November 2010
$199
Analytics.InformationWeek.com
S t r a t e g y S e s s i o n
Storage Anonymous: Ad d
Fl ex i b i l i t y V i a V i r t u a l i z at i o n
Sure, you lie awake some nights thinking about all that
money, but it’s not like you’re the only one trying to
justify the premium for Tier 1 storage hardware, right?
True, but Google—along with a cadre of other large
enterprises and cloud providers—has successfully paired
smart storage virtualization and management software with
commodity hardware to break the stranglehold of black box
SAN vendors. Is it time for the rest of us to take that step?
By Steve McMurray
Report ID: S2001110
Storage Anonymous
A n a l y t i c s . I n f o r m a t i o n We e k . c o m
S t r a t e g y S e s s i o n
CO NTENT S 3 Author’s Bio
4 Executive Summary
5 Same as It Ever Was
5 Figure 1: Storage Virtualization Plans
7 Who Can Play?
8 Figure 2: Importance of Virtualization Technologies
F
9 Storage Virtualization to the Rescue
O
10 Where Does Virtualization Fit
11 Q&A: DataCore CEO George Teixeira
E
13 So What About That Support?
14 5 Ways to Make the Storage Virtualization Case
L
16 Availability Is Still King
B
17 Figure 3: Storage Virtualization Success Metrics
A
18 But Can It Keep Up?
T
18 Complexity’s the Killer
21 Watch the Hype
22 Related Reports
ABOUT US | InformationWeek Analytics’ experienced analysts arm business technology
decision-makers with real-world perspective based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative
research, business and technology assessment and planning tools, and technology adoption best
practices gleaned from experience.
If you’d like to contact us, write to managing director Art Wittmann at awittmann@techweb.com,
executive editor Lorna Garey at lgarey@techweb.com and research managing editor Heather Vallis
at hvallis@techweb.com. Find all of our reports at www.analytics.informationweek.com.
2 November 2010 © 2010 InformationWeek, Reproduction Prohibited
Storage Anonymous
A n a l y t i c s . I n f o r m a t i o n We e k . c o m
S t r a t e g y S e s s i o n
Steve McMurray enjoys providing security-oriented analysis of
leading technologies, most recently focusing on virtualization,
Steve Active Directory and compliance topics for InformationWeek
McMurray
Analytics.
InformationWeek
Analytics
Over the past 15 years, his passion for technology has led to a variety of
opportunities, including involvement in startups and consulting as well as
several positions in Fortune 100 technology companies. He has been an
active player in large-scale implementations of virtualization, Active
Directory (along with other Microsoft technologies) and endpoint security.
Steve currently specializes in security and design of Active Directory, Group
Policy and other Microsoft technologies, as well as virtualization and stor-
age architecture. He holds a BA in technical communications in addition to
a variety of technical and management certifications. Write to him at
smcmurray@nwc.com.
3 November 2010 © 2010 InformationWeek, Reproduction Prohibited
Storage Anonymous
A n a l y t i c s . I n f o r m a t i o n We e k . c o m
S t r a t e g y S e s s i o n
Executive Summary
It’s time to face the hard truth about enterprise storage: Apart from the
intelligent software embedded in the controller, that Tier 1 SAN you just
broke your budget to pay for is likely just a conglomeration of commodity
components. A 15,000 RPM enterprise-class hard drive mounted on a
fancy set of rails with a shiny corporate logo is still a 15,000 RPM physical
disk, even if you did pay a jaw-dropping markup. Controllers are generally
based on standard appliance or x86 platforms running Windows or modi-
fied Linux variants, with a custom Java-based Web interface for manage-
ment slapped on top.
We don’t see this as a negative—in fact, it makes a lot of sense to use stan-
dard building blocks rather than redesigning the OS and hardware set
from the ground up. And, there’s real value in the software stack that pro-
vides intelligence and management. But it’s time to ask the question: If my
storage system is mostly constructed from commodity components, am I
in need of intensive therapy for paying these prices?
“SAN storage isn’t sorcery anymore,” says Jake McTigue, IT manager at
medical device maker Carwild Corp. and an InformationWeek Analytics
contributor. “If you have disks and management software, you can make
pretty much anything happen. The question you have to ask yourself is
this: What exactly am I paying for here?”
What, indeed. Unfortunately, this is one of the last bastions of closed
design, and some big storage vendors are determined to keep the status
quo. In this report, we’ll explore what you get for your money when you
buy a Tier 1 SAN (software, integration and support) and explore alterna-
tive architectures enabled by storage virtualization.
4 November 2010 © 2010 InformationWeek, Reproduction Prohibited
Storage Anonymous
A n a l y t i c s . I n f o r m a t i o n We e k . c o m
S t r a t e g y S e s s i o n
Same as It Ever Was
Tier 1 storage vendors are working hard to maintain the status quo. They have stellar name
recognition, and they’re building on a base of solid products that gave rise to the SAN revolu-
tion. EMC in particular has a very effective marketing machine, adept at impressing executives
with its black boxes. Of course, it’s also got a track record for reliability and enterprise-class
support. What no one mentions in sales presentations, however, is that shiny new features like
tiering and thin provisioning have been available for years from software vendors, and that
under the hood of pricey SAN gear like the Clariion line runs Windows XP Embedded or
Windows Storage Server on a standard Intel platform.
An EMC spokesman didn’t dispute the hardware angle but says what his company brings to
the table is well-tested integration of high-end components, advanced software capabilities
and—perhaps most important to enterprise IT—a single point of contact if problems arise.
Figure 1
Storage Virtualization Plans
Is your organization using or planning to use storage virtualization?
No, we are not currently using Yes; we have already deployed
nor evaluating a storage
virtualization product 18% 35%
13%
34% Yes; we are currently piloting
Maybe; we are assessing the benefits
Data: InformationWeek Analytics Storage and File Virtualization Survey of 340 business technology
professionals, October 2010
5 November 2010 © 2010 InformationWeek, Reproduction Prohibited
Storage Anonymous
A n a l y t i c s . I n f o r m a t i o n We e k . c o m
S t r a t e g y S e s s i o n
“IT organizations understand that evaluating technology based on cost alone often leads to
point decisions that can be cheap up front but very costly over the technology’s use