The Wonders of Virtualization

Virtualization is nothing new. Anyone with a RAID array has done virtualization. In the 90's, virtualization of storage began to get interesting, but suffered from a lack of robust tools. In reflex, companies in the virtualization business begged not to have the V-word mentioned as part of their coverage in the trade press.

But now, virtualization is found under every infrastructure. Virtualization at the server level is an increasingly popular tool to consolidate servers and manage the increasingly large flow of data. Of course, there is a consequence: latency comes into play when you add another layer on the stack. But at current processing speeds, the latency is less and less a consequence.

The next logical step is to virtualize storage...not as easy as one would think. There is a scattering of proprietary solutions, stronger and weaker, to realize the dream of true any-to-any storage. Fine as this is, and useful as this kind of connectivity certainly is, the growth of the data center is not usually tied to a single vendor, a single file scheme, a single operating system. I have to wonder whether storage virtualization is useful anywhere except in one-vendor shops.

Additionally, storage virtualization may not be for everyone. A balancing test between the cost of adding storage devices and the expense of the virtualization, license and warranty needs to be made. An installation may be too small, and scaleability needs to be considered.

But virtualization is a popular bandwagon, now, and big names are jumping. Just let the buyer make an informed buying decision.