Storage Virtualization

What is Storage Virtualization?

Storage virtualization helps connect multiple storage units within a network. This pooling allows all storage media to be managed and used as one large, shared storage space.

Storage Virtualization - What is the difference to traditional storage systems?

To understand the benefits of storage virtualization, it is important to consider the limitations of traditional storage systems. Please see these listed below:

• Complex setup and compatibility issues In a conventional structure without storage virtualization, the servers or application computers are directly connected to the storage system via a SAN. Each individual storage system must be set up on the server systems connected to it and assigned accordingly, which frequently results in problems when using different hardware manufacturers.
• Rigid resources and lack of flexibility in the system One of the side effects of this conventional structure is that applications access different storage systems and are assigned fixed resources that are not highly employed - at least not initially. Much more memory is allocated than is actually necessary. If you want to add a cache or extended functions later, you have to purchase and manage them separately for each storage system.
• High availability risks and additional costs An expansion or failure of a single storage system can have a massive impact on the performance or - in the worst case - on the availability of your applications. In response to this, redundancies have to be maintained, which leads to electricity and administration costs. This makes the overall structure even more complicated and further reduces effectiveness.

How does storage virtualization work? The benefits of virtual storage resources

For the effective use of storage virtualization, the storage must be controlled by a storage controller such as a single server or a highly available cluster system. This centralizes the management of the underlying storage and abstracts the entire SAN (Storage Attached Network).

During operation, storage virtualization has the following benefits:

• Efficient storage management Through storage virtualization, your applications are now assigned storage from a central entity. Your applications can only see the controller(s) as a storage system - the underlying hardware remains hidden.
• Resource prioritization The storage controller now takes care of the redundant storage of the data, performs real-time compression, and even tiering. Server virtualization ensures that your storage is used as efficiently as possible.
• Independence from providers Thanks to storage virtualization, it is possible to use storage systems from different manufacturers or even secure your existing investments by reusing them.
• Pooling of all storage capacities With caching taking place in the storage controller, you can now get the most out of your applications. You can easily copy, consolidate, mirror, and reorganize in a shared pool. This lets you carry out backups and restores much faster than before.

Storage virtualization makes it easier to manage and provision your storage capacity. In an SDS (Software-Defined Storage) cluster, upgrades, repairs, and maintenance can also be done without interruption.

Leverage the power of storage to help your business gain flexibility and achieve impressive savings in operating and maintenance costs for your SAN environment. We can also demonstrate a number of ways to build a powerful storage virtualization infrastructure.