Perfecting the Storage Engine
Technology improvements operate in a continuous cycle.
Strategic and tactical goals can outlast innovation cycles.
Technology patterns, even not fully defined, assist in the planning and deployment process.
Strategic Objectives
Create defensive and offensive strategies.
Investments in storage networking equipment appropriately selected and deployed can serve both objectives.
Segment strategies with portfolio management.
The dramatic size and scope of storage requirements mandate an evaluation and prioritization process.
12.2 Tactical Goals
Adapt to infrastructure fluidity .
More commoditized products based on server platforms means a greater variety of functionality across the end-to-end storage chain.
Use distributed resources and intelligence.
Network flexibility and infrastructure fluidity will push solutions to solve bottlenecks throughout the system.
With storage as part of the IP landscape, the geographic reach for integration and consolidation will extend globally.
Continually monitor organization structure and utility.
The trend towards more automated storage administration will put policy administration in the hands of fewer individuals.
Feedback processes incorporating storage customers provides one manner to measure effectiveness.
12.3 Storage Advances to Watch
Tightly coupled interaction between applications and storage requirements (application-specific storage) enhances performance and functionality.
Growth in data storage and reliability requirements mandate centralized storage automation.
Manual administration will be augmented with pattern identification, independent decision processes, centralized automation, and new platforms.
Current and future platforms will emerge based on data-usage patterns.
The classification of storage as a separate component led to separation from an integrated system.
Integrating storage networking with other system components will take place through improved communications, abstraction, and added intelligence.
Ultimately, storage networking will merge back into mainstream computing functions.