Managing Information Over Years

Today, data centers are facing an indomitable challenge of provisioning colossal capacity of storage space at an affordable price yet meeting ever-increasing performance demands. The biggest threats that data centers and the storage industry are facing today are power consumption, housing space and environmental concerns. However, many administrators and planners fail to recognize the fact that the value of data to an organization decreases over time, as it loses its relevance, freshness, and �popularity�. One question that administrators should be asking themselves is: why should data that is decreasing in value remain in expensive front line storage, subject to the same backup, replication, and recovery policies and procedures as key data? Would it not be useful to have a system or methodology in place for analyzing and tracking data freshness, so that storage space could be made free for more fresh and relevant data, and time/ bandwidth consuming data protection policies be relaxed as data loses its value?

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The noteworthy leap that the storage industry is forced to take in this regard is Storage Tiering. Here, the capacity to be provisioned is divided into separate pools of storage space with various cost/ performance attributes. At the top resides the Tier 1 pool, which is the most expensive but high performing nonetheless. The bottom tier is occupied by more cost-effective storage arrays. The next challenge is to devise a sophisticated software layer that intelligently places data into the different tiers according to their value. This concept is variously known as data classification or Information Lifecycle Management (ILM).

What is ILM?
ILM is a concept that encompasses the discovery, classification, analysis, and maintenance of data, across the entire period of its useful life. It adds structure and context to data, marking the transition from data to information. ILM is a part of the larger concept of Business Continuity Planning, but has become increasingly prominent in the storage arena in recent years thanks to several factors, including advancements in data storage management techniques and the technology that underpins it, and evolution in the storage environment, including:

• Coexistence of Fibre Channel and iSCSI (IP-Storage) in the data center

• SAS and SATA storage coexisting in storage systems. Storage consolidation practices, for reducing the use of solitary �islands of data� in direct attached storage (DAS)

• Regulatory requirements for data archiving and recall (SOX, etc.)

Though many vendors offer ILM services or modules as part of their products, ILM is above all a concept or a strategy, rather than a product. However, for a practical explanation of what the concept embodies, we can safely generalize that many implementations of ILM encompass such components as:

• Database Management

• Storage System Performance and Monitoring

• Storage Capacity Planning and Management

• Business Controls for Data Degradation and EOL

How is this done?
In a tiered storage system, storage is not merely seen as a container of data. Another important dimension of intelligence is appended to every block, transitioning blocks of data into blocks of information.

Data + Intelligence = Information

This intelligence associated with every block of data, forms very vital metadata, which automatically tracks the access patterns to these blocks. Therefore, data is first classified, then moved at the block-level from tier to tier, based on frequency of access. At the peak of its popularity, data is stored in the fastest, most responsive top-tier storage on hand and subject to the most stringent replication and backup controls. Since the ILM system is constantly monitoring the data's value in comparison to other data, as it loses value, it is migrated down the chain to less expensive, less powerful storage, where it may not be accessed as frequently, or protected as carefully. In the final stage, it is migrated out of the storage system completely. Data of the lowest value is either purged from the system or transferred to other media (eg, written to tape and delivered to offsite storage) depending on the organization's policy and regulatory requirements for data end-of-life.

Why ILM?
Having examined how an ILM system can be implemented, we should next look more closely at the reasons why more and more organizations are accepting the need for a comprehensive ILM strategy.

Exponential growth of data
With data growth averaging near 80% to 100% every year, managing storage effectively has become a challenging task. Storage administrators face limited budgets, and are charged with not only expanding capacity by purchasing new hardware wisely to meet projected storage needs, but also optimize the use of existing capacity, in order to maximize the investment in current storage hardware. Moreover, any changes or additions need to be considered carefully, as the downstream effects of new hardware are often unforeseen, and can quickly wipe out any short term cost gains.

Data accessibility/freshness
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, data does not have a constant value; rather that value is changing, whether it is due to time, relevance, security, or popularity. Policies and procedures must therefore be set in place to continuously shift and monitor the location (and therefore the accessibility) of data so that information that is highest in demand is in the most accessible location.

Carbon dioxide emissions of traditional storage servers versus tiered storage servers

Cost (TOC) issues
The overall cost of a storage system is measured not just in the initial price paid for the hardware and its commissioning. The total operating cost (TOC) includes maintenance, power and cooling expenses, together with the cost to staff and train administrators. As storage arrays grow, power usage (for server operation and cooling) is just one factor that has an enormous impact on the TOC of a storage solution. If less expensive solutions are available, administrators should by all means devise a careful plan to incorporate these components, with some restrictions. When possible, additional storage technology should be adopted that does not require significant investment of time and resources to learn its operation. New solutions that are more power or space efficient should be integrated into the array.

Ability to protect and recover lost data
Because key data has to be protected against loss to ensure business continuity, the term Continuous Data Protection has come into being. It describes a scheme of ensuring data survival in the face of disasters such as power/network outages and natural catastrophes, and incorporates techniques such as backups, data snapshots and remote replication to do so. To add to the challenges surrounding data protection, regulatory requirements for the preservation and archiving of several types of corporate data continue to mount.

Data of a particularly sensitive or critical nature must be available for recall within clearly established time limits if circumstances demand it, and kept secure as well. Therefore a successful ILM implementation integrates well with the backup solution and recovery solution of an organization along several touch points. ILM dictates that as items age they can be taken offline completely and migrated to tape storage, for example, yet some data still must be available for recall, even at this point. Since only a percentage of data has to be protected in the same manner, the ILM solution must be flexible enough to manage varying CDP requirements.

Green data centers
As mentioned earlier, one of the primary challenges facing data centers today is the amount of power consumption. Thus, while the initial cost of acquisition of the storage might have been low, the higher cost of power consumption and cooling means that the TCO is very high. In addition to the tangible financial burdens this adds, the other, often intangible, concern in such a data center is its environmental impact. Today, global warming and pollution are major hazards that cannot be ignored. There are both regulatory as well as financial incentives to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, which often result in a direct cost saving due to increased carbon credits.

Conclusion
Storage Tiering in enterprise-class storage is becoming a highly desirable feature today. It is only a matter of time before the cost, environmental and performance benchmarks of a tiered system become critical parameters on which decisions of storage system procurement will be based.

Tiered storage servers implementing ILM offer a greater cost advantage and performance. It is important to realize that with storage servers with Tiered Storage and ILM enable data centers to reduce footprint, electricity costs, and CO2 emissions, for the creation of a greener and more eco-friendly data center.

New security flaw found in iPhone

To help enterprise businesses setup a bunch of iPhones as quickly as possible, iPhone allows settings configuration files to be installed over-the-air through Safari. Once it gets installed, hackers redirect all traffic through a server of their choosing.

It is also used to wreak havoc on WiFi/e-mail settings, and disable the use of Safari, mail and a handful of other first-party iPhone apps. On top of that it is possible to set the configuration file so that the user can't remove it - so once it's installed, getting it off the handset would require a full wipe, reports Mobile Crunch.



While installation, iPhone tells users that who it's from and whether or not it's a trusted source, but experts say that the anonymous hackers reporting the flaw, not only make the configuration file report back as verified, but also indicate that it was straight from 'Apple Computer' themselves.

Graphene likely to replace silicon in computer chips

To make the chips work 100 to 1,000 times faster than silicon, scientists have developed a way to put the graphene on 4-inch wafers. Graphene is a crystalline form of carbon that is made up of two-dimension hexagonal arrays which is ideal for electronic applications.

David Snyder and Randy Cavalero at Penn State said that they came up with a method called silicon sublimation that removes silicon from silicon carbide wafers and leaves pure graphene. Some scientists had tried similar process to use graphene before, but it is being claimed by EOC that they are the first group which has perfected the process to a point that lets them produce 4-inch wafers, reports Electronista.



By using the smallest wafers in a more conventional method have resulted in 8-inch graphene wafers. The processors which are used now-a-days are roughly 11 inches across.

India to launch its own satellite for satphone

After depending on foreign satellites for long time, ISRO plans to launch its own satellite by 2011, which will carry a large S-band transponder to help India provide its own signals for satellite phones.

On the sidelines of the India Semiconductor Association's (ISA's) Vision Summit, former Indian space agency Chairman G Madhavan Nair said, "We are in the process of building a high-beam antenna which will be deployed on board a satellite for providing satellite phone (satphone) services using S-band transponder. We can connect handheld devices when it is launched in a year or so."



Indian space agency has already designed the antenna that will be mounted on the spacecraft for dedicated satphone services. Once the satellite gets launched, India will become one of the major players in using satellite phones. This might also help in bringing down the cost of satellite phone services. Nair said, "Presently, some foreign satellites are being used for satphone services in the country. Development work is on to synthesize the antenna. It will be deployed in one of the communication satellites with S-band transponder."

Are e-book readers too old, limited?

AAre e-book readers too old, limited?fter less than a year of its launch, Amazon Kindle seems to be having tough time in the market, as users feel that the usage of Kindle is old and limited compared to smartphones, which have touchscreen, media playback and third-party apps, reports Electronista.

Older readers are friendlier with Kindle but feel that news delivery on the Kindle is still limited and omit components they like, such as crossword puzzles or all the secondary sections of a physical newspaper.

According to a study done by University of Georgia, a device like Apple's iPad may be better-suited to current readers than dedicated devices like the Amazon Kindle.

More than its usage, all age groups are objecting to the price of the Kindle. At $489, the Kindle DX is too expensive solely to read news. An e-book reader like the Sony Reader Daily Edition adds a touchscreen and costs less at $399. Launched just last week, iPad supports the new hardware's approach to reading and address both the smartphone-level app platform and media features as well as older users' desires for games.

Intel and Micron to launch 25nm flash memory chips

To give the companies a significant cost advantage over rivals, Intel and Micron are all set to launch a new 25-nanometer chips today via their IM Flash Technologies joint venture. This is likely to be the first commercial chip products made using advanced 25nm manufacturing technology, reports IDG News Service.

An Intel official said that the new chips are aimed at smartphones, solid-state drives (SSDs), and portable media players such as iPods. "We are currently sampling it with production expected in the second quarter," said Intel said via e-mail.



Samsung Electronics, one of the world's largest producer of flash memory, is starting work on 30nm technology this year and plans to use it in most production lines by the end of 2010.

The demand for smaller cheap increased as developing smaller chip manufacturing technology is crucial to meeting user demand for small devices that can perform many functions, such as smartphones with built-in music players, cameras and computers. Smaller etching technologies also enable companies to increase chip speed and reduce power consumption. Advances in chip manufacturing technology also lower costs over time, a major benefit to consumers.

The analysts have predicted that the manufacturing cost of the new 25nm flash chips will be about $0.50 per gigabyte (GB), compared to $1.75 per gigabyte for mainstream 45nm flash. The market price of flash chips has been hovering around $2.00 per gigabyte, Objective Analysis said, and will likely remain there throughout 2010. Currently, both Intel and Micron are offering chip samples to customers so that they can start to plan them into gadget designs.

Indian startup to help copy your brain on computers

Now, Swiss scientists and PIT Solution, a little-heard of IT startup in Technopark in Kerala will be working on the Blue Brain Project, the world's first comprehensive attempt to reverse-engineer the mammalian brain, reports Financial Express.

The $3 billion project is expected to be completed by 2018, said Brain Mind Institute of Swiss Federal Institute Director Henry Markram to Financial Express. The project is billed as an attempt to build a computerized copy of a brain - starting with a rat's brain, and then progressing to a human brain-inside one of the world's most powerful computers. It is an international project, propelled by Swiss Federal Institute, and involves several countries and ethics monitoring by UN bodies. India is yet to be part of the project.



The immediate purpose is to understand brain function and dysfunction through detailed simulations. "The study of rhodent brain has given us a template to build on. This would help in unraveling human brain," says Markram. "The whole idea is that mental illness, memory and perception triggered by neurons and electric signals could be soon treated with a supercomputer that models all the 1,000,000 million synapses of brain."

The key finding is that irrespective of gender and race, human brains are basically identical. "We will be able to map the differentiations by nuancing the patterns later. The exciting part is not how different we are but how similar we all are," says Markram.