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IBM STORAGE SOLUTIONS: WHAT DATA STORAGE IS & HOW TO OPTIMIZE IT

To differentiate the many levels of storage technologies, Houston storage consulting companies need to evaluate the core characteristics specific to a given IBM storage solutions implementation. The core characteristics to focus on include volatility, mutability, accessibility, differentiation and performance. Once these have been determined, users can move on to the issue of SAN optimization.

• Volatility: Non-volatile memory can retain its information, even when it is not provided constant electrical power. This type of memory is well suited for long-term storage of information. Volatile memory requires a constant supply of information to retain its information. Because primary storage needs to be very fast, it almost always uses volatile memory.
• Differentiation: Dynamic memory is a type of memory that is important to IBM storage solutions, because it is volatile memory that requires the stored information to be re-read and re-written periodically, otherwise it will vanish. On the other hand, static memory is volatile memory that is similar to DRAM, but it does not need to occasionally refresh.
• Mutability: Most modern computers use read/write storage-or mutable-storage for secondary storage, because it allows information to be overwritten when necessary. Read only storage, contrarily, retains the information that was stored at the time of manufacture. Write once storage (WORM) is immutable and only allows information to be written once after manufacture. Finally, slow write, fast read storage allows information to be overwritten many times, but the write operation is much slower than the read operation. A Houston storage consulting firm can tell you which type of mutability is right for your data.
• Accessibility: Accessibility can mean either random or sequential access. Random access means that any location in the storage can be accessed at any moment in the same length of time. Sequential access involves accessing pieces of information in serial order; so the time it takes to access any given piece of information will depend up on which piece of that information was last accessed. This sequential accessibility is typical of off-line storage solutions.
• Performance: Latency is the time it takes to access a given location within the storage. Thoroughput is the rate at which information can be either read or written to the storage. Sometimes the read and write rates will need to be differentiated.

Once you have discussed the many different characteristics of IBM storage solutions, it is time to discuss SAN optimization with your Houston storage consulting firm. Mark 3 Systems is ready to provide our clients with all of the information they need to make sure that their invaluable data is not only safe, but optimized in order to be readily accessible. To learn more, call us today at 713-664-9850.