| 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. |