Storage Management Strategies for the CIO
In 2009, storage managers are still struggling with many of the same issues you've dealt with for years. And, of course, all these issues don't care about the state of the economy. So it is absolutely imperative this year to discover efficiencies, increase productivity, streamline your processes, and – when you make storage purchases – to spend that money wisely. So, during this global recession, your IT department's goals haven't changed. But the means you have to meet these objectives have -- requiring even more careful consideration when making decisions. Furthermore, the economy is going to turn around eventually, so thinking strategically now –and establishing a scalable foundation that will enable future growth – is essential.
At Storage Decisions Chicago 2009, the world's leading independent storage experts gave you an in-depth look into strategic planning on both your day-to-day storage practices and your storage purchases -- as well as tactical tips on ways to increase productivity and how to spend with an eye to the future.
Download the materials from those sessions here. As in the past, Storage Decisions is a multi-track event. The tracks include:TRACK 1: BACKUP TECHNOLOGIES
Requires Free Membership to View
- Data protection continues to be Job #1 for most storage managers -- a job that only gets more complex as each year companies add up to 50% more storage capacity. The good news is that newer technologies can help in this uphill battle, but you still have to determine the right tools for the job, how they will work within the context of you storage environment and whether they provide the level of protection that your company requires. Among the topics covered in this track are data deduplication, virtual tape libraries, the newly integrated backup suites, matching data protection levels to business needs and how archiving fits into a data protection scenario.
- Backup on a Budget
Presented by W. Curtis Preston, Executive Editor and Independent Backup Expert, TechTarget
- 5 Things That Will Mess Up Your Backups -- and How to Avoid Them
Presented by Jeff Harbert, Principal Storage Consultant, GlassHouse Technologies
Click to download Backup Technologies Track sessionsTRACK 2: DISASTER RECOVERY
Disaster recovery isn't just about being able to resume business as quickly as possible after a catastrophic incident. It's also about avoiding the situations that could jeopardize your company's reputation and good standing -- like the loss of customer data. But DR isn't a one-size-fits-all affair, with different company assets requiring varying levels of protection and recoverability. In this track, we'll look at some of the new tools for testing DR readiness, DR issues related to specific types of data and how virtualization can affect a DR plan, among other topics.Sessions included in this track:
- Recovery Site Configurations
Presented by Bill Peldzus, Vice President of Data Center Services, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery, GlassHouse Technologies
- Replication Alternatives for DR
Presented by Marc Staimer, Founder and CDS, Dragon Slayer Consulting
- Server Virtualization, Business Continuance and Disaster Recovery
Presented by Greg Schulz, Founder and Senior Analyst, StorageIO
- Stuff Happens -- How to Assess Risks and Set Objectives for Business Continuity Plans
Presented by Jon Toigo, CEO and Managing Principal, Toigo Partners International, and Chairman of the Data Management Institute
TRACK 3: DATA RETENTION & RETRIEVAL Click to download Disaster Recovery Track sessions
Call it regulatory compliance, legal vigilance, good disk management or just plain common sense -- regardless of your company's motivation, a sound system for retaining and disposing of data is one of the modern requirements of storage management. Developing a consistent, repeatable and practical set of data retention policies is the first step in the process. Tools such as data classification applications can help automate the process of sorting through the reams of structured and unstructured data to determine its appropriate disposition. While storage managers may consider this a business unit function, as keepers of company's data they are very much in the mix. And, as such, they need to know about the legal implications, the types of systems best suited for retained data and how encryption can help ensure that data is kept intact in its original form.Sessions included in this track:
- New Trends in Content-addressed Storage (CAS)
Presented by Bill Mottram, Founder and Managing Partner, Veridictus Associates
- Building a Service-oriented Data Protection Strategy
Jon Toigo, CEO and Managing Principal, Toigo Partners International, and Chairman of the Data Management Institute
- Cloud-based Archiving Services
Presented by Ron Scruggs, Senior Consultant, GlassHouse Technologies
- Backup and Archive Are Not the Same Thing!
Jeff Harbert, Principal Storage Consultant, GlassHouse Technologies
TRACK 4: STORAGE SYSTEMS & STORAGE MANAGEMENT Click to download Data Retention & Retrieval Track sessions
With spiraling capacities the norm, managing storage systems has become a challenging task. Traditional SRM tools are often adept on keeping tabs on the state of your storage infrastructure, but more focused applications are becoming increasingly available. Storage virtualization also promises to ease storage management and improve disk usage, but there are inherent issues that need to be fully understood before embarking on a virtualization project. Traditional methods of operational data protection such as RAID tend to be complex and difficult to configure and manage, but some storage vendors are offering compelling alternatives. In this track, we'll also examine power conservation for storage systems, a new requisite for most storage shops struggling to balance increased capacity and soaring energy costs.Sessions included in this track:
- New Developments in Scale-out vs. Scale-up Storage
Presented by Brian Greenberg, President and CEO, General System Dynamics
- Tools to Help You Manage Capacity
Presented by Brian Greenberg, President and CEO, General System Dynamics
- Right-sizing Primary Data
Presented by Anne Skamarock, Research Director, FOCUS
- The Truth about Virtualizing Storage
Presented by Marc Staimer, Founder and CDS, Dragon Slayer Consulting
- Using Thin Provisioning to Your Best Advantage in the Data Center
Presented by Jeff Byrne, Senior Analyst and Consultant, Taneja Group and Christine Taylor, Analyst, Tenaja Group
TRACK 5: MANAGING STORAGE NETWORKS Click to download Storage Systems & Storage Management Track sessions
The core of any networked storage infrastructure is the basic hardware components: storage arrays and the fabric that links them to client servers and other services. Over the past few years, the trend has been to networks built around director-class switches -- but how those directors are used is the key to whether they're just consolidation points to replace core-edge architectures or if they actually put more intelligence into the network. Storage systems, too, have undergone considerable change. iSCSI storage arrays have steady increased their presence in data centers and remote locations, and as iSCSI technology and implementations mature, their impact is certain to become more profound. And on the leading edge of storage are systems that eschew or greatly reduce the role of spinning disks, replacing them with solid state devices that run cool, use far less power and take up less space. In this track, we'll look at the implications of these recent developments.Sessions included in this track:
- The Five Myths of Storage Management for Distributed Systems and Mainframe Environments
Presented by Jon Toigo, CEO and Managing Principal, Toigo Partners International, and Chairman of the Data Management Institute
- Not "Just a Switch" Anymore -- Data Center "Backbone" Architectures
Presented by Dennis Martin, Founder and President, Demartek
- FCoE -- Happiness or Hype?
Presented by Howie Goldstein, Founder, Howard Goldstein Associates Inc.
- Storage Network Performance -- The Weakest Link
Presented by Howie Goldstein, Founder, Howard Goldstein Associates Inc.
- Integrating Solid State Storage
Presented by Dennis Martin, Founder and President, Demartek
TRACK 6: MANAGEMENT/EXECUTIVE Click to download Managing Storage Networks Track sessions
Sometimes technology alone won't solve storage-related issues. You also need to be adept about the business of acquiring storage systems. As a storage manager, you will be called on to develop storage solutions to satisfy evolving business needs -- always with an eye on the key financial acid tests for any storage purchase: ROI and TCO. This track addresses the essential parts of the storage system procurement process, including how to craft an RFP, negotiating from a position of strength, evaluating systems and getting the support of your company's management.Sessions included in this track:
- The Other Green -- Storage Efficiency and Optimization
Presented by Greg Schulz, Founder and Senior Analyst, StorageIO
- How Virtualization Can Make IT the Good Guys
Presented by Barb Goldworm, President and Chief Analyst, FOCUS
Click to download Management/Executive Track sessionsPast Storage Decisions shows
Storage Decisions, Winter 2008, San Francisco
Storage Decisions, Fall 2008, New York
Storage Decisions, Spring 2008, Chicago
Storage Decisions, Winter 2007, San Francisco
Storage Decisions, Fall 2007, New York
Storage Decisions, Spring 2007, Chicago
Storage Decisions, Spring 2007, Toronto
Storage Decisions, Fall 2006, Las Vegas
Storage Decisions, Fall 2006, New York
Storage Decisions, Spring 2006, Chicago
Sessions included in this track:
Join the conversationComment
Share
Comments
Results
Contribute to the conversation