Customer Reviews

Storage Virtualization: Technologies for Simplifying Data Storage and Management

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This book describes the basics of modern storage virtualization at an introductory level. The reader should have a basic technical background but does not need know much about storage. There are fourteen chapters each of which covers one aspect of storage. Topics include: host, server and fabric based virtualization. Additional topics such as various types of file systems as well as protocols such as Fibre, NFS, iscsi are also covered. The main drawback is the lack of details. Each topic is covered in about ~10-15 pages which is barely enough to scratch the surface. Therefore anyone who is seriously interested in a particular topic will have to find other material to really dig in. On the positive side, the presentation is simple enough that the book may be read rather quickly. I would recommend it to anyone who is getting into storage and wants a summary of all the major topics in an easy to read book.

Tom Clark is one of most lucid, current writers on storage networking topics. His books on Designing Storage Area Networks and IP SANS are good introductions to these topics. His latest book, Storage Virtualization (2005 Addison Wesley press), provides a much-needed Rosetta Stone for interpreting and putting into perspective the various meanings for this much ballyhooed concept.

The book gives a good overview of files and records, basic storage device and system architecture, as well as storage interconnects. It also provides a guide to techniques for virtualization as well as in many uses to which storage virtualization can be used. He gives us a detailed description of various paths to storage virtualization including virtualization at the host, at the storage target, as well as in the storage network fabric. The book also discusses specialized virtualization appliances and virtualization services such as pooling heterogeneous storage assets, mirroring, point-in-time snapshots, and hierarchical storage management (also known as ILM). Clark covers more advanced topics such as virtual tape, virtualization and storage automation, and finally storage as a utility. He also provides descriptions of numerous commercial solutions where appropriate. His description of the fiber application interface standard (FAIS) in chapter 8 is the best I has seen.

This book is accessible to several levels of readers from undergraduate and graduate students, IT administrators, as well as storage professionals. It will serve as a good textbook which I recommend for inclusion in a class covering advanced network storage concepts. The book is organized into 14 short chapters, each followed by a comprehensive review at the end of the chapters. It also includes useful appendices including vendors for various storage virtualization solutions, short observations and speculation by various analysts and practicing storage professionals, and a comprehensive glossary.

Although there are a few grammatical errors, they do not lead to serious misunderstanding of the excellent content. Overall, I highly recommend this book and enjoyed reading it.

Clark gives straightforward explanations of the issues involved in storage virtualisation. He shows that there are various ways to present to an operating system or user data storage capacities. In a functionally abstract manner, that permits a modular architectural design. This abstraction is crucial in giving a simple and logical view of the memory or disk. So that the applications level developer need only deal on a very simple level with read and write to the medium.

But Clark does more than just present this from the developer's viewpoint. He takes us deeper into how the actual hardware might be arranged. Perhaps in a virtualised mirroring setup, to cite one of his examples. He also goes into the idea behind a SAN server. Where essentially you might imagine a fast, dedicated computer sitting on your network. Whose only purpose is to provide massive data storage, simply accessible.

Plus, tape drives are also considered, in various configurations with SAN servers. Clark demonstrates that there is indeed an important place for tape drives. Not extinct yet, despite the claims of some disk vendors. A tape is often the most economical medium for archival storage.

If you manage a network of devices, then the book gives you a good education in what issues to consider, when deciding on storage.

A good book to learn the basics of virtualization.

For the next two years, the major storage vendors will wage a storage virtualization mindshare war. Tom covers the major initiatives these vendors are pushing forward including array-based, appliance-based, and fabric-based forms of storage virtualization. Tom also cover the FAIS standard that switch vendors will adhere to as storage virtualization enters the mainstream. This is a must read for storage administrators seeking to separate fact from fiction.

A concise and well written book on storage virtualization. Starting with explanation of file meta data and storage meta data the author uses good illustrations to dive reasonably deep and explain the concepts behind each mode of virtualization starting from server down to switch, appliance and array-based virtualization. The book is not wordy nor does it waste time on pointless rambling on the history of storage networking etc.. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in truly understanding the concepts behind this upcoming technology.

This book provides a clear and detailed explanation of intricacies, advantages, and disadvanatages of storage virtualization. It is similar to other Tom Clark books in that it easy to understand for the vast majority of readers. Anyone thinking of implementing storage virtualization would be well-served by reading this book.