Using Software to Reduce Hardware Requirements

[Kimberley]

Written by: Bruce Naegel, Sr. Product Manager

Maximizing the value of existing hardware investments has never been a bad idea. Perhaps never before has it also been such a good idea.

Today's IT organizations are up against a wall. It's not just that data centers are running out of space, or that power and energy costs are escalating, or that corporate social responsibility initiatives demand greater efficiencies throughout IT. It's also that few IT organizations can afford to simply rip and replace their data center infrastructures to address space, environmental, corporate responsibility, or any other issue. After all, if the capital costs of doing so were not enough to prohibit such dramatic action, then the potential risk to business continuity likely would be.

As a result, a growing number of IT organizations are looking at a more affordable yet effective solution for reducing their hardware requirements: software. As it turns out, a handful of technologies that IT administrators have relied on for years in their server and storage environments are also proving to be compelling tools for getting more out their hardware:

• Clustering
• Storage tiering
• Data deduplication
• Virtualization
• Storage resource management

These are components of a cost-effective strategy for maximizing IT investments while also business continuity.

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