Chuck's Blog

From Virtualization To Federation

For those of you who took some well-deserved time off at the end of the year -- welcome back!

In the spirit of 2010 predictions, I'd like to offer up the prediction that a very specific term will become important during 2010: federation.

It's inevitable, as many of us will have to begin thinking about how pools of resources -- frequently separated by distance -- will communicate and cooperate to act as one thing, rather than a disparate pool of uncoordinated resources.

Towards Virtual Storage

Virtualization concepts have changed forever how we think about servers and compute.  What was once a handy tactical tool to squeeze more efficiency from servers has become the strategic foundation for tomorrow's cloud.

But virtualization concepts aren't limited to servers -- they also will make a powerful impact in the storage domain as well.  And -- when considered alongside server virtualization -- the resulting potential for builders and users of enterprise IT is nothing short of spectacular.

FAST And The Continuing Virtualization Of Storage - Part 3

This post is the third (and hopefully final) post in a series triggered by EMC's announcement of FAST going GA today.

The first post described the primary impacts of the FAST technology, and noted similarities / synergies between the virtualization of servers and the continuing virtualization of storage.

The second post juxtaposed FAST technology with other storage efficiency technologies, and offered up a new take on storage tiering, most of which is generally available as of today.

This post goes even further, and talks a bit about how people and process will likely change going forward, especially for those of you who touch storage on a daily basis.

FAST And The Continuing Virtualization Of Storage - Part 2

In my previous post, I attempted to present some of the basic impacts of FAST -- fully automated storage tiering, and how they were reflective of a Big Theme I want call the continuing virtualization of storage.

This theme plays out in two primary ways -- one of which is storage's continuing alignment with fully virtualized servers and networks.  And the other is how -- once we fully abstract logical from physical -- many more things are possible in the storage domain than we might previously have assumed.

This second post digs in deep on the second idea -- what new things are now possible once we fully embrace "virtualized storage"? 

And one of those "new things" is an entirely new take on storage tiering.

FAST And The Continuing Virtualization Of Storage - Part 1

Today's thematic post was triggered by EMC's announcement that FAST (fully automated storage tiering)  is now GA (generally available) on Symmetrix, CLARiiON and Celerra product lines.

Rather than get into the gritty details, I saw today's announcement as just another step in the journey of storage becoming a fully virtualized and dynamic resource, much in the way networks have been, and servers are fast becoming.

Can You Call A Big Pile Of Disk "Cloud Storage"?

Well, there certainly are many who think so.

On the vendor side, I'd put 3Par, IBM, NetApp and doubtless a few others I forgot to mention.

Being the ever-pragmatic marketeer, I've been guilty of slapping new labels on old ideas a few times over the years -- and sometimes gotten away with it.

But in this case, I don't think it's going to work.  Clouds are very different -- or will be very soon.

Overcoming Distance

Over the last few centuries, much of mankind's ingenuity has been focused on eliminating the inconvenience of distance. 

From sailing ships to modern air transportation; from hand-carried letters to global telepresence -- we spend a lot of time and money to overcome distance in the physical world.

And, in the next few years, there's going to be an intense focus in IT in doing exactly the same thing.