Data used for PowerPoint presentations, documented as text or in the form of pictures, are stored in the database and not just necessary for the day-to-day running of a company--they must also be kept for the purpose of corporate governance regardless of company size.

For this data to be used effectively, businesses must ensure they are secure, accurate and easily accessible. This objective must be worked into a company’s data storage strategy and this is not just something that only the Fortune 500s can implement. With storage devices becoming more affordable, even small and medium businesses (SMBs) can purchase and implement enterprise storage solutions and reap benefits from the investment.

Storage 101s for SMBs
According to Alvin Ow, technical consulting manager of Veritas Singapore, storage solutions fall into two basic categories — storage is either directly connected to each server or storage is shared by a group of servers in a network.

The solution in the first category is Direct Attached Storage (DAS), where each server has a storage device (normally hard disks) directly attached to it. In this rather “primitive” set-up, there is not much sharing of resources between servers. This is not optimal since businesses are now looking at ways to enable easy sharing of data between staff and departments.

Another disadvantage of DAS is that when a server requires more storage, the physical storage (in the form of more hard disks) can only be added to that server. This results in poor storage utilization as any storage space unutilized by that server cannot be accessed and used by other servers. Despite this, DAS has proved popular with SMBs since they often cannot afford large initial costs. Some small businesses even make do with burning disks to back-up their systems or share data within the same company!

For companies with larger storage requirements, however, a storage system that connects multiple servers to a centralized, standalone storage device will yield improved economies of scale as this allows them to utilize and scale their storage investments based on existing and future needs.

There are two solutions that fall under this second category: Network Attached Storage (NAS), a shared storage device that is attached to a network, and Storage Area Network (SAN), a network of shared storage devices. While both sounds fairly similar, they are two different technologies, specifically in how they store and access data.

A NAS device is disk storage equipment that is dedicated to file sharing. NAS does provide file management and authentication activities. The server still handles all of the data processing but a NAS device delivers the data to the user. This system allows more storage space to be added on the fly to the network without shutting down the servers in the network for maintenance and upgrades.

In the SAN architecture, all storage devices are made available to all the servers on a LAN or WAN. As more storage devices are added, they are also accessible from any server in the network, with the servers acting as a conduit between the end-user and the stored data.

Affordable SAN
In the past, SAN was not a system of choice for SMBs as they lacked both the budget and the storage demand to take advantage of the economies of scale offered by SAN. However, prices are falling and SMBs will be able to find the storage solution well within their reach. Furthermore, after having mined the enterprise market, storage vendors are turning their eyes on the SMB market and have released a slew of solutions to migrate them to SAN.

In late 2002, for instance, Brocade Communications, Computer Associates (CA), Emulex and Exabyte jointly marketed a pre-configured, SAN bundle designed specifically for SMBs. The open-plug-play SAN bundle offered SMBs all the components of a complete SAN, including fabric switches, storage, host bus adapters (HBAs), cables, media, documentation, installation, service and support, and warranty.

And as part of its "Smart Office" initiative for SMBs which it introduced last year, Hewlett-Packard (HP) is offering new storage products, along with a series of packaged storage solutions that are easy to implement and manage, requiring no new expertise, in addition to compatibility with existing systems. One of the offerings, the MSA1000, is an entry-level SAN storage array that simplifies SMBs’ transition from DAS to SAN.

Technology and human hurdles
Even after SMBs makes the decision to pool storage resources together, there is the issue of data integrity that they must overcome before they can enjoy the benefits of their storage investment. Data integrity, explains Ow, can be compromised by problems like viruses, system failure, and file system or data corruption at the applications level.

One technology that helps rectify these problems is Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks (RAID). RAID is a way of configuring data across two or more drives in combination, for fault tolerance and improved performance.

On the issue of security, Deb Dutta, regional director of Brocade Communications says, “One of the most common problems in today's data centers is not so much external attacks by would-be hackers. It is network disruption and downtime due to administrator or user errors and configuration mistakes.”

And indeed, Ow observes that the last factor in the storage solution picture is the human element. “People must be disciplined enough to proactively manage storage.” Often, he adds, companies increase storage capacity, add users and applications, but leave the system based on old [security] policies even when the requirements change. “Companies must re-look how they manage the storage for different applications and users.”

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