Virtual data storage is gaining what is a bolt-on acquisition popularity as an increasingly popular option for companies who want to reduce their IT costs. These solutions can save a considerable amount of money because they don’t require redundancy in hardware that is usually required in traditional enterprise storage systems to ensure disaster recovery.
Virtual data storage allows IT to pool physical data storage devices like SANs into what appears to be a single device or virtual storage array. There are many ways to utilize the technology that includes host-based virtualization as well as network-based storage (which connects storage devices from an FC or iSCSI storage system into a single pool, which is controlled by a central management console). Host-based virtualization can be used in HCI systems as well as cloud storage.
Virtual storage must be compatible not only with the hardware infrastructure itself but also with the hypervisors, servers and networking components. It should also support data encryption and access controls, as well as robust backup and disaster recovery capabilities.
Virtual storage should also be able to address issues with latency and performance. This includes ensuring that critical applications can function without impairing performance or adding to the speed of data retrieval. This involves evaluating storage controllers, bandwidth for networks and capacity of disk I/O and deploying cache mechanisms. It also requires installing advanced storage functions such as tiering and replicating at the virtualization level.
