A data storage virtualization method lets you reduce the number of physical hardware means needed to support applications. It is doing this simply by abstracting root disk and drive components and aggregating the capacity as a single pool area of storage area available to applications for use. This pool of storage can then be managed with a central gaming system to deliver functional and economic benefits like faster resource provisioning and devastation recovery capabilities.
The key to storage virtualization is computer software that intercepts input/output (I/O) requests by physical and virtual hosts and paths them to the proper physical area on a distributed pool of storage. For the application, the virtual storage appears to be a single, contiguous hard drive or rational unit number (LUN) to accept standard read and write operations.
While simple storage units, such as one hard disk drives and basic disc arrays, tend not to provide any type of virtualization, advanced disk arrays offer a rational to physical abstraction through RAID plans and a host-based volume manager. This type of virtualization enables features like pictures, cloning and replication to become supported across different suppliers.
Network-based storage area virtualization is the most common form of the technology. Through this approach, a purpose-built device connects to any or all the storage area hardware in an FC or perhaps iSCSI storage area network (SAN) and has them like a single pool of safe-keeping. http://www.virtualdataspace.biz/box-vdr-main-features/ Towards the operating system or perhaps application, the resulting virtual disks or LUNs appear as though they reside about the same physical drive and have full functionality, which includes multi-pathing program.