Information is an essential resource for all businesses today and is the key to growth and success. However, companies have to ensure that the information held on their IT systems is secure. 

Electronic storage

by Sara White

Faced with escalating storage costs and limited resources, storage vendors are offering systems designed for SMBs as opposed to simply repackaging scaled-down enterprise products

As businesses rely increasingly on automated business processes, the importance of creating a robust, accessible and affordable storage environment is critical.

Demand for storage capacity is growing at 60 per cent a year and companies are facing the challenge of data growth and management while IT budgets remain flat, according to IDC.

Effective data management is a legal responsibility and compliance with the Data Protection Act should be an absolute given for business. However, the recent spate of data losses in the public sector has merely highlighted the importance of implementing storage policies and disaster recovery procedures.

Dell marketing manager for enterprise storage David Holmes said: "Overall, the one consistent theme is the growth of data and how to cope with the exponential growth of data.

"How are you going to manage it, pay for it and deal with security and compliance issues?

"For companies in the SMB space, historically they may have just had the data on local servers and when more was required, they would just throw more disk space at it. Then it becomes a data nightmare."

Dell's PowerVault MD3000 SAN marked a change in the data storage environment for smaller businesses when it was launched, offering an affordable storage solution for the first time. It leverages the same technology as Dell's PowerEdge servers - it uses the same disks and they can be swapped out between systems. What makes this system stand out is its price point with a starting price of £3,843.

"The MD3000 offers customers in the SMB space a number of really good benefits and it can be integrated into existing servers. It is IP-based and does not use fibre channel switches so it is much easier to integrate.  You can centralise the data across up to 16 servers so the management becomes a lot easier - data can be kept near-line with an archival copy off-site," said Holmes. "It gives customers the advantage of getting on with their business as it uses a tiered infrastructure and has automatic backup."

The latest offering from Dell is the AX4-5 entry-level SAN (storage attached network) array for SMBs, launched in January 2008. This storage system can expand up to 60 drives supporting for up to 60Tb data storage capacity. It can be configured for fibre channel or iSCSI networks and supports mixed drive configurations to suit customer-specific needs: SAS drives for high performance and SATA drives for greater capacity.

"This is the latest step in the strong partnership between Dell and EMC," said Dell EMEA director, enterprise marketing Eric Velfre. "We have worked closely with EMC to define, design and deliver this system tailored to SMBs. Together we are delivering capabilities not previously seen in entry-level SANs."

Resource squeeze

One of the big issues for a growing business is the pressure on resources and limited budgets to spend on expensive storage systems. Big enterprise players like HP and Dell are well aware of the constraints on SMBs and are responding to customer demand from such a diverse audience.

When addressing the small business market, there are clear limitations in terms of in-house resources.

HP StorageWorks business manager Steve Watson said: "Customers are saying that they haven't really got an IT department or it is very small. They may have a shared resource or maybe there is someone who is responsible for IT outside their nine to five job who has to do the upgrades, maintenance and backups. It either gets left undone or it is not well done."

Disparate needs

Within the disparate market for storage, mid sized companies have very different needs to their smaller counterparts. New HP research indicates that two-thirds of mid size businesses want technology offerings that meet their needs and are created just for them.

In addition, almost 90 per cent of senior business and technology executives at mid size companies say their company is doing more with less
by using technology. 

Targeting the mid-range market, the latest storage product from HP is the compact BladeSystem c3000 enclosure for smaller technology sites, branch offices and remote locations. Implementation of the c3000 requires no special power, cooling or staff, easing midsize customers' ability to gain the benefits of a fully bladed environment.

HP has also launched the StorageWorks All-in-One (AiO) SB600c Storage Blade, which works in both the new c3000 and the existing HP BladeSystem c7000. This SB600c is a single instant storage solution that identifies when you are saving multiple copies of the same file, which can reduce storage by up to 35 per cent. The AiO is the only storage blade solution that delivers bladed network-attached storage, iSCSI SAN capabilities and data protection in a single device. As it uses standard LAN infrastructure, the SB600C can be configured in 15 minutes and within seven to ten mouse clicks you can start migrating files from a Microsoft Exchange server. The system sends email alerts if there is a problem and it is wizard-led, showing you what to do from your desktop. Priced from £4,895, the SB600C is expandable up to 1Tb of storage and the c3000 enclosure starts at £2,219.

Watson said: "People want to add storage simply; they don't want the hassle of extending the system, but want to protect their data.

"You can migrate the data for backup and browse on the management tools, run data replication and duplicate data off-site in the event of a complete failure. This is a truly simple solution and for the first time it uses an onboard administrator which is very intuitive. "

Data retention

The high profile data losses of recent months have highlighted the importance of adopting strict data storage and retention protocols.

"Increasingly people are becoming more aware of retention. Following 9/11 the whole financial world had to think very seriously about having disaster recovery solutions in place. The flooding last summer also highlighted the issue," said Holmes.

"People are becoming more mindful of having a backup and recovery service. There is a perception that you need to take precautions. It comes down to a few things - budget for one, and carefully planned ownership. Companies need to take precautions and test the system."

Determining the frequency of backups is an essential part of any company's overall storage management. It depends on the criticality of the data, its importance to the business and how acceptable it is to lose data. These factors determine whether a weekly backup is acceptable, or daily backups are required. Once a backup is complete, it is essential to label the data so that it can be identified quickly - there is nothing worse than going to restore files and finding that the bar code label has fallen off the disk in the racks.

Holmes said: "Most companies nowadays will be backing up; some are going the extra mile and making sure there is an archival copy and that it is labelled.

"The fastest way of halving data backup time is to have storage. Business critical data needs to be stored on high performance drives.

"As data ages, it is very unlikely that you are going to look at it after three months, but you need to keep the information for up to seven years. It makes sense to move customer transaction files to SATA," said Holmes.

Storage review

The problem with the rapid growth in data is how to manage the volumes in a timely and affordable way. 

Not surprisingly, this is one of the toughest challenges for companies.

Dell offers a storage assessment service where it takes a snapshot of a customer's storage, how frequently it is being accessed and when it was last accessed. It then produces a usage pie chart , giving an overview of existing storage capacity and the efficacy and cost effectiveness of the current system.

"The industry on the whole is trending towards a more intelligent use of data," said Holmes. "It is driven by cost. SMBs are under even more pressure when it comes to costs and they want something that is easy to manage." 

DPA compliance

To help small businesses understand their obligations under the Data Protection Act (DPA), the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has launched new guidance notes. 

The guidance provides a basic training framework on data protection requirements, such as keeping personal information secure, disclosing customer information over the telephone and handling requests from individuals for their personal information.

If you process personal information you must comply with the following principles to make sure that information is:

• Fairly and lawfully processed
• Processed for limited purposes
• Adequate, relevant and not excessive
• Accurate and up to date
• Not kept for longer than is necessary
• Processed in line with your rights
• Secure
• Not transferred to other countries without adequate protection

http://www.ico.gov.uk/

Case study: Emprise turns to Oncore IT for server overhaul

Emprise is a cleaning and security services company with a £60 million turnover and 5,000 employees. It has offices nationwide with numerous remote workers and laptop users who need secure access to the company network at all times.

Rapid expansion was putting a strain on the legacy IT system with its mixture of aging servers connected to a complicated network infrastructure. Emprise needed to consolidate its IT infrastructure, minimise downtime and lower the cost of server administration and licences. Data backups were also inefficient using the existing tape system, while data retrieval could take days as the tape had to be transported back to head office.

Emprise outsourced its IT requirements to Oncore IT with a brief to consolidate the servers and centralise the network, conduct daily online data backups and provide IT infrastructure and support.

Using Microsoft's Terminal Services, the servers were centralised into one data centre connected by an MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) network. From a combination of Windows NT4 and 2000, the servers and the domain were upgraded using Microsoft's Active Directory. The new thin client Windows 2003 environment means that users can access business applications directly from the data centre. To reduce PC faults, all desktops were locked down with uniform policy settings and applications.

Oncore IT head of technology David Ebsworth said: "It is more economical to pay for one high quality terminal server to serve all offices than it is to buy in mediocre servers at multiple sites."

Oncore IT provides IT support using its PReSS (Proactive Remote Engineering Support Service) system; on-line data back-up (OLB) based on Asigra software; and a disaster recovery service (DRS). OLB automatically backs up data every night to the oncore IT data centre, reinforced by secure offshore backup.

Emprise IT manager Mark Mitchell said: "With the introduction of the central server and BlackBerry handsets, our communications have improved significantly and the ease of access to information has increased considerably." 

http://www.oncoreit.com/