Four steps for evaluating storage virtualization products

Virtualization isn't for every storage environment. To figure out whether it's a good fit for yours, you'll have to understand the various types of storage intelligence and where they exist in the network -- i.e. on appliances, routers, gateways or switches -- and determine which implementation approach best suits your needs. Then you can proceed with questions for specific vendors.

1. Storage virtualization functions. Storage intelligence in the network can exist in appliances, routers, gateways and switches. Regardless of where they physically exist in the fabric, these products perform similar functions, including: 2. Approaches to virtualization. There are two different approaches to implementing storage virtualization: 3. Evaluating your needs. When you're deciding whether or not to buy a particular product, ask yourself the following que

To continue reading for free, register below or login

Requires Membership to View

To gain access to this and all member only content, please provide the following information (all fields required):

First Name:
Last Name:
Country: Select... Afghanistan Aland Islands Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, Democratic Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote D'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia, The Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, North Korea, South Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Man, Isle of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Panama Canal Zone Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Minor Outlying Islands Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe
Email Address:

I would like to receive a FREE subscription to Storage magazine online.
YesNo

Do you manage, evaluate, recommend, implement, support or purchase storage products, software or services?
YesNo

What is your average annual expenditure on storage including hardware, software and services?
Please select... $20 million + $10 to $19.9 million $5 to $9.9 million $1 to $4.9 million $500K to $999K $250K to $499K Less than $250K None

What is your role in purchasing?
Technical decision maker
Financial decision maker
Determine need
Evaluate products/services
Recommend and specify products/services
Implement products/services
None

By joining SearchStorage.com you agree to receive email updates from the TechTarget network of sites, including updates on new content, magazine or event notifications, new site launches and market research surveys. Please verify all information and selections above. You may unsubscribe at any time from one or more of the services you have selected by editing your profile or unsubscribing via email.

TechTarget cares about your privacy. Read our Privacy Policy

For more information:

Product roundup: Virtualization

Tip: Is storage virtualization here at last?

Tip: Four trends changing virtualization

About the author: Greg Schulz is a senior analyst with the independent storage analysis firm, The Evaluator Group Inc. Greg has 25 years of IT experience as a consultant, end user, storage and storage networking vendor and industry analyst. Greg has worked with Unix, Windows, IBM Mainframe, OpenVMS and other hardware/software environments. In addition to being an analyst, Greg is also the author and illustrator of "Resilient Storage Networks", Greg has contributed material to "Storage" magazine. Greg holds both a computer science and software engineering degree from the University of St. Thomas.

Rate this Tip To rate tips, you must be a member of SearchStorage.com. Register now to start rating these tips. Log in if you are already a member. BROWSE BY TAG Data storage management,   Storage virtualization,   Data Storage Management,   Storage virtualization,   Data Storage Management,   Storage virtualization product/buying advice,   VIEW ALL TAGS Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us    RELATED CONTENT Data storage management Choosing a storage system for data archiving Green storage best practices control costs, increase energy efficiency Best practices for using server virtualization in your storage environment Best practices for effective thin provisioning Three tips for ensuring a user-friendly email archiving system Top tips when evaluating a storage automation product Guidelines for implementing virtualization in your storage infrastructure The value of easy-to-use SAN storage Pros and cons of storage capacity management tools What are the differences between SATA II vs. SATA I? Storage virtualization Green storage best practices control costs, increase energy efficiency Pixorial's video-sharing website virtualizes network resources with Xsigo I/O Director Best practices for using server virtualization in your storage environment Storage Decisions Chicago 2009 Session Downloads Storage Decisions Session Downloads: Storage Systems & Storage Management Track (Chicago 2009) Stretching computer budgets remains high priority with storage administrators at Storage Decisions Chicago conference Growing data storage infrastructure may require new provisioning tools Data storage provisioning best practices IT budget planning turns to virtualization, deduplication Storage best practices for virtual server environments Storage virtualization product/buying advice Virtual SAN product specifications Storage switch growth spurred by new features Virtualization: Choosing the right platform RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary file virtualization  (SearchStorage.com) storage virtualization  (SearchStorage.com) virtual storage area network  (SearchStorage.com) RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary DISCLAIMER: Our Tips Exchange is a forum for you to share technical advice and expertise with your peers and to learn from other enterprise IT professionals. TechTarget provides the infrastructure to facilitate this sharing of information. However, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or validity of the material submitted. You agree that your use of the Ask The Expert services and your reliance on any questions, answers, information or other materials received through this Web site is at your own risk.