Storage management in the year 2010.Trying to predict where technology, in general, will be in a number of years is probably more art than science. Whether it's consumer-or business-related, technology for the sake of technology is useless unless it addresses a real world problem or fills a specific need. However, predictions are inevitable, so we decided to give it a go. There are two ways to approach predictions. The first is to use a strictly linear progression (i.e., in five years existing technologies will have advanced at the same rate as the preceding five years), or we can take the "where would we like to be" approach (i.e., in five years we should have 100Gb wireless Ethernet The standard for wireless networking within a home or office. Also known as a "Wi-Fi" or "802.11" network, wireless Ethernet is the wireless counterpart to regular, wired Ethernet, which is also the standard for local networks. See 802.11 and wireless LAN. !). We also have to consider that advances in one technology generally depend on, and are influenced by, advances in connected technologies (what good is a 100Gb wireless Ethernet if the adapter A device that allows one system to connect to and work with another. An adapter is often a simple circuit that converts one set of signals to another; however, the term often refers to devices which are more accurately called "controllers. is larger than the new wrist-watch-sized PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) A handheld computer for managing contacts, appointments and tasks. It typically includes a name and address database, calendar, to-do list and note taker, which are the functions in a personal information manager (see PIM). , cell phone, or laptop Same as laptop computer. laptop - portable computer device currently in use?). Finally, there is always the likelihood that a new, innovative technology will be introduced that has no precedent at all. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Demand Just Gets Bigger The one thing we can all agree on is that the demand for storage will simply continue to grow. By 2010, individual users requiring multiple terabytes of storage will be commonplace. Small to medium-size companies will have petabytes of data; large enterprises will have exabytes. What's after that ... zettabytes!? Advances in disk hardware will address a portion of this increase. There will be multi-terabyte disks by 2010--possibly even petabyte One quadrillion bytes (one trillion kilobytes). Also PB, Pbyte and P-byte. See peta, binary values and space/time. (unit) petabyte - 2^50 = 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes = 1024 terabytes or roughly 10^15 bytes. 1024 petabytes is one exabyte. disks. This would, by extension, lead to petabyte- and exabyte-scale RAID systems. Of course, all of this will need to be managed in a new way--old models will simply be swamped "Swamped" is the seventeenth episode of The Batman's second season. It originally aired in North America on June 11, 2005. Plot Synopsis Killer Croc, a half-man, half reptile plans to submerge all of Gotham in water in order to facilitate his plundering of the city. at this scale. Storage Management Shifts Storage management has already shifted away from individual application servers; storage area networks (SANs) have allowed administrators to move these functions. Given the number of application servers in even a medium-size company, it is not realistic to require that each application server manage its own storage. The application server (database, e-mail, web or other) should be used to perform its specific function, not general maintenance. In SANs, storage management is also shifting away from individual storage systems. Similar to application servers, these RAID systems would become islands within the SAN and require administrators to manage them individually. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] These functions are now moving into the SAN itself, either through intelligent switches or appliances designed to provide a common layer of storage services across various application servers and storage systems within the SAN. By 2010, the move will be complete and storage management will use a distributed model wherein where·in adv. In what way; how: Wherein have we sinned? conj. 1. In which location; where: the country wherein those people live. 2. the SAN provides the storage services for the application servers. Storage Subscriptions Part of the value of moving storage management to the SAN, and away from the application servers, is that it relieves the application server from managing all aspects of its storage. But it's not enough to just move the disk out of the application server. The first step removed the need for the application server to manage mirrors and RAID levels for its LUNs. The next steps remove the need for the application server to be involved in backup and disaster recovery. By 2010, changes in operating systems Operating systems can be categorized by technology, ownership, licensing, working state, usage, and by many other characteristics. In practice, many of these groupings may overlap. and server-based applications, coupled with standard interfaces for managing storage, will allow the application server to use storage in much the same way our homes use electricity. The application servers will be authorized au·thor·ize tr.v. au·thor·ized, au·thor·iz·ing, au·thor·iz·es 1. To grant authority or power to. 2. To give permission for; sanction: to use a certain amount of storage from the SAN. If the server needs more storage, it will negotiate with the SAN for a temporary or short-term increase. If the server is not fully using its allotment A portion, share, or division. The proportionate distribution of shares of stock in a corporation. The partition and distribution of land. ALLOTMENT. Distribution by lot; partition. Merl. Rep. h.t. , the SAN may negotiate to regain some of the excess. In either case, the administrator will not be required to make any changes to the environment. In an ideal world, all this will take place automatically and seamlessly, with no adverse impact to service. Storage by Policy Clearly it will not be feasible for administrators to manage these SANs as discrete elements. In the future, storage systems will use policies to determine exactly how storage resources should be used, how to identify which application servers have higher priority, and what level of protection each system needs. The storage system will automatically move data, route traffic and rebalance resources as needed as needed prn. See prn order. to meet the objectives and priorities outlined in these policies. Today's basic multi-pathing and load-balancing model will transform into a dynamic, coordinated system that adapts not only to traffic changes, but delivers flexible QoS, while allowing administrators to specify when the needs of different systems or even whole departments change. Backup, Backup, and More Backup! Ten years ago, the biggest challenge in storage management was backup. Today, the biggest challenge in storage management is ... backup. Given the trend, there is no reason to believe that this will change by 2010. What will change is the model used to address the backup challenge. Today we have shrinking backup windows; however, when dealing with petabytes of storage coupled with an always-on data center, we can expect that there will be no backup window. Even if we assume that tape drive technology will keep pace with disk technology, the current backup model (transfer everything from disk to tape) cannot be maintained. By 2010, all backups will be disk-based, and most will rely on near-line storage to maintain multiple versions for instant access if an older version is ever required. Tape backup Using magnetic tape for storing duplicate copies of hard disk files. Users can add an internal or external tape drive to their desktop computers for backup purposes, and files are typically copied to the tapes using a backup utility that updates on a periodic schedule. will still need to be done, but as the second stage, and for longer-term storage. Not all backups need to be preserved on tape: Why save the Wednesday night incremental backup See backup types. (operating system) incremental backup - A kind of backup that copies all files which have changed since the date of the previous backup. The first backup of a file system should include all files - a "full backup". Call this level 0. that's simply going to be replaced by the Friday night full backup See backup types. ? This new backup model also allows for off-load See offload. backup, thus freeing the application servers from major involvement with the backup process. By 2010, all major operating systems and mission-critical applications will use one or another of the standardized standardized pertaining to data that have been submitted to standardization procedures. standardized morbidity rate see morbidity rate. standardized mortality rate see mortality rate. models to tie the operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. , applications, the backup process and storage systems together. In an ideal world, there would only be one standard, but that's probably too much to ask. It's Not Storage, It's Data Today, there remains a distinction between storage systems and the application servers they serve. No company buys a storage system to own terabytes of storage; a company buys a storage system to retain its terabyte-sized database. By 2010, storage management systems will be designed so users will not need to understand the difference between terabytes and petabytes, or which RAID level provides the greatest protection and the best performance, or the correct way to interconnect (1) To attach one device to another. (2) A physical port (plug, socket) or wireless port (transmitter, receiver) used to attach one device to another. the various storage components, or even--what is the best backup method? Storage management systems will use the policies described in this article to automate To turn a set of manual steps into an operation that goes by itself. See automation. the process. The user will be able to describe his or her needs in terms they fully understand: the number of databases and size of individual records, the number of mailboxes and how many messages each mailbox A simulated mailbox in the computer that holds e-mail messages. Mailboxes are stored on disk as a file of messages, a database of messages or as an individual file for each message. The standard mailboxes are usually In, Out, Trash and Junk (Spam). will need to accommodate, and so on. The storage system of the future will automatically adjust all available resources to meet these requirements. The New Rules Businesses have long known the value of these vast amounts of data and the need to maintain it. Beyond the financial aspect, there are now regulatory aspects associated with data and data retention. Most companies face one or more sets of requirements for maintaining and protecting data over a specified period of time. Current solutions on the market are add-ons to the storage management system and, in some cases, require special-purpose appliances. By 2010, this functionality will be built into the storage management systems. As with other policies, users will add retention and regulatory policies to the data sets, and the storage system will handle all the details of preserving versions of data, tracking access and ensuring that the business complies with the various requirements. Summary In brief, by 2010 storage management will be an automated au·to·mate v. au·to·mat·ed, au·to·mat·ing, au·to·mates v.tr. 1. To convert to automatic operation: automate a factory. 2. system that oversees numerous modular components and ties these components together into a single, effective, operational unit. This "storage service" will have various subscribers (application servers), which will make use of the service on an "as needed" basis. The system will be self-regulating and automatically adjust to changes in components and the environment, as well as the individual requirements of its subscribers. And, if not by 2010, then definitely by 2020! John Lallier is vice president of technology for FalconStor Software, Inc. www.falconstor.com |
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