{"id":75818,"date":"2021-01-14T19:29:51","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T08:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itt.com.au\/?p=75818"},"modified":"2021-01-14T19:29:51","modified_gmt":"2021-01-14T08:29:51","slug":"how-object-storage-is-taking-storage-virtualisation-to-the-next-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itt.com.au\/how-object-storage-is-taking-storage-virtualisation-to-the-next-level\/","title":{"rendered":"How object storage is taking storage virtualisation to the next level"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
We live in an increasingly virtual world. Because of that, many organisations not only virtualise their servers, they also explore the benefits of virtualised storage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gaining popularity 10-15 years ago, storage virtualisation is the process of sharing storage resources by bringing physical storage from different devices together in a centralised pool of available storage capacity. The strategy is designed to help organisations improve agility and performance while reducing hardware and resource costs. However, this effort, at least to date, has not been as seamless or effective as server virtualisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is starting to change with the rise of object storage \u2013 an increasingly popular approach that manages data storage by arranging it into discrete and unique units, called objects. These objects are managed within a single pool of storage instead of a legacy LUN\/volume block store structure. The objects are also bundled with associated metadata to form a centralised storage pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Object storage truly takes storage virtualisation to the next level. I like to call it storage virtualisation 2.0 because it makes it easier to deploy increased storage capacity through inline deduplication, compression and encryption. It also enables enterprises to effortlessly reallocate storage where needed, while eliminating the layers of management complexity inherent in storage virtualisation. As a result, administrators do not need to worry about allocating a given capacity to a given server with object storage. Why? Because all servers have equal access to the object storage pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One key benefit is that organisations no longer need a crystal ball to predict their utilisation requirements. Instead, they can add the exact amount of storage they need, at any time and in any granularity, to meet their storage requirements. And they can continue to grow their storage pool with zero disruption and no application downtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n