1.6 Chapter Summary

Storage in a Wired World

• Data storage growth is continuing astronomically.

• Information grows automatically, regardless of human influence.

• Anytime, anywhere availability is required.

1.1 Storage Takes Center Stage

• Storage was traditionally an afterthought to the server or mainframe purchase.

• The storage infrastructure is now paramount to the server and communications infrastructure.

• Elements of best-practice storage deployment are

  • Utilization and efficiency

  • Availability

  • Storage competence/storage agility

1.2 The Need for Business Continuance

• Downtime is no longer an option. Availability is everything.

• Demands for business continuity go beyond routine expectations to a measure of corporate competence.

• Business continuity as a practice comes loaded with questions that must be identified, outlined, and addressed.

1.3 Driving Towards Operational Agility

• Storage investments must extend beyond protection schemes to offensive mechanisms to improve operational agility

• While risk-prevention projects may be difficult to justify quantitatively, more agile enterprise storage deployments often have easily measured cost savings.

1.4 Charting a Storage Networking Roadmap

• Develop data storage management as a core competence.

• Extend corporate culture among business units and technology development.

• Deploy storage with appropriate focal points:

  • Utilization and efficiency ” Create networked storage architectures

  • Availability ” Make use of business continuity practices

  • Storage competence/storage agility ” Think defensively and offensively