Storage Automation
What is Storage Automation?
Storage automation is a way to optimize storage management by replacing the manual configuration and maintenance of storage with pre-defined technology that handles regular processes such as backup, maintenance, monitoring, and workload execution without IT staff involvement.
How does data storage automation work?
Automating data storage depends on intelligent software, which removes the human element from the provisioning and management of storage devices. The software-defined storage (SDS) orchestrates a wide range of tasks, from the tedious to the complex, and prioritizes them according to resource demand and system efficiency measures. A Robotic Process Algorithm (RPA) communicates across the enterprise IT environment to support response time and input/output per second (IOPS)–sensitive structured data workloads.
What kinds of storage tasks can be automated?
Providing data stores the instant they’re needed is critical for modern data centers. Staying on top of that demand requires constant manipulation. To save staff time, the following tasks can be offloaded to an automated, software-defined infrastructure:
- Provisioning: On-premises, co-location, or cloud architecture is mapped to IT requirements and configured to maximize capacity utilization.
- Data migration: After defining tiers of storage based on access needs, using executable code segments to move data dynamically between environments increases overall efficiency.
- Workflow execution: Once designed, users can simply select a workflow and let it run without having to control the entire run process.
- Data protection and disaster recovery: Using the central control, security policies are defined and automatically applied throughout the data lifecycle.
- Resource optimization: Using intelligent software, the storage array notices as demand increases or space becomes available and shifts resources in response for top performance.
Automated data storage and artificial intelligence (AI)
AI analytics in data storage provides detailed views of performance issues, bottlenecks, capacity trends, and forecasts about future resource requirements. Using AI, enterprises can learn from their massive data volumes with greater efficiency so that fewer staff need to be involved in storage decisions. And as hybrid and multi-cloud environments become the norm, AI can help an organization tune storage to manage unstructured and archival data sets from a single interface.
What are the types of data storage automation tools?
Using automation tools, IT can efficiently evaluate resources, reassess models, and fine-tune storage performance around criticality, responsiveness, and relevance to overall business objectives. These include the following:
- Software development kits (SDKs) programmatically control your storage with minimal code, using ready-made blueprints.
- Flash arrays often have built-in features that use APIs to create automated tasks and workflows.
- Open source and proprietary offerings are also available, with solutions designed for block, file, or object storage.
What are the benefits of data storage automation?
Essentially, storage automation means that overloaded IT personnel can focus on other data center needs, improving your organization’s overall agility and ability to respond to customer demand. Specific benefits include:
Speed
With provisioning and assigning tasks automated, you can streamline deployment of storage devices and SAN optimization and expansion.
Efficiency
By performing proactive/reactive tasks according to an algorithm, the risk of errors inherent in manual task performance is reduced.
Flexibility
With a self-automating, self-managing capacity, organizations gain a seamless ability to scale storage without disrupting availability or performance.
Simplicity
With workflows defined and clearly mapped on a single interface, large pools of storage can be easily managed, even across hybrid architectures.
Consistency
Replacing manual steps with a code-based response or action ensures consistent maintenance and deployment of storage devices.
Visibility
With a unified management console, users gain complete visibility and granular control to monitor and manage storage consumption.
HPE and storage automation
For the third year in a row, HPE has been named an industry leader in the 2021 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Primary Storage, an honor given to innovators and thought leaders whose expertise in designing storage infrastructure and strategy ranks among the best in the world. HPE offers a unique and comprehensive set of storage solutions that use the most advanced artificial intelligence for infrastructure in the industry. Our intelligent storage offerings mitigate disruptions in data delivery and simplify the planning and procurement processes, which lessen the need for client storage domain-specific skills.
HPE Nimble Storage is storage that thinks for itself, identifying issues and gathering insights across your entire tech stack. It has built-in intelligence that predicts and prevents 86% of problems using data analyzed every second from more than 100,000 connected systems across the globe to make each one smarter and more reliable.
HPE Primera offers high-end storage without the complexity of traditional hardware arrays, with setup in minutes, provisioning in seconds, transparent upgrades, and a 100% availability guarantee. To take advantage of AI-driven operations, users can simply register their array with HPE InfoSight to see across their full stack to identify and resolve complex, cross-stack infrastructure problems through use of a machine learning (ML)–enabled recommendation engine.
HPE OneView is a comprehensive single platform for infrastructure management that offers an open API to enable efficient integration with an organization’s existing tools and processes. It manages the underlying structure of the entire IT environment, including servers, networks, storage and rack, power, cooling, and hypervisor resources throughout their lifecycle.
HPE GreenLake for Storage delivers a flexible storage platform with 100% guaranteed availability for mission-critical service and AI-driven self-service provisioning that supports public/private cloud IT operations. With all your apps and data connected to a seamless unified cloud infrastructure, you can collapse silos and eliminate infrastructure management complexity, saving you time and upfront costs for all storage maintenance activities.