Storage predictions 2011

As this new year begins, take a moment to look back and marvel at all you have accomplished. I’m sure 2010 was no picnic for most of you, and all those projects were hard, but those difficult projects were well worth the effort.

Most IT projects in 2010 were focused on implementing server virtualization and consolidating IT infrastructure. Some organizations were busy evaluating new technologies and installing the technical innovations (like data deduplication) which enabled them to reduce costs and simplify data management and protection. Interesting technologies like Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and Infiniband seemed like they would actually replace Fibre Channel in 2010, but these technologies did not make the expected impact. Companies who made investments in these areas found they were too far ahead of the curve.

It is important to understand which new technologies will provide the most benefit to the organization as you define your strategy, which is always a make or break moment for every CIO.

Below are the top five technologies and projects which will impact IT in 2011

Consolidation is key in 2011 as investments in virtualization technologies continue to increase.

Server Virtualization: The benefits of moving to a virtual server infrastructure are just too great to ignore. VMware, Microsoft, Oracle, Citrix and others will gain as server and application-level virtualization solutions become pervasive.

Storage Virtualization: The same benefits which are realized after implementing server virtualization become even greater as storage resources are virtualized.

Solid State Disk: I have seen where migrating the highest utilized one percent of the total SAN infrastructure to a layer of SSD can provide a one hundred percent improvement in overall performance. In order for this to happen, the storage must also be able to dynamically move hot spots to the SSD layer, which typically means storage virtualization must also be implemented to gain the full benefits.

Modular Building Blocks with Integrated Data Management: As many organizations move from more expensive monolithic storage arrays to a more modular approach for datacenter infrastructure, ASICS and appliances will become more important in providing the core data storage, movement and protection functions which were traditionally provide by the firmware in the storage arrays.

Cloud-based Data Protection: As data is virtualized, deduped and encrypted, it becomes easier to outsource data protection to third parties. IT resources may be better spent on implementing new applications which drive business. Outsourcing data protection is one of the easiest steps to begin moving IT to the cloud.

Begin 2011 by defining your data policies and benchmarking your storage to get performance metrics that can be included in your policies for data placement. Also, take a closer look at your current business processes to make sure they tie in seamlessly with your data management policies. The end result is the beginnings of a framework for moving forward in the New Year.

Happy New Year!

Christopher Poelker is the author of Storage Area Networks for Dummies, and he is currently the vice president of enterprise solutions at FalconStor Software.