Imation Storage Professional Services Outlines Top Storage Networking Issues for End-Users in 2002

Business Wire, Feb 27, 2002

Business Editors & Technology Writers

OAKDALE, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 27, 2002

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Imation Corp. (NYSE:IMN), a worldwide leader in data storage and information management, today outlined some of the top storage networking issues its Storage Professional Services (SPS) group will focus on this year, based on feedback from its end-user customers. Imation SPS is the only consulting business in the industry to offer customers a full lifecycle of independent storage consulting services, including assessment, design, proof-of-concept testing and implementation services.

"While almost every prognosticator has his or her predictions and opinions on the storage networking industry, we are offering a viewpoint based on our hands-on experience helping our customers design and implement their storage networks," said Mike Hogan, general manager, Imation Storage Professional Services. "Our engagements help customers separate the hype from reality with many of the new storage networking technologies, while providing an informed view on the future viability of some of these emerging technologies."

Storage Management

Storage management is too often an afterthought in a storage network implementation. While design, planning and testing are critical to successful storage network solutions, the management aspect should also be viewed as critical. Storage management should go beyond basic monitoring, including integrating into a company's current enterprise network management topologies. The entire storage path, rather than just the individual parts and pieces, is key in successfully mapping a management infrastructure.

"Knowing this upfront by making it part of the RFP or the design will make the day-to-day management tasks much more effective and less complex," said Bill Peldzus, storage consulting marketing manager, Imation Storage Professional Services. "This is critical, especially as new storage management software and strategies emerge in the marketplace."

In the coming year, users will continue to search for comprehensive feature sets and available products that can effectively manage a large heterogeneous storage environment and integrate with existing enterprise management frameworks. Policy-based management and effective auto discovery are other growing trends Imation is seeing with its customers.

Storage Virtualization

Storage virtualization will continue to be a hot topic in 2002. However, with many definitions and minimal standards in the industry, storage virtualization remains a confusing subject for many end-users. Because storage virtualization is becoming further integrated into storage management infrastructures, Imation has seen storage virtualization move from simply aggregating and "commoditizing" the physical storage subsystems that are being pooled, to more closely integrating "storage provisioning" into an overall centralized storage management architecture. While this big picture approach is critical to understanding how storage virtualization may or may not fit, equally important is understanding the different architectures and implementations and taking note of what storage virtualization can and cannot do.

"Customers need to understand why, how and if storage virtualization makes sense for their needs, and how it fits into the storage management paradigm," said Peldzus. "The right decision regarding storage virtualization today can yield significant savings tomorrow. We have found that the right choice for one customer may not be the right choice for another, due to factors such as the currently installed infrastructure and each customer's IT business drivers."

In the coming year, Imation SPS expects two or three leaders to emerge from the many virtualization companies in the market today. Those companies that emerge will likely further focus on the management side, and customers will be looking at the usability and feature set of the competing offerings as the companies battle for market share.

IP Storage

In the past year, IP Storage has been discussed and hyped. As a result, the technology has raised expectations and generated many questions. Looking at today's marketplace, there are a handful of vendors with very different roadmaps for IP Storage. Currently, Imation sees three protocols vying for support in IP Storage today: Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP), Internet SCSI (iSCSI), and Storage over IP (SoIP). A few of the emerging products include Storage Network Interface Cards (SNICs) and TCP/IP Offload Engines (TOEs).

"No matter what protocol or product a company is considering implementing, it first should ask how IP Storage may or may not fit into its storage infrastructure, and how a specific implementation of network storage may help its overall storage strategy," said Peldzus. "Understanding the protocols, players, products, and the critical existing LAN/WAN infrastructure is key to a successful implementation."