“How to Remove File Storage Shackles”

Data Dynamics, Inc., in solutions for the discovery, policy based mobility and migration, reporting and on-going management of file-based storage, announced a  white paper titled, How to Remove File Storage Shackles.

It highlights the current state of file storage management and details the pain of semi-automated tools and manual processes when moving file storage data across enterprise IT systems and environments. Strategies and solutions for untethering these burdensome routines are also reviewed.

For most storage professionals, file storage migration and optimization projects are perpetual. Migrating, moving, and optimizing this data is an expensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive process. Regardless of whether file data is moved as a part of a tech refresh, data center consolidation, business unit acquisition, or as a part of a file storage restructure and clean up initiative, file data migrations are disruptive to both end-users and the business. However, options are available to help storage teams reduce the pain of file data management and migration during these initiatives.

According to a new paper authored by Dragon Slayer Consulting, “File storage is one of the easiest types of storage in data centers to implement, operate, protect, manage, and maintain. It has become synonymous with ‘simple storage.’ There are several applications (Oracle databases, Oracle business suite, vSphere, Microsoft Office, etc.) that anecdotally work better on file storage with fewer issues. This has made file storage a favorite for many storage admins and IT managers. But, like all storage technologies there is bad that goes with the good.”

“File storage is like flypaper to flies,” noted Marc Staimer, president and CDS, Dragon Slayer Consulting. “Once a file lands on file storage, moving it around is cumbersome at best and a nightmare at worst. Files always have to be moved. Whether it’s for storage consolidation, storage tiering on different systems from the same or different vendors, archiving of older data, or that periodic tech refresh with file migration, files always have to be moved. There are many tools, scripts, and products available. Some come with the file system or file storage. All of these semi-automated and manual systems can for the most part get the job done as long as there is tolerance for the sweat, tears, errors, and frustration. This is because most file movement processes leave much to be desired.”

As a compelling alternative to semi-automatic tools and processes, the paper considers the use of ‘autonomic’ file storage management and movement software. With this approach administrators no longer need to write scripts, document, test, support, hot fix, patch, and update their file copy and movement tasks. Nor is it necessary for IT professionals to hold an extensive resume of storage experience. Instead, file storage servers can be consolidated simply, easily, and online. Files residing on multiple file storage systems can be migrated to scale-up or scale-out file storage, and even cloud storage.

One such solution in this category is StorageX by Data Dynamics. It provides autonomic file storage management and movement capabilities that speeds the transition to advanced file storage technologies by up to 90%, compared to manual processes. The StorageX platform mitigates risks during migrations, consolidations, storage restructuring and archiving by leveraging patented technology to limit business disruptions. The storage management platform provides enterprise file lifecycle management for large, complex, multi-vendor file storage environments and centralizes the management of network file storage environments when updating NAS and Windows storage environments.

StorageX production implementations demonstrated time savings, including:

• ~55% less time to migrate files than native file storage system tools;
• ~60% less time to migrate files than common external software; and
• ~80 to 90% less time to migrate files than homegrown or professionally contracted scripts.

Research estimates show that the global enterprise NAS market will grow at a CAGR of 25.4% over the period 2013-2018 (TechNavio, Global Enterprise NAS Market 2014-2018). This growth in file storage adoption is being driven primarily by growing volumes of enterprise application data along with increasing quantities of cloud-based digital storage and social network data. Storage administrators rely on file storage solutions such as NAS because of their simplicity and respectable value compared to the traditional SANs. Feature set enhancements and more advanced disk drive technologies have also contributed to greater utilization. However, the time and headache required to implement these solutions without automating the management and transfer of data on existing storage is a known obstacle.

“Time is the operative word when it comes to file storage consolidation, upgrades, archiving and tiering. The use of autonomic solutions such as StorageX by Data Dynamics reduces processing time by as much as 90% compared to homegrown or professionally contracted scripts,” said Piyush Mehta, CEO, Data Dynamics. “This savings in time translates into much reduced CapEx and OpEx for file copy and movement, bringing projects to completion well within time and under budget.“

To download the white paper (registration needed)