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Simplifying Storage Management in Ten Easy Steps 9/6/20029/6/2002
© 2002 Winchester Systems Inc.





























































W H I T E P A P E R
W H I T E P A P E R
W H I T E P A P E R
W H I T E P A P E R


Simplifying
Storage
Management in
Ten Easy Steps


By Joel Leider, CEO, Winchester Systems

Simplifying Storage Management in Ten Easy Steps

© 2002 Winchester Systems Inc.

Page 2

s

torage decisions have become
increasingly complex. In fact, many storage
solutions today are more complicated than
the problem they're trying to solve. How can
you simplify the solution without
compromising on the promise of increased
control, scalability and reliability? How can
you design and deploy a storage solution in
less time with fewer resources without
compromising on performance and
manageability? The answers are closer than
you think. Its time to cut through the hype,
and take a fresh look at the problem using
these 10 easy steps.

1. Is managing your data becoming
more complex than managing your
business?
2. Don't add more technology layers
than you need
3. Build storage systems to be flexible
with open storage
4. Build from a solid base
5. Understand when and where speed
matters
6. Invest in investment protection
7. Ensure reliability without the
complexity
8. Understand that plug-and-play isn't
just for Windows anymore
9. Get your money's worth
10. Don't lose sight of the real problem

Step 1. Is Managing Your Data Becoming
More Complex Than Managing Your
Business?

Storage Area Management (SAM) solutions
are ideally suited to solve complex storage
management problems of very large or
distributed data centers with outdated
topologies already in place. In these
environments technologies such as storage
virtualization, Fibre Channel connectivity,
and management software are a necessary
evil because despite their complexity, they
are easier than managing what is currently
in place. But because these solutions were
designed to solve complex problems, the
solutions themselves are also inherently
complex. Consequently, these solutions are
not the answers to everyones problems.

For the vast majority of medium-sized
companies, SAM solutions are far more
complex than the problem. As a result,
companies can invest considerable
resources deploying and managing
complex SAM software, switches, and
elaborate storage architectures, without
any real sense of whether tasks like
monitoring, managing and backup are
easier or more efficient than before.

So are there ways to take the complexity
out of deploying and managing storage
systems that meet todays demands, and
still offer a reliable platform for growth and
expansion? Quite simply, yes. Surprisingly,
the answer to many of todays medium and
large company storage management issues
lies in the hard disk array itself. Performance
disk arrays take much of the complexity out
of managing data because many of the
performance, compatibility and
management capabilities are built right into
the array. It does this without using software
that needs to be loaded onto servers,
networks or switches. So before you look at
adding complexity between the disk array
and the user, look at what capabilities are
inherent in todays performance disk arrays.
You may find money spent on the disk array
rather than SAM software and infrastructure
will give you the greatest return on
investment.

Step 2. Dont Add More Technology Layers
Than You Need

Just a few years ago, before the
emergence of Storage Area Networks (SAN)
and Network Attached Storage (NAS), we
routinely used storage systems with minimal
layers between the servers and the disk
array. And, somehow we managed to
safely and securely store, backup and
manage this data cost-effectively. Then
things changed.
Simplifying Storage Management in Ten Easy Steps
Page 3

© 2002 Winchester Systems Inc.
Many would like us now to believe that we
need new layers of complexity between the
servers and the hard disk array in order to
manage data properly. This includes layers
of connectivity with switches, layers of
manageability with Storage Area
Management software, layers of scalability
with Fibre Channel connections, and layers
of storage optimization with virtualization.
However, with each of these layers, weve
added more work and more cost. Have
some of these new technologies improved
redundancy or data reliability? Perhaps. But
only with considerable added complexity.
Now we have three to five times as many
drivers, protocols, switching layers,
equipment and standards to maintain,
requiring more and more highly trained
specialists.

For these reasons, data management and
administration costs are estimated at over
70% of overall storage costs versus only 12%
for the actual hardware.

If you want to simplify your storage systems,
think of how to minimize the layers of
complexity between your users and your
data without sacrificing the control and
visibility you need to manage company
data. In turn, you keep system management
less complicated and less volatile by
avoiding technology layers that can
potentially decrease performance, increase
network traffic, introduce potential driver or
operating system conflicts, and add new
components to test, track, manage and
upgrade.

Step 3. Build Storage Systems To Be Flexible
With Open Storage

Portability. Today, storage systems can be
configured as Direct-Attached Storage
(DAS), SAN or NAS. Who knows what options
will be available tomorrow. For this reason,
the hard disk array the heart of your
storage system should be entirely in your
control and should be open systems
compatible to work with any operating
system, any platform, and any storage
architecture. In other words, you should be
able to migrate your disk array from a DAS
to a SAN or NAS and vice versa whenever
you need.

In the diagram above, you can see how the
same disk array can be attached as a DAS,
SAN or NAS or in any combination of
environments at the same time.

You should also be able to add or rearrange
capacity at your convenience, do your own
rebuilds and drive mappings, and monitor
and manage the system without complex
software. Although this may seem obvious,
with many solutions this is not the case.
Unless disk arrays are designed with
simplicity in mind, they likely will require
tweaking, testing or multiple vendor
interaction to change a configuration. This
may include new drivers for the server,
operating system upgrades, new
management software versions even
reformatting the data if it was stored using a
proprietary format. If youre looking for
simplicity, expect the hard disk array to be
Storage Costs by Category
Mgmt/Admin

74%

Environmental

6%

Hardware/Capital

12%

Other

8%

Source: Gartner Group
Storage Architecture
RAID Disk Array
SAN Switches
Application
Servers
NAS Filer
Simplifying Storage Management in Ten Easy Steps

© 2002 Winchester Systems Inc.

Page 4

pre-configured and ready to port between
topologies without upgrades.

Scalability. Disk arrays need to be able to
meet your foreseeable storage needs. IDC
has forecasted data growth to increase 90%
through 2004. So you need to reasonably
expect to double your capacity needs
every 1 to 2 years. Although each company
and environment is different, some
applications are, in general, growing faster
than others. The more of these applications
you have, the more important it is that you
deploy a system that allows you to expand
at your pace, and on your schedule.
According to Merrill Lynch, some of the most
storage intense enterprise applications and
externally networked applications include:

Application
Compounded
Annual Growth
Rate (CAGR)
Data Warehousing
92%
Supply Chain
Management
53%
Customer
Relationship
Management
47%
Email
100-300%
Streaming media
70-100%
Internet content
75%

Open Systems Compatibility. Todays best
disk arrays are designed to be open systems
compatible. This is a departure from
proprietary designs that required special
drivers or compatibility kits for each system.
These proprietary designs add unnecessary
overhead to operating systems and
networks, and introduce additional points of
failure into the system. Worse, proprietary
disk arrays only work