Storage Management Strategies for the CIO
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The best way to prepare
for scaling a storage infrastructure is to buy the best parts in the first place. Here are some
questions you should ask vendors when considering SAN and SAN array products:
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Scaling and applications
Capacity and scalability requirements come in all forms, but they're ultimately reduced to a single
consideration: Do your applications function in a manner that suits the business? For example, the
I/O profile changes resulting from adding more disk space vary considerably from application to
application. A database growing in size (and I/O) may need more disk space to generate more logs or
to create bigger indices. Once the additional space has been made available, the array's
performance may be affected because the application now demands more I/O. This may be very
different from an Internet-based application that requires more space only to store more
content.
Effective scaling is based on the correct sizing of all the parameters involved. If you don't understand the requirements of your applications, you may impact the larger environment.
Understanding application requirements for your storage infrastructure is a part of the application lifecycle management process. As applications change, so do their requirements. The application management process starts during the initial design of the storage system. Understanding these parameters--and how they'll likely grow--is the key to avoiding being locked into a disk solution that doesn't scale with the apps it hosts.
This was first published in June 2006
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