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Internet gushers have boosted the storage industry like no other, in pouring
terabytes of information everyday. Information is business, as they say. Storage
is gradually becoming the competitive priority, emerging as the absolute center
of IT infrastructure and servers are becoming peripherals. However, this
increasing demand for information also brings along with it new challenges for
the IT managers. They not only have to manage storage, but have an additional
task of worrying about protecting it.
Storage management
As data growth gets out of control, there is a compelling case for storage
and its management. For instance, today if it takes one year to use 1 TB data in
a company, considering the present rate of growth, within the next two to three
years, the same capacity might last only two hours. Companies around the world
are going for digitization of data to enable better management. BBC news, for
instance, is converting all its data collected in the last 35 years, from
non-digital storage devices to digital devices. Research findings show that in
1998 there was 8,000 PB (Peta Byte) non-digital data and 1 PB digital data. But
with streaming video and increasing implementation of e-biz applications, it is
expected that by 2003 this data will increase to12,000 PB in non-digital form
and 12,000 PB of digital data.
The rising complexity and heterogeneity of network environments has added to
the woes of the IT manager. You are no longer working in a fixed 9:00 AM to 5:00
PM schedule. You are expected to provide 24x7 days of operations and uptime.
This again escalates your operating costs and reduces efficiency. As a result
even in a best-managed place, storage utilization is only 30-50%. The task of an
IT manager is no longer restricted only to buying and managing a few desktops
with all the hardware and software procured from one vendor. He has to look for
cost-effective solutions to suit the business requirements of his company. This
not only means dealing with multiple vendors, but providing a 24x7 support to
keep the systems up and running. You might need to have people working in shifts
to manage your operations. And besides the basic tech training, the IT staff has
to be equipped to handle storage management functions such as backup/recovery,
SAN management, information high availability etc.
Don’t wait for disaster
The terrorist attacks on WTC and the events that followed have demonstrated
a lesson that enterprises need to learn. Even the most secure and strong
businesses are vulnerable. This has created an urgent need to have contingency
plans in place. Lessons can be learnt from the WTC disaster. Avoid systems with
single points of failure and favor distributed networks. Avoid big city
concentrations where collateral damage can be significant. Regularly test all
back-up sites completely and take nothing for granted. Do regular checks and
test recovery of data. Develop safe and secure documentation systems and
recovery procedures, but don’t forget passwords. Identify which systems are
business-critical and protect them first. Consider working with professional
disaster recovery consultants, if you don’t have expertise in-house.
The steps involved in disaster planning include decision making, designing,
implementation, documentation, testing, updating and testing at regular
intervals. In the end, I would say, data forms the lifeline of your
organization. Don’t wait for a disaster to wake you up to this reality.
Develop your disaster recovery and business continuance plans in a balanced way…
NOW!
The author is director of engineering, Legato Systems India