Storage virtualization is a really slick SAN technology that does for SANs what VMware did for servers: it abstracts away the underlying hardware to make management easier. Multiple SANs can be swapped around back and forth behind the scenes without affecting any servers that store data on those SANs.
It’s nowhere near common yet – it’s somewhat like VMware was several years ago, not quite large in the datacenter – but it’s gaining traction, and it’s something that DBAs need to be aware of. As a DBA, you need to know the risks and rewards so that if your SAN team wants to evaluate storage virtualization, you’ll be able to voice your opinion.
But why do any research? Take it from me – research is hard, sweaty and painful. Why not just repeat MY opinion and call it your own? After all, my opinion is cool and it’s free, and you can read it online right now courtesy of Search SQL Server:
SearchSQLServer article by Brent Ozar – virtual database storage for SQL Server: friend or foe?
