POWER SOLUTIONS

DATA CENTER TECHNOLOGYdata center: installing an application is a logical task for which theadministrator enters basic requirements—or service-level objectives(SLOs)—and the infrastructure management layer provisions theresources to meet those requirements. In the virtual data centercontext, ILM requirements must be reflected in the SLOs when anapplication is deployed. Examples of ILM requirements that mightbe specified include:• Downtime: The amount of downtime that is acceptable forthe application. This metric helps the infrastructure layerdetermine which disaster recovery options are available.• Time to zero value: The length of time for the value ofthe information to reach zero. For example, if the systemis producing weather forecasts, then the time to zero valueis one day—yesterday’s forecast has historical significancebut little value. This metric can be used to determinewhen to purge old information or move old information toless-expensive storage as its value declines.• Regulatory compliance: Regulations, if any, that affect theinformation created by the application. For example, theinformation may need to meet the retention requirements ofthe Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This metric could be used to set upoff-site file archives.Providing ILM requirements as part of the application deploymentprocess helps align information management actions withthe value of the application from the moment it is installed.Understanding the information management problemAlthough the basic concept of ILM has been a standard operatingprocedure in the mainframe world for several years, outside themainframe world ILM is far less mature. In the open systemsworld, most IT organizations have some procedures in place(often in the form of custom scripts and manual administrationtasks) to manage the information produced by applications andusers. Unfortunately, these procedures typically suffer from thefollowing problems:• Lack of integration: Few IT organizations have a holisticapproach to information management; procedures tend tobe application- and operation-specific, using different toolswith different management interfaces for each task. Thishetero geneity can make it difficult to document proceduresand ensure that the right procedures are in place for everyapplication.• Insufficient distinction between information types:Not all information is of equal value, and the proceduresfor tasks such as backup and disaster recovery shouldbe driven by the value of the information. Today’s datacenters typically implement one of two classes of ILM:a combination of off-site disaster recovery, extensivearchiving, and comprehensive backup; or a bare-minimumtape backup. This binary approach can lead to excessiveIT costs because administrators tend to err on the side ofcaution and overprotect information that may have littleresidual value.• Inability to scale: An ad hoc approach to information managementis feasible as long the number of servers and quantityof information remains small. However, even in midsizecompanies, existing ILM approaches can be difficult to scaleas the number of servers and the quantity of stored informationcontinue to increase.Until recently, such problems have been marginalizedwhile efforts were focused on physical infrastructure management.Today, management tools for physical infrastructure havematured and the time is fast approaching for organizations toaddress information management in a consistent, flexible, andscalable way. Reasons for a renewed focus on ILM include thefollowing considerations:• Growing complexity in data and information management:As organizations have come to rely on computinginfrastructures for a growing number of day-to-day functions,effective information management has becomeincreasingly important.• Regulatory compliance: The problem of complexity iscompounded by the increasing number of governmentregulations—such as the Health Insurance Portability andAccountability Act (HIPAA) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in theUnited States, and the Data Privacy Directive in the EuropeanUnion—that affect the way organizations manage data.• Growth of digital information storage: New applications,new regulations, and increased use of existing applicationsare leading to rapid growth in capacity requirements.• Performance problems caused by information overload: Asthe amount of information stored by an application grows,the performance of the application typically degrades andadministrative operations such as backups and disasterrecovery also take longer.• Increasing maturity in infrastructure management: In thepast few years, manufacturers and industry standards bodieshave cooperated to produce standards, such as the StorageNetwork Industry Association (SNIA) initiatives to simplifythe management of storage infrastructure.Altogether, these issues have caused information managementto become a high priority for many organizations. Centralized68DELL POWER SOLUTIONS Reprinted from Dell Power Solutions, August 2005. Copyright © 2005 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. August 2005