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#223001

2010 IDC

y   Cost. Conversely, by using (typically) lower-cost capacity-optimized drives, an

organization can create a tier of storage that is focused primarily on long-term

archiving of data over time (as an example). Therefore, while the preservation of

the data is critical to the organization, instantaneous data request is second to

the cost-effective nature of simply having relatively quick access to the data for

future needs or requests.

y   Function. As the number of regulatory and legislative requirements increases for

the   preservation   of   the   actual   data,   as   well   as   integrity   and   security,

organizations may be required to create one or more tiers of storage in which

data is not only preserved in its original stored state but also tagged with audit

trails to track how the data has been accessed and by whom or by which

applications.

y   Environment. With predictable power, cooling, and real estate costs, an

organization may consider creating a tier of storage focused on energy efficiency

(e.g., through the use of solid state storage technologies).

y   Reliability. Depending on the perceived or real criticality of the data being

stored, an organization may also manage its data based on reliability factors. For

example, one organization may consider a mirrored and replicated approach as

the appropriate strategy for mission-critical data and the use of RAID 3, 5, or 6 as

appropriate for less critical data. On the other hand, another organization may

consider an array of disks protected by the properties of RAID 6 suitable for its

mission-critical data.

y   Efficiency. An additional motivation to move to tiered storage can be the desire

for a more efficient storage infrastructure in terms of the simplicity of the

management. Storage consolidation, virtualization, and information management

can all individually increase the complexity of a storage infrastructure, something

that IT administrators wish to avoid. Integrating such features not only improves

the efficiency of storage but also can drive up storage utilization.

The Need to Implement

The information presented above describes the importance of deploying a tiered

storage architecture to address the increasingly stringent data requirements facing an

IT organization. Simply managing storage utilization is no longer sufficient. The

demands placed on today's storage environment, coupled with a new set of

aggressive business economics in the datacenter, are forcing many organizations to

seek an alternative approach based on data optimization and tiered storage. While a

few organizations are able to tackle this complex task on their own, a majority are

seeking solutions and services from storage providers and partners that can help

organizations realize their full potential.

One such IT provider is HP. With a breadth of technologies and services centered on

a tiered-storage approach, HP is helping to pave the road to the optimized

datacenter.