Storage Management Strategies for the CIO
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Growing interest in efficient storage tools
Tough times call for new ways
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to deal with old problems, and using storage more efficiently has
become de rigueur for most IT organizations. Used by 38% of our respondents, thin provisioning is
one of the easiest efficiency technologies to implement; another 9% plan to add it this year and
23% will evaluate. Data reduction for primary systems is also getting a lot of attention since its
success in the backup world; 24% say the’re using compression to cut storage down to size, while
28% say they’re using one of a handful of primary storage dedupe products
Storage virtualization is another effective method for ensuring more efficient use of installed capacity. Virtualizing storage can still be a major undertaking, but 33% of companies have virtualized at least some of their storage -- about five points higher than three years ago. Block and file storage are getting equal attention: Seventy percent of those surveyed say some block has been virtualized and 71% say the same for file storage. The numbers drop off significantly for companies that have really taken the plunge: Twenty percent have virtualized all their block and 18% all file storage.
Key statistic
40% say they will either buy or evaluate a storage virtualization product.
By the numbers
- Storage tiering, used by 31% of respondents, puts data on the most suitable storage; 12% plan to add it this year.
- The most popular way to virtualize storage is via the storage array (41%), followed by using a virtualization appliance (38%).
- Twenty-seven percent plan to evaluate storage virtualization this year.
Storage tech agenda
Storage managers are always on the lookout for technologies or products that may help them manage their companies’ information resources better. For 2012, 71% of them will be looking to implement or evaluate 10 Gbps Ethernet gear to pep up their storage networks. Backup dedupe -- at or near the top of the list for years now -- has been or will be implemented by 43%, while 27% plan to give it the once over. Data reduction for primary storage is No. 4 on the list, but it’s lost some interest vs. last year, perhaps a reflection that storage vendors just haven’t done a heck of a lot in this area yet.
Some techs continue to languish at the bottom of the list -- sort of a “not-to-do” list that includes implementing chargeback systems, data classification, e-discovery tools and the still-new LTFS tape indexing technology.
BIO: Rich Castagna is editorial director of TechTarget’s Storage Media Group.
This was first published in May 2012
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