Virtualization in Storage Network Architecture
Video on Virtualization
Virtual Network Storage Architecture
Benefits of virtualization
- Significantly reduce downtime
- Improved performance: load spreading, balancing, multi-path, heuristic shifting
- Improve delivery and quality of storage services
- Simplify definition of storage policies and procedures.
- Managed file systems and volume mangers increase the scalability, reliability, security.
- Provides storage location and implementation transparency.
- Enables dynamic operations, storage systems reconfiguration and data location to change transparently to host environment.
Virtual Storage Appliance
- VTL (Virtual Tape Library) server.
- CDR (Continuous Data Replication) Backup/Recovery Server
- iSCSI server for Disaster Recovery
- Cluster System
Functionality of virtual storage subsystem
- Enhance the service quality of storage device/data, easier maintain system expansion, simplifies and centralizes the management of storage system, cut down the storage budget cost.
- Efficiently and simplify the functionality of following:
a. Data Backup and Restore
b. Cluster storage structure; enhance the capability of fault tolerance, I/O balancing, failover and fail-back.
c. 256 Snapshot Point in Time Data Replication
d. Data integration, migration and consolidation, simplify the management of storage system.
e. Disaster recovery, to rapidly resume system operation.
f. Load Spreading, Balancing, Caching, Security. 
Above article courtesy:tekram.com/news/news_detail.asp?id=6
Virtualization from Sun Microsystems Video
