In the last few years we’ve seen advances in storage technology that have tremendous potential for IT customers. Some of these are enabled by investments made in developing flash solid-state drive (SSD) technology and adapting it to enterprise storage systems.
These new storage technologies improve the processes of storing and retrieving information. They reduce costs, and lead to greater storage efficiencies and capabilities.
Notable storage technologies that have been delivered relatively recently to customers include:
• Tiering products with the ability to place or move data based on a probability of access to maximize the performance of the storage system.
• All-SSD storage systems designed for near- zero latency to provide the highest level of performance in a storage system.
• Faster networks and network convergence where the pipes used in storage to move data allow greater bandwidth and bring the ability to standardize on one type of infrastructure throughout an organization.
• SSD add-in technology where the non-volatility and performance of SSDs can be exploited in a direct manner.
• Forward error-correction technology as a new way to protect data from a failure.
• Scale-out NAS systems to address enterprise demands for the volumetric increase in unstructured data to be stored.
There’s another type of product that has not received as much attention, perhaps because it is not simply a matter of using a new technology. That is the process of automating information management to make it easier for administrators to understand the value of data. This area may be more difficult to master, but new developments may yield greater economic value – primarily in operational expense – than some of the newer technologies.
An example of automated management would be what is called “Active Management.” This Active Management is similar to Storage Resource Management (SRM), but besides monitoring storage resources it takes automated actions based on conditions and rules defined by default or through customization by the storage administrator.
Yet despite their clear benefits, the adoption rate for these technologies and processes will be slow. That’s mainly because IT is conservative in adopting new concepts and technologies. This does not mean that the technologies won’t be embraced and be successfully deployed. It will just take longer.
The excitement around a new technology needs to be kept in perspective with how long it takes to be deployed successfully by IT. The technology adoption rate reflects the inertia and conservative nature for handling the critical task of storing data.
The longer technology adoption rate can kill start-up companies when they can’t get the investments required to get to the point of profitability. Many investors have an aggressive profile that defies the reality of adoption rates. Larger companies can handle the conservative adoption more successfully, but with much internal angst.
But no matter how great a new storage technology may be, the customer needs to understand it to make correct decisions about investing in it before it takes hold in data centers.
