Storage Virtualization Defined; Aberdeen Group and Evaluator Group Explain the What, How, and Why of Storage Virtualization

Business Wire, Feb 13, 2001

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 13, 2001

Aberdeen Group, a market analysis and positioning services firm, and Evaluator Group, the industry's preeminent analyst organization specializing in disk storage subsystems including storage management software, today released research that defines storage virtualization and the benefits of adopting it.

Storage virtualization separates the representation of storage to the server operating system from actual physical storage and presents logical storage space to system administrators and end users.

A summary of the Aberdeen and Evaluator Group collaborative research can be obtained for free at www.evaluatorgroup.com/virtualization. "Storage Virtualization: It Pays to Be Informed," defines storage virtualization, outlines the implementation, and summarizes its benefits.

Randy Kerns, Evaluator Group's Partner in charge of its Networked Storage Practice, commented: "All serious SAN vendors will need a deliverable system-level virtualization capability for heterogeneous disk storage this year. Once users commit to a virtualization strategy, they will not change for several years, and we think that commitment process will happen in the majority of the large users this year. Virtualization is the foundation to leverage storage administrators, a prerequisite to continued rapid storage growth."

"Storage virtualization solutions being delivered today significantly ease storage management burdens and enable wider use of commodity-priced storage components," says Dan Tanner, Aberdeen Group Senior Analyst. "Because virtualization turns all storage into a generally available utility pool, the amount of storage that a person can administer increases, and thus the administrative costs are greatly reduced."

Storage virtualization is both a goal and an enabler. Users can now turn to objective, independent expert sources for help in understanding the state of storage virtualization today. Aberdeen Group and The Evaluator Group have undertaken research work focused on storage virtualization; the goal is to separate the wheat from the chaff and explain solution appropriateness and business benefits in clear terms.

About Aberdeen Group

Aberdeen Group is a market analysis and positioning services firm that helps Information Technology vendors establish leadership in emerging markets. Steeped in technology and armed with end-user field research, Aberdeen answers clients' critical business and technology questions in the context of the Internet economy and across the product life cycle. Founded in 1988, Aberdeen is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and has research divisions in Palo Alto, California; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Aberdeen is accessible via the Web at www.aberdeen.com.

A partial list of the companies that Aberdeen's storage practice covers includes: Brocade, Cisco, Compaq, Computer Associates, CNT, Connex, Crossroads, DataCore, DataDirect, Dell, EMC, Emulex, Gadzoox, HP, Hitachi, IBM, Intel, Interphase, JNI, KOM, Legato, McData, Network Appliance, Nishan, OTG Software, Quantum, Sony, Spectra Logic, StorAge, StorageApps, Storage Networks, StorageTek, Sun, VERITAS, Vicom, Vixel, Xdrive, and Xiotech.

About Evaluator Group

Evaluator Group is the industry's preeminent analyst organization specializing in disk storage subsystems including storage management software. Our customers are vendors, integrators, and information technology storage specialists. Evaluator Group publishes The Evaluator Series Product Analysis publications and conducts seminars for users and vendors. The company also produces The Evaluator Series Announcement Analyses of significant disk announcements for vendors and a variety of white papers on disk-related subjects. In addition, the company provides the Evaluator Series On-Line (ES/OL), a detailed Web-resident subscription database about disk storage products and vendors. For more information about Evaluator Group, please visit www.evaluatorgroup.com.