Features - Enterprise Data Insights:

THE DATA STORAGE UNIVERSE IN A GRAIN OF SAND
By Mike Martin

In general, IBM's Zisman predicted, "the storage environment of the future will be much more self-managing, much less complex and much easier to control through practical business policies."

The future of storage technology represents a confluence of conflicting adjectives: larger, smaller; expanding, contracting; greater, lesser. "Larger" typically describes capacity; "smaller" refers to physical space used.

In an unending quest to address the central conflict that drives storage technology evolution -- the need to fit more data into less space -- the industry is changing its focus from stand-alone products, such as hard disks and backup tapes, to networked solutions, known by such fancy names as network-attached storage (NAS) or storage area networks (SANs).

With networked storage, a user anywhere in an enterprise -- armed with the proper level of access, of course -- can search for any piece of data stored within the enterprise.

"IDC estimates that one-third of disk storage last year was deployed in a networked environment and projects that two-thirds of disks will be networked by 2005," Michael Zisman, general manager of storage software for the IBM Storage Systems Group, told NewsFactor.

A Penny for Your Megabytes

In terms of cost, networked storage is now within reach of all but the smallest enterprises. Entry-level network-attached storage (NAS) devices are priced in the penny-per-megabyte range.

For example, 97 cents per megabyte is the going rate for Quantum's Snap Server 2200, a dual-drive 160 GB storage disk. Dell offers the 480 GB 715N model at 93 cents per megabyte. Hewlett-Packard's NAS S1000 starts at 85 cents per megabyte, and IBM -- a late entrant into the low-cost NAS arena -- sells the 480 GB TotalStorage NAS 100 at 92 cents per megabyte.

Storage, Sans Complexity

Meanwhile, storage-area networks (SANs) have evolved from so-called "islands" -- which consist of a single operating system and applications located somewhere on a network -- into heterogeneous platforms connected to a shared storage subsystem. This new setup, though not yet widely deployed outside of large enterprises, is known as "many-to-one connectivity."

One technology that could drive more widespread SAN deployment is called "virtualized network storage configuration." This technology makes network-connected storage subsystems easier to optimize and manage by making the underlying network virtually invisible. Data storage space appears as a common pool that can be allocated according to an administrator's will.

Indeed, the concept of storage networking will only reach its potential if the storage model of the future incorporates virtualization as well as policy-based management, according to IBM's Zisman.

Virtual Options

The technology that enables virtualization can reside on host servers, storage subsystems or dedicated network devices, such as switches and appliances. When deciding which type of virtualization to install, users also must choose between two different virtualization architectures: in-band or out-of-band.

DataCore, FalconStor, StorageApps and IBM/Hitachi all offer in-band architecture, in which virtualization logic resides on a separate, typically Windows-based server. In contrast, Compaq, EMC and Veritas offer out-of-band architecture, in which the dedicated virtualization engine is connected directly to the SAN and to application servers via a local area network (LAN). Although out-of-band configurations are simpler, cost less and offer potentially higher performance, they are less functional in that they do not directly control the data.

Another tool -- so-called "block-level virtualization" -- allows storage administrators to manage enterprise-wide storage space as a common pool from a single console. For example, IBM is developing a virtualization engine, based on a fault-tolerant cluster of servers running Linux, that may allow system administrators to move data, add physical disks and reallocate spare storage capacity without affecting application availability.

SAN and NAS in the Tank

In addition to its virtualization engine, IBM is working on another technology called "Storage Tank" -- a file system optimized for accessing, saving, sharing and managing files on storage networks -- which it says is a logical extension of today's NAS and SAN environments. The company's goal is to allow users to access files created on one operating system from any other supported operating system, including AIX, Solaris, HP/UX, Linux, Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

Currently, storage administrators must manage files stored on NAS filers separately from those stored on SAN-attached application servers. Storage Tank will have both NAS and SAN capabilities, so administrators will be able to use the same tools to manage both types of files.

Storing Up for the Future

And it is not all about virtualization. "Memory cell space reduction, stacking of more memory systems together and new technologies to get more and more memory" will continue to be hallmarks of storage technology evolution, University of Missouri computer science professor Harry Tyrer told NewsFactor.

In other words, the size of memory chips is decreasing, and new systems will allow administrators to include more memory chips, creating greater redundancy and reducing the chance of system failure. At the same time, optical memory technology may make other breakthroughs possible.

In general, IBM's Zisman predicted, "the storage environment of the future will be much more self-managing, much less complex and much easier to control through practical business policies." In fact, when all the fancy phrasing is said and done, it boils down to this: Storage will be smaller -- though perhaps not quite the size of a grain of sand -- and far more powerful.