Servicer takes sweat out of storage

Daily Newsletters

Sign up to ZDNet UK's daily newsletter.

NEWS
A third-party service that will optimise and manage enterprise storage from a remote site promises to save users money. Technica, a consultant in storage area networking (SANs) has launched remote managed storage (RMS), a service in which it uses management products on its own site to manage storage on customer sites. Users often call on a consultant to consolidate storage, creating an efficient architecture, but this can rapidly become more inefficient as new servers and disks come online, said Ian Parker, general manger of RMS at Technica. "Storage starts to unconsolidated fairly quickly," he said. "Ten percent of it is wasted in a couple of months." Two years ago, managed storage providers were suggested as an alternative, holding several customers' data on a central site and making the most efficient use of large storage devices, but users rejected the idea. "Users want to keep the physical storage on their own sites," said Parker. However, with the current skill shortage, users will find it difficult to keep storage experts, and have them available 24 hours a day, said Parker. RMS keeps the data on SANs at the user site, but they are managed 24 hours a day by Technica staff, across a secure line -- either a DSL or ISDN link. A rack at the customer site will contain equipment to monitor the storage. Technica intendes to sell the product to customers who have used the company in a consolidation project, selling it as a cost-effective way to keep storage optimised in future. The service is built almost completely from components of Hewlett-Packard's OpenView suite. "We are one of the most complete OpenView implementations in the world," said Parker. OpenView Network Node Manager will handle the physical management, while OpenView Service Desk will be used to enter user queries and issues. The OpenView service information portal will give users a view of the performance of their network -- through a standard Web browser. The price of the service depends on both the size in terabytes of the installation and the complexity (including the number of SAN connections and servers). Typically it might cost around £80,000 per year for a few terabytes, up to £400,000 a year for 100 terabytes, said Parker. This is roughly half the price of paying a third party to manage storage with on-site personnel, he said.
Have your say instantly, in the Tech Update forum. For a weekly round-up of the enterprise IT news, sign up for the Tech Update newsletter. Find out what's where in the new Tech Update with our Guided Tour. Tell us what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

  • Login

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

Freebies202

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

6 hours ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source
kevinmchapman

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

14 hours ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Marg Menzies Harrison

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

15 hours ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid
zdnetukuser

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

16 hours ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface
Moley

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

18 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

20 hours ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

21 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

21 hours ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

21 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Dennis Nilsson

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

23 hours ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany
GHar123

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

1 day ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
JCB33

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

1 day ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
Moley

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

1 day ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
greycynic

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

1 day ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity
GrueMaster

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

1 day ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Frederick Wrigley

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

1 day ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
bdantas

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

1 day ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

1 day ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

1 day ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material
Moley

For Gnome 2 die-hards, it is possible to add icons to the bottom panel (or top top panel, if you prefer) which provide the exact Gnome 2...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint