Storage Solutions
Organisations have traditionally viewed growing data storage requirements from a hardware perspective; simply adding additional storage servers as the number of applications and amount of data grows on a modular basis. However, even though the storage capacity of hardware has kept pace with demand, this modular or direct attached storage approach has led to server proliferation and spiralling management costs. The result is businesses struggle with expanding data stores that
are notoriously inflexible, complex, unreliable, non scaleable and not cost effective for today's storage requirements. For many organisations the increasing demand for data retention and integrity
due to compliance regulations gives these issues additional significance.
BSG work together with you and industry leading vendors to tackle the issues head on by shifting the focus from storage hardware to Information Lifecycle Management (ILM).ILM processes and enablers mark the next phase in storage evolution. ILM processes supply the intelligence to run operations, help fulfil growing regulatory requirements, and protect information from disaster and corruption. By designing and deploying best of breed networked storage solutions using architectural standards and best practices, the complexity & cost of storage networks is reduced.
By working with BSG to implement a strategic storage solution to support the business, you can enjoy a more flexible, manageable, and cost effective IT environment that can grow alongside the business
and adapt to changing demands.
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Why Networked Storage?
Taking the example of deploying new applications within an organisation,the traditional approach has been simply to add a new server, a direct attached storage sub system and a local backup device pre project, illustrated in the diagram below:
This approach creates a non standardised storage architecture with no defined processes or procedures for deployment or operation. This means that when new applications are deployed, the timescales for completion increase dramatically. This is further complicated by the inflexibility caused by a “per project” environment.
Subsequently the speed at which a new product can be taken to market is elongated, which in turn impacts the business and can often lead to a loss of market share to the competition.
Shown below, the Total Cost of Ownership using a “per project” approach is significant due to the requirement of a complete infrastructure solution in each instance, including server, storage and backup. In addition, it is necessary to consider how efficiently the infrastructure resources in place can be used and calculate the potential management overhead when deploying such disparate environments.
By replacing direct-attached storage with SAN and NAS based solutions described below, organisations can make a cost saving of between 15-20 percent. Once network storage is in place, a further 25-30 percent saving can be achieved by implementing policy based hierarchical storage solutions. These saving are made in terms of server consolidation, reduced management costs and increased operational efficiency and productivity.
Storage Area Network Solutions
A Storage Area Network, or SAN, when deployed can provide high levels of data availability, flexibility and scalability that maximise business performance in the most demanding environments.
SAN solutions provide the following business benefits:
- Increased flexibility
- More manageable & less resource required
- Reduced timescales for the deployment of new applications
- Reduced time to market for the new products
- Improved asset utilisation
Network Attached Storage Solutions
Network Attached Storage (NAS) products are optimised for storage consolidation and heterogeneous file serving.
NAS solutions provide the following business benefits:
- Improved storage utilisation
- Reduced management overhead
- Quick expansion for the deployment of new applications
- Low incremental cost
Data Backup
As environments grow, and as data retention periods become regulated, the necessity for a centralised and automated backup solution becomes more attractive. With the advances in backup software for heterogeneous infrastructures, this aim becomes attainable. The benefits of implementing such a solution to both the IT function and the business are as follows:
- Operational efficiency - personnel are no longer required to swap out tapes
- Management - possible to track the data both on and off site
- Standardised / centralised processes and procedures
- Automated functionality and rapid data recovery from unplanned events
- Improved availability
- Cost effective across the enterprise
Hierarchical Storage Management Solutions
The majority of businesses will find that no single storage solution will meet their needs. Generally data can be categorised according to accessing behaviour such as:
- How often is the data accessed?
- For what purpose is the data accessed (read / write)?
- How quickly should the data be available to the user (seconds / minutes / hours / days)
Once such questions have been answered, it is then possible to propose different storage platforms which best meet the individual need. For example, rarely accessed data does not necessarily have to live on expensive, high performance disk. In this way, it is feasible to create a structured storage environment which takes account of the business requirement, and will ensure the most efficient and effective use of resource.
An Information Lifecycle Management Strategy enables proactive data management for maximum business value at minimum cost by aligning information with the appropriate storage medium based on business requirements such as data protection, accessibility, security, and compliance.