Storage Software

With multiple terabytes of data being generated by Indian companies, managing storage infrastructure is a big challenge. This is where storage software comes in and simplifies things. By Dominic K

Many organisations across the world, including those in India, are going in for disk-to-disk systems for faster backup and retrieval of data. Organisations are adopting Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) strategies gradually, in order to protect corporate and Intellectual Property (IP) information. Completely automation of backup, replication and data retrieval processes can drive the need for replication and backup software.

Virtual Archival

A virtual tape library (VTL) offers a combination of tape back-up emulation software along with a hard disc-based architecture. A VTL is faster, more flexible, and more robust than tape back-up. It employs disc-to-disc (D2D) back-up, and is hence also referred to as VTL D2D. VTL uses tape emulation software.

VTL generally consists of a virtual tape appliance or server, and the software emulates traditional tape devices and formats. This lets it offer compatibility to fit transparently into an existing tape backup set-up. The benefits of virtual tape systems include better backup and recovery times, and lower operating costs. Some other benefits include support for existing back-up and archival software that’s already been deployed at an enterprise data centre.

Enterprises will need to

Pros Storage management software is important for enterprises because it drastically cuts the number of people required to manage a storage set-up. It helps in automating processes that previously required manual intervention, thereby requiring fewer specialists to keep a corporate data centre up and running. This helps an enterprise save money. Storage software can help an organisation save on disks by letting departments and applications use pooled storage resources. Cons While storage management software does help manage and provision storage to a certain extent, it doesn't do everything that it is suppose to-it is not effective in managing data replication across boxes from different vendors; it may have interoperability problems. Much remains to be done in terms of adhering to common standards. There is still a lot to be done to gain organisational confidence and eliminate doubts about the efficacy of storage management solutions from a particular vendor, while managing storage hardware from other vendors. Many enterprises are using storage solutions provided by the hardware supplier rather than going in for a third-party solution.

Tiered solutions

Many companies are pursuing a tiered storage architecture to resolve issues related to cost, performance and administration. Here, the first tier consists of the primary storage. Its performance is high but the disc array to host current active production data is expensive.

Disc-based backup forms the second tier; this is usually a VTL. The primary objective here is to provide speedy back-up and recovery speed at a lower cost than that of primary storage. Tape-based back-up forms the third and final tier. Usually, a tape library acts as the final repository, providing a cost-effective, long-term solution.

Good archival software permits easy management of data that is to be archived, and mitigates human and workflow bottlenecks.

Archived data is also sometimes referred to fixed-content data, i.e. it does not change over time. Some examples of fixed-content are satellite images, medical records, weather statistics, e-mail archives and annual or quarterly financial results. These exhibit long-term preservation value, and can be retrieved in the future as and when the need arises.

Tape is still considered to provide the best price-performance for archival media. The network that is used to archive data can potentially become a bottleneck if large amounts of data move through the network while other mission-critical applications are utilising network bandwidth.

Proper scheduling of the archival process can help enterprises avoid bottlenecks and save time. More often than not, the speed of the archival source from which the data is read will not be the bottleneck.

To further support deployment of storage virtualisation, it will reduce complexities associated with storage and help organisations utilise storage resources to the optimum. By opting for storage virtualisation, organisations will be able to manage their storage-related functions more efficiently and effectively.

Software