A storage checklist for future IT

Pete Rawden lists what he thinks is essential for future IT infrastructures

Future-ready means having an IT system that is flexible enough to adapt to the minor and major changes that will occur in the times ahead. A future-ready infrastructure will be a system that can be frequently added to and is able to keep up with the pace of its users’ demands – as opposed to installing a new system every time updates become available.

Having a future-ready IT system will not only align companies with the correct infrastructure for the days to come, but will dramatically improve efficiency. An example of an efficiency improvement can be by buying the correct storage equipment.

An infrastructure with adequate storage facilities will be able to store more data for less money, use less person power when there are IT problems and will also be able to retain data on disk for longer periods, which in turn will reduce datacentre costs.
There will now be more money and more man power to be distributed. By spending less on storage, IT service costs and IT equipment, while improving data security, an advantage over competitors has been created.

The next question is how do you become future-ready? I have complied a checklist that the channel can share with end users to help them get future-ready.

* A unified architecture that can support multiple protocols will be needed. These protocols include Fibre Channel and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), Common Internet File System (CIFS) and Network File System (NFS).

*As a business grows so will the data volumes being entered into it. Storage infrastructure must be able to accommodate the sudden influx of data that comes with an expanding company.

*Integrated data protection must deliver high availability, backup, compliance and disaster recovery services directly from the storage, enabling you to replace multiple products with a single, high efficiency platform.

* Data needs to be accessible around the clock. When data cannot be retrieved, business could be come to a stand-still, resulting in lost profits.

* As every company will have multiple users accessing the company’s data simultaneously, some serious security issues will arise. IT that supports end-to-end, secure multi-tenancy will be needed, so users can take advantage of shared infrastructure.

*With larger quantities of data coming in as the business grows, it must be easily controlled. The IT department needs to be able to do this at the push of a button so that administrative costs are minimised.

A future-ready, flexible IT infrastructure will bring numerous advantages. The channel should offer IT systems to end users that will free up valuable resources, allow future planning but increase efficiency and deliver savings.

Pete Rawden is regional director for channels and general business at NetApp UK and Ireland