Friday, March 15, 2013

Server Virtualization and its Effect on Data Management




 
     I recently stumbled upon a very interesting seven part series of videos involving data management.  This series is conducted by Jon Toigo, the “Data Management Institute Chairman and Toigo Partners International CEO.”  This particular part, and accompanying video, involves data storage needs as a result of server virtualization.
 
     When server virtualization was introduced, many companies jumped on board without fully understanding the concept or its effect on storage.  However, Toigo explains that server virtualization has actually led to an increase in demand for storage capacity.  Original estimates from 2011 predicted an increase in demand of 30% annually through 2014.  This figure was modified one year later to 300%.  At the same time, another firm predicts 650% estimate growth.  These figures are staggering when looked at from a storage capacity perspective.  The original estimate called for 46 exabytes of total installed external storage capacity.  Once updated, to figure rose to 168 EB or 212 EB depending on which firm you believe.  In this video, Toigo explains the effect server virtualization has on data storage requirements.  Many of the concepts are above my limited understanding, but it appears that server virtualization often depends on data replication as a failsafe.  This replication of large chunks of data is driving the demand for capacity through the roof.  Another problem is the support for “proprietary functionality in the server hypervisor software.” 
     
     In this link, Toigo discusses this concept that he describes as another part of the “storage infrastruggle.”  There are several links on this page, though some require a free membership.  One link in particular provides a brief tutorial on managing a server virtualization environment.  The rest of the seven part series can be found on the left side about halfway down the page.

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