Once a layer of storage virtualization is added to the storage infrastructure, how difficult is it to remove or "back out" of the virtualization later? What steps can be taken to improve success or minimize disruption if a "back out" is necessary? |
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| 22 Aug 2007 | Arun Taneja |
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Storage virtualization is a very strategic decision for a company to make. Be conscious of what you're doing, because reversing virtualization is not easy. Once you go into a virtualized environment, the relationship between what is being presented as storage to the server and where that physical storage is coming from is completely abstracted -- an IT storage administrator won't know where storage is coming from. You will probably live with a vendor's storage virtualization product for years to come, so it is absolutely crucial to pick your vendor carefully.
You can back out of storage virtualization, but it's a painful project. You'll basically have to backup your data somewhere else, remove the virtualization layer, then bring the data back onto known physical storage devices. It's not a course to be undertaken lightly.
Check out the entire Storage Virtualization FAQ guide.
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