IT faces fork in the road to storage virtualization

So, do you think that virtualization could in fact be the future of data storage? I have met some that feel that it could be. But there are still many others that think other paths have not been discovered yet. Speaking for myself, I say it is anybody’s ballgame.

Technology managers seeking to reap the benefits of storage virtualization are at a crossroads, and two storage industry powerhouses, IBM and EMC (Profile, Products, Articles), want to take them in very different directions. On Wednesday, IBM (Profile, Products, Articles) trumpeted some new customers who are trying its way, and reviewed its case with analysts and press about why other IT departments should do the same.

Experts are not passing judgment on which architecture is right for users, and some caution that until arch rival EMC delivers on its alternative approach and both can be tested, the debate won’t be settled.

Virtualization, the ability to work with logical representations of physical storage, computing and networking resources, is at the heart of the dream of the future data center, according to Arun Taneja, founder of analyst firm Taneja Group in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. The ability to see and manage data as a single logical resource, regardless of where it physically dwells in the typical company’s large and disparate group of storage systems and networks, promises enormous productivity and cost savings to IT, he and others agree. [Read the rest]