Tools for using your enterprise data storage resources more efficiently

Efficiency technology	What it does	How you save
Archiving	Moves older data out of production data stores	Frees expensive primary disk space Back up less data Speeds applications
Compression and data deduplication	Reduces amount of data stored on disk	Redundant files eliminated Individual files take up less space Only unique data is stored Backups require much less disk space
Thin provisioning	Let's you "oversubscribe" your installed disk capacity	Avoids wasteful unused space in allocated volumes Pools available installed capacity so that it's used more efficiently with higher utilization rates Delays new disk purchases
Tiered storage	Moves less valuable data to cheaper, lower performance disk	Takes less-demanding apps' data off primary storage to avoid/delay buying more tier 1 disk Preserves high-performance storage for apps that require it Reduces backups by not backing up static data as frequently
Wide striping	Spreads data out across more disks	Gets better performance out of inexpensive disks Avoids or delays buying expensive higher performance disk storage

This article originally appeared in Storage magazine.

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