The term storage management encompasses the technologies and processes organizations use to maximize or improve the

performance of their data storage resources. It's a broad category that includes virtualization, replication, mirroring, security,

compression, traffic analysis, process automation, storage provisioning and related techniques.

By some estimates, the amount of digital information stored in the world's computer systems is doubling every year. As a result,

organizations feel constant pressure to expand their storage capacity. However, doubling a company's storage capacity every

year is an expensive proposition. In order to reduce some of those costs and improve the capabilities and security of their storage

solutions, organizations turn to a variety of storage management solutions.

Storage Management BenefitsMany storage management technologies, like storage virtualization, deduplication and compression, allow companies to better

utilize their existing storage. The benefits of these approaches include lower costs -- both the one-time capital expenses

associated with storage devices and the ongoing operational costs for maintaining those devices.

Most storage management techniques also simplify the management of storage networks and devices. That can allow companies

to save time and even reduce the number of IT workers needed to maintain their storage systems, which in turn, also reduces

overall storage operating costs.

Storage management can also help improve a data center's performance. For example, compression and technology can enable

faster I/Os, and automatic storage provisioning can speed the process of assigning storage resources to various applications.

In addition, virtualization and automation technologies can help an organization improve its agility. These storage management

techniques make it possible to reassign storage capacity quickly as business needs change, reducing wasted space and

improving a company's ability to respond to evolving market conditions.

Finally, many storage management technologies, such as replication, mirroring and security, can help a data center improve its

reliability and availability. These techniques are often particularly important for backup and archive storage, although they also

apply to primary storage. IT departments often turn to these technologies for help in meeting SLAs or achieving compliance goals.

Storage Management: Related TermsStorage management is very closely related to Storage Resource Management (SRM). SRM often refers particularly to software

used to manage storage networks and devices. By contrast, the term "storage management" can refer to devices and processes,

as well as actual software. In addition, SRM usually refers specifically to software for allocating storage capacity based on

company policies and ongoing events. It may include asset management, charge back, capacity management, configuration

management, data and media migration, event management, performance and availability management, policy management,

quota management, and media management capabilities. In short, SRM is a subset of storage management; however, the two

terms are sometimes used interchangeably.

Storage management is also closely associated with networked storage solutions, such as storage area networks (SANs) and

network-attached storage (NAS) devices. Because using SAN and NAS devices is more complicated than using direct-attached

storage (DAS), many organizations deploy SRM software when they deploy their storage networking environments. However,

storage management techniques like replication, mirroring, security, compression and others can be utilized with DAS devices as

well as with SANs and NAS arrays.

Storage management is often used in virtualized or cloud computing environments.

Storage Management ImplementationBecause storage management is such a broad category, it's difficult to provide detailed instructions on how to install or how to use

storage management technologies. In general, storage management technology can be deployed as software or it can be

included in a hardware device. Storage management techniques can be applied to primary, backup or archived storage.

Deployment and implementation procedures will vary widely depending on the type of storage management selected and the

vendor. In addition, the skills and training of storage administrators and other personnel add another level to an organization's

storage management capabilities.

Managing the data deluge requires a combination of talent and technology resources. Enterprises are faced with data that increases 60 percent year-over-year, which makes dealing with the data problem a lot more complex.

To make the situation even more challenging, virtualization technologies and regulatory compliance laws further complicate data management and push professionals to the max, greatly hindering their ability to effectively manage data.

A good storage administrator has probably set storage policies and implemented storage resource management (SRM) tools. But, a phenomenal storage administrator is moving toward being able to connect the dots, understand what is driving data growth and integrate capacity planning.