10 Facts About Storage virtualization

Software or device providing storage virtualization becomes a common disk manager in the virtualized environment.

Storage virtualization can be assigned where it is needed at that point in time, reducing the need to guess how much a given host will need in the future.

For example, virtualization implemented within a storage controller adds no extra overhead to host based interoperability, but will require additional support of other storage controllers if they are to be virtualized by the same software.

Host-based Storage virtualization requires additional software running on the host, as a privileged task or process.

Storage virtualization operating on a network based device and using iSCSI or FC Fibre channel networks to connect as a SAN.

File-based virtualization is a type of storage virtualization that uses files as the basic unit of storage.

File-based virtualization can be used for a variety of purposes, including storage consolidation, improved storage utilization, and disaster recovery.

File-based virtualization can improve storage utilization by allowing files to be stored on devices that are not being used to their full capacity.

For example, if a file server has a number of hard drives that are only partially filled, file-based virtualization can be used to store files on those drives, thereby increasing the utilization of the storage devices.

File-based virtualization can be used to create a virtual file server, which is a storage system that appears to the user as a single file server but which is actually implemented as a set of files stored on a number of physical file servers.