Storage automation: the future of Serial ATA, tape, CIM, and IP connectivity - Storage Networking - Industry Overview

Computer Technology Review, Oct, 2002

The combination of iSCSI and tape automation provides a useful example. iSCSI is the proposed IETF standard for transporting SCSI data over TCP/IP networks. Because it takes advantage of the ubiquity of Ethernet/IP technologies, iSCSI brings the benefits of storage consolidation to a whole new class of servers- entry to mid-range servers that are attached to the network via Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and now even Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. These relatively lower-performance servers (running applications such as Microsoft Exchange, low-end database systems, etc.) have not typically been migrated to Fibre Channel SANs because they do not meet the financial justification to outfit them with the required Fibre Channel host bust adapters and software. Consequently, most IT departments have chosen to keep these servers in a direct attached storage (DAS) environment. As the number of these servers grew, however, processes such as backup (which all had to be done locally on a server-to-server basis) became increasin gly time consuming and cost ineffective. In fact, the cost required to manage these DAS servers often constituted the largest IT expenditure in a typical enterprise, far exceeding actual acquisition costs or capital expenditures.

With iSCSI, these servers now can be consolidated into a storage network of its own, meaning that IT managers can now perform storage-related techniques such as centralized backup over IP. In the case of tape automation, being able to consolidate tape backup of hundreds of Microsoft NT, Win2K servers that are spread out over the enterprises today would result in monumental cost and operational efficiencies. An effective backup strategy reduces cost, improves data protection, and provides companies a measure of disaster recovery. It is perhaps one of the most compelling reasons technologists sought to develop storage networking techniques such as iSCSI. It will also, in theory, be one of the key drivers for IT managers to adopt more automation solutions for their storage networks.

Peter Wang, CTO and Founder, Intransa

Adoption of IP connectivitiy unleashes myriads of standards, tools, and knowledge from the IP community to accelerate storage automation solutions--from the basic automated address as-signment and management with DHCP and DNS, to device discovery and service location via SLP, to security authentication such as RADIUS. The appropriate integration of well-known and broadly deployed IP technologies allows the deployment of distributed storage resources across the IP network to be managed logically together as a single entity from a central location. Storage automation enabled by the various IP technologies extends from automated device discovery and configuration into virtual pools at the lowest level to the intelligent, policy-driven, ad-aptive resource allocation and fail-over at the highest level. While the same can be achieved by FC SANs, we believe that the broad 4 and readily available IP-based, distributed information technologies will accelerate the availability of high-qualify, cost-effective, storage automation solutions to beyond the traditional high-end data center.