

Return to Table of Contents

Now that you have traversed the rest of the SAN Management fast guide you are ready for your black belt. To bring your SANs to the next level take a look...

Webcast break:
Title: Designing your SAN for mission critical OLTP applications
Speaker: Marc Farley , Independent Storage Author and Consultant
Topic: Join Marc Farley in this expert webcast and learn the best practices for designing your storage network to support your mission critical applications with an emphasis on OLTP business continuity.
Listen now

SearchStorage.com tips on advanced technologies:

Additional resources

Return to Table of Contents

You've come this far, why not go a little further? This section highlights some of the important peripheral aspects of SAN and storage management that may have an impact on how you buy, implement and configure your systems.