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Follow UsOne of the most challenging issues plaguing the modern
center is the rapid growth of corporate data. Data growth is a
reality and cannot be ignored, reaching alarming proportions. The worry
amongst most IT managers minds is how to control this data sprawl,
without affecting the running of business as well as meeting the
burgeoning storage costs. This a scenario that none of you can afford
to ignore-but what about the rising storage costs?
A recent IDC report states that the worldwide volume of digital data
grew by 62% between 2008 and 2009 to nearly 800,000 peta bytes. Over
the next four years, IDC estimates that the digital universe will
expand by 400 percent, while IT budgets will expand just 20 percent and
IT staffing 10 percent. Hence, management of data perhaps becomes the
most intimidating challenge that organizations face. Further,
availability of this important data and its protection becomes critical
with the growth of data.
In this critical scenario, one technology which can prove to be of huge
help to an IT manager in addressing this challenge is
technology. Data deduplication offers IT managers the opportunity
to reduce the amount of storage required for backups. The key benefit
lies in helping you to effectively manage information growth and make
the most of your existing IT resources.Â
By eliminating duplicate files saved on a server, deduplication frees
up valuable storage space and helps customers maximize their hardware
investments. The purchase of storage space can take a large chunk out
of a limited budget. With deduplication, you can realize up to 20-40
percent, enabling better allocation of your spends towards more
strategic initiatives, while reinforcing your role as a trusted source
to oversee IT requirements of your enterprise.
Enhance the information management
capabilities
Freeing up storage hardware and reducing IT infrastructure costs are
not the only benefits of deduplication. Eliminating duplicate data
significantly relieves the burden on the organizations infrastructure,
helping them to reduce backup windows and increase the efficiency of
remote backups and disaster recovery technologies.
Managing files in a systematic way will help enterprises achieve
overall success in their business. If they fail to implement right
methods, it can result in buried files making the retrieval process
difficult, which in turn can slow the operations of the business.
Having a system that is accessible and well-organized enhances the
productivity and efficiency of a business.
Here are a few considerations that can help IT managers take right the
deduplication decision for maximum benefits.
Know your data. A thorough
examination of existing resources is required for creating an effective
strategy and budget. By taking an inventory of what they have and how
well its being used, IT managers can identify areas of unnecessary
spending and create opportunities for more effective usage of resources.
Plan ahead. IT managers need to
be reactive with their deduplication. Deduplication will be most
effective if managers address challenges for today as well as the
future. The answer to the question How much data do we anticipate in
five years? and Can operations from multiple sites be consolidated to
a few core datacenters? Â is crucial. By estimating what the
business will require down the road, IT managers will be better suited
to think holistically about deduplication needs.
Simplify. Operation should be
manageable with minimal oversight. Products that are easy to install
and maintain are required. IT managers will appreciate a backup
solution with integrated deduplication that can reduce storage without
adding complexity to the IT environment.
Enable Efficiency
A technology like deduplication can help organizations maximize
existing resources and prevent unnecessary storage purchases. This
leaves more budgets for other facets of running the business.
To ensure complete efficiency, deduplication should be present in every
segment of the information architecture. It is a cost-effective
information management tool that IT Managers can use virtually anywhere
in their enterprise to address various IT challenges. From remote
offices, to virtual machines, to data center workloads, deduplication
can play a role in controlling storage costs, increasing reliability,
and simplifying operations.
While we evaluate various methods of overcoming this challenge, its
critical that a technology like deduplication is considered as an
enabler of a holistic information protection strategy that is focused,
result oriented and helps cut storage costs.
The author is Vijay Mhaskar,
vice-president, Information Management Group, Symantec
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in
Deduplication: IT Managers cost-effective tool to control storage growth
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