Storage Management Strategies for the CIO
Data migration: Proceed with caution
10 Aug 2006 | SearchStorage.com
Host-based data migration products are the best choice for moving mission-critical data. While there are only a few products in this category, they vary significantly.
The days are numbered for the old ways of migrating data. Array-based options and native operating system utilities are no longer sufficient for migrating data for always-on mission-critical applications. As the amount of data that needs to move increases, so does the time and complexity associated with planning and executing the migration. Host-level data migration products automate, centralize and simplify data migrations, while ensuring the integrity of the moved data and that the application remains live. (This is the first of a three-part series on data migration products. The second article will focus on file system-based data migration products.)
Host-level data migration products allow users to:
- Migrate data between internal and external storage disk devices
- Migrate data between different brands and types of storage arrays
- Allow applications to operate continuously during migration
Although there are only three block-based, host-level data migration products, they offer a wide choice in how to migrate data. Softek Storage Solutions Corp.'s Transparent Data Migration Facility (TDMF) migrates data between disk storage devices local to the server; Symantec Corp.'s Veritas Volume Replicator migrates data between different servers using TCP/IP; and Topio Inc.'s Topio Data Protection Suite (TDPS) performs both types of migration.