The advent of hyperconvergence and software-defined storage technologies makes virtual data storage a viable alternative for companies looking to lower IT costs. In fact, because these solutions don’t require the hardware redundancies that are typically required in traditional enterprise storage structures for disaster recovery, they could reduce both initial costs and operating expenses over time by a significant amount.

Virtual data storage enables IT departments to pool physical storage devices, such as SANs and SANs, into what appears to be an individual device or storage array. There are a variety of methods to implement this technology that include network-based storage virtualization (which brings together all of the storage devices in an FC or iSCSI SAN into a single pool that is managed via a central management console) and host-based virtualization. Host-based virtualization is typically found in HCI systems as well as cloud storage.

To function virtual storage, it must be compatible with underlying hardware infrastructure such as networking components and servers, as well as with the common management tools and hypervisors. It must also provide data encryption and access controls, and robust backup and disaster recovery capabilities.

Virtual storage must also be http://www.virtualdataspace.biz/dropbox-vs-sharefile-what-to-choose/ able address concerns about performance and latency. This means that critical applications can run without compromising performance or causing latency to data retrieval. This means evaluating storage controller capabilities, network bandwidth and capacity of the disk I/O, as well as deploying caching mechanisms. It also involves installing advanced storage features, such as replication, tiering, and virtualization at the virtualization layer.