The emergence of software-defined storage and hyperconvergence technologies makes virtual data storage an attractive option for businesses looking to lower IT costs. In actual fact, since these solutions don’t need the redundant hardware that is typically required in traditional enterprise storage systems for disaster recovery, they’re able to reduce upfront costs and operating expenses over time by an impressive amount.

Virtual data storage permits IT departments to pool physical storage devices, like SANs and SANs, into what appears to be an individual device or storage array. There are many ways to utilize this technology that include network-based storage virtualization (which integrates all the storage devices of an FC or iSCSI storage area into a single pool, which is managed by a central management console) and host-based virtualization. Host-based Virtualization is commonly used in HCI systems and cloud storage.

To function with virtual storage, it has to be compatible with underlying hardware infrastructure including networking components, servers and other servers, as well as with the common management tools and hypervisors. It should also allow data encryption access, granular authentication and access controls and robust backup and disaster recovery capabilities.

Virtual storage should also be able to address concerns regarding latency and performance. This includes ensuring that critical software more info here are able to run without compromising performance or causing delays to retrieval of data. This means evaluating storage controllers, bandwidth for networks, and disk I/O capacities as well as deploying cache mechanisms. It also requires the implementation of advanced storage features like tiering, replication and virtualization at the virtualization layer.