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Solutions & Services > Data Storage Management

Storage Management & Virtualization

What Is Storage Management And Virtualization?

Explosive data growth is an inevitable reality of today’s operations. Organizations have seen their data storage needs expand dramatically each year in part due to email proliferation and our reluctance to permanently delete anything.

Effective data storage management solutions can transform your IT environment by providing flexibility and systematically standardizing and simplifying your data storage systems. Integrating archiving into your data storage solution lets you define data retention policies for various data and users. Such policies ensure the proper storage of data and deletion when no longer needed. Data archiving enables users to perform advanced searches.

How Will Storage Management And Virtualization Solutions Benefit My Organization?

Data storage management and storage virtualization can help you to:

  • Improve efficiencies by reducing administrative overhead and freeing up IT resources
  • Provide a central data storage management system
  • Reduce data storage maintenance needs and expenses
  • Achieve greater scalability for future growth and flexibility

How Can I Help My Organization Embrace Storage Management And Virtualization Solutions?

When evaluating data storage solutions, it’s important to ask the following questions:

  • How much of the existing budget is dedicated to deploying and maintaining primary vs. secondary data storage systems?
  • How will that change after your new data storage management system is in place?
  • Where will my data reside and how predictable will it be to track growth?
  • How will my compliance posture change as a result of my new data storage solution?
  • How dispersed is my existing data storage environment?

What Comprises A Storage Management And Virtualization Solution?

An effective data storage solution can consist of one or more of the following components:

Storage Area Networks (SANs)

SANs are storage architecture that provide a high‑speed redundant path to a pool of storage devices. These devices house data to maximize performance of servers and applications. SANs can be connected through a fiber or iSCSI interface.

Blade Servers

A blade server is the processing power of a traditional server housed with other blade servers in a chassis that shares the power, cooling, connectivity, and management of each server.

Storage Management
Software

Data storage management software provides central management of your data and data storage systems. Typical software will enable you to reduce the complexity of multiple data storage systems by automating data storage and availability across the network.

Archiving Software

Data archiving software automates the movement of data through various tiers of storage during the data’s life cycle. Archiving software can delete the file at the end of its retention period. Data archiving software also provides single‑instance storage of each file freeing up disk space and processing power for backup and storage systems.

E‑Discovery Software

Using archiving software as a base, e‑discovery software employs advanced search features and systematic archiving inventories enabling users to quickly search all files and e‑mails for a particular topic. Legally‑significant files can be flagged to ensure they are not altered or deleted in accordance with data retention policies.

Data Deduplication

Most data on corporate networks is static and redundant meaning the same file is backed up multiple times on multiple devices. Data deduplication can provide significant cost savings by reducing both redundant data and the systems required to store the data. You will require less physical space within the data center which can translate to heating, cooling, and power savings.

Data Storage Virtualization

Data storage virtualization takes multiple data storage systems and makes them appear as a single data storage system. This is commonly used in conjunction with SANs to provide a single “virtual” data storage device.

Getting Started With Storage Management And Virtualization

Your CDW Canada Account Manager and certified Solution Architects are ready to assist you with every phase of choosing and leveraging the right solution for your IT environment. Our approach includes:

  • An initial discovery session to understand your goals, requirements, and budget
  • An assessment review of your existing environment and definition of project requirements
  • Detailed vendor evaluations, recommendations, future design, and proof of concept
  • Procurement, configuration, and deployment of the final solution
  • Ongoing product lifecycle support

This page was printed on 11/14/2024 11:26:08 PM.