Articles
RSSEvolving The Data Center To Be A Platform For Data Services By Michael Alvarado, Xyratex
February 12, 2008
•White Paper: Evolving The Data Center To Be A Platform For Data Services By Michael Alvarado, Xyratex
Organizations are continually seeking to gain more value from their data through techniques such as data mining, simulation and scenario building, as well as data repurposing or repackaging. How a company uses its data, however, is where the story gets interesting. While every company attempts to use the data to improve decisionmaking to improve performance, operational efficiency, and competitive advantage, many organizations quickly realize when they set to meet these goals that their existing infrastructure simply isn't up to the task.
The rising value and magnitude of data are challenging data storage infrastructure design. One legacy practice has been to view infrastructure as a collection of devices. Creating a truly effective data management system requires an emphasis on data rather than devices, on logical data systems rather than tangible storage hardware systems. It also requires redefining the logical relationship between servers and storage to build cost-efficient, durable data management architectures able to encompass the entire archiving domain while remaining versatile enough to ensure its viability over the multidecade life of a modern data archive system.
Focusing attention and energy to harness data for specific business objectives is a challenging task. Incorporating greater intelligence into the storage layer will help enable this goal. The benefit of data-centric business models is being able to make more well-grounded decisions even faster. This compelling trend will eventually be realized by the vast majority of businesses. The first step is for IT to combine storage and servers onto a common platform for the purpose of creating a unified data system. This will enable IT to undertake a phased approach to placing data at the center of business strategy.
Click Here To Download:•White Paper: Evolving The Data Center To Be A Platform For Data Services By Michael Alvarado, Xyratex
