Wouldn’t it be nice to manage data growth rather than just let it take over?

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By Kate Davis

If you look at any predictions for data growth in the next few years it shouldn’t be a surprise that the amount of data we store is increasing.  The thing that may surprise you is that rate at which it is increasing.  But when you think about it the growth starts to make sense – we’re all pushing towards paperless offices meaning that documents are stored and backed up electronically.  The world’s music and video collections are being stored online and then downloaded by individuals and stored again on their personal devices, and then possibly backed up.  This isn’t a new trend, we are already in the thick of it and it’s not just a big business problem.  It doesn’t matter how large your company is your people are still consuming the finite storage space you have on a daily basis.  It’s an issue that needs managed by business of all sizes

New Unified Network Storage Systems Manage Data Growth

HP recently introduced two solutions that can help you manage your data - the new X1000 and X3000 G2 Network Storage Systems, the first unified storage appliances based on Microsoft’s new Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 operating system. These NAS systems enhance operations by simplifying file and application storage across central or branch offices.

−        The X1000 G2 series provides a fast and easy way to add Windows-powered shared storage to IT environments, offering versatile unified storage that can be deployed as a file server, an iSCSI target for application/virtual environment storage, or both to help you maximise your storage investments

−        The X3000 G2 systems maximise resource utilisation by adding Windows-powered IP-based gateway file services to a storage array or SAN. Additionally, the X3000 can easily integrate into current IT environments by supporting the HP StorageWorks P2000 G3 Modular Smart Array (MSA), P4000 G2 SAN, Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA), P9500 XP Disk Arrays and other non-HP arrays.

New features in Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 include Windows File Classification Infrastructure (FCI) and Branch Cache.  FCI enables administrators to automate manual data classification processes based on the business value of the information. This helps reduce costs and mitigates risk by identifying sensitive data in public folders, automatically expiring stale data or moving less critical data to lower cost storage. The Branch Cache Service feature aides remote file management by enabling file storage locally at a remote office to improve user response times and reduce long distance network congestion. Branch Cache Service provides 66% faster downloads and 53% less network bandwidth with Windows 7 clients. In addition to these, a key feature of WSS08 R2 is Single Instance Storage (SIS) which eliminates duplicate copies of common files which can reduce capacity requirements by up to 40% and improve storage efficiency.

More information about the HP StorageWorks X1000 G2 and X3000 G2 Network Storage Systems is available at www.hp.com/go/X1000-g2 and www.hp.com/go/x3000-g2

Also, check out the X1000 videos:

Part1 Hardware – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGHFhqLZwPc

Part2 Software – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x59luwirFKA

These solutions need to be combined with good data management policies to really maximise their effectiveness, but combining those two things could help your business manage the unstoppable growth of data rather than allowing that growth to manage you.