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RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TECHNOLOGY

From STORAGE Magazine Vol 6, Issue 6 - July/August 2006
 

Information Lifecycle Management - ILM - can bring any organisation enormous benefits, maximising the value of that data at the lowest cost at every point of the lifecycle. Moreover, it operates across all types of platforms and aligns storage resources with the value of that data to the business at any given moment, as Brian Wall reports

Before investing in Information Lifecycle Management (ILM), it is important for an organisation to understand the data they have stored within their business. Without understanding the data, it is impossible to make a good decision about the movement of data within an ILM infrastructure and data could be placed in the wrong location.

As the whole objective of ILM is to place data in the right location, says Mike Walters, consulting systems engineer, NetApp, this would completely defeat the purpose of this technology. So, what's the right approach? "Traditional ILM systems look at the file metadata to determine the importance of the information the file contains, but the metadata can only give vague clues to the importance of the information, he states.

"Only by looking into the information contained in a file can the real importance of the data be ascertained. For example, any file stamped with the phrase, 'Company Classified' should be treated as highly important, but looking at files manually is unrealistic for most organisations and the process must be automated. The emergence of a new class of ILM systems, based on Information Classification and Management (ICM) technologies, now provides this level of ILM functionality,
but with much finer control in the placement of information within the storage infrastructure."

ILM isn't just about moving data between different storage levels; it is about where it is most appropriate to store this data. Some key data should be encrypted or stored in WORM. Using the ICM technology, it is possible to have a greater understanding of the information; which enables the classification of key files and automatic movement into secure storage silos. However, all of this becomes irrelevant if the cost of managing the storage outweighs the savings produced by ILM, Walters points out.

"If each of the storage tiers require different management expertise, then the costs will spiral out of control. Having a single architectural framework for the storage, so that all tiers are managed in the same way, will minimise the management costs, thus ensuring a good ROI for ILM."

Few doubt that ILM is a worthwhile exercise that promises much - operational savings, capital savings, long term management of information, increased productivity, compliance to laws and regulations and more - but with so many organisations having differing needs, producing an 'off-the-shelf' solution is next to impossible.

"This is why ILM must be treated as a strategy, rather than seen as a single product or solution that can be purchased and plugged in, despite what some vendors might have you think," says Nigel Tozer, business technologist, CA Technology Services (CATS) team.

"The key to an effective ILM strategy is to understand what it must deliver in your environment; just implementing a tactical product and hoping it will deliver value is bound to lead to limited returns. This type of product is also generally constrained to unstructured file data and, while this is useful, it misses large areas of critical information that are tied up in repositories such as databases and email.

"To properly design your strategy, you first need to get a good picture of the many flows of information through your organisation, identify the importance or value attached to each information type and what kind of access patterns typically apply to it. You also need to consider what those access patterns could look like, if
a Freedom of Information request or FSA investigation took place or other, depending on the sector in which you operate.

"Data-profiling software [also known as 'SRM'] is a good start," adds Tozer, "particularly if it lets you map users to data and allows you to interrogate applications, as well as files. Some of these tools also include multi-vendor hardware management now and offer good value on their own. Once this information is properly analysed, you can start planning your file, email and records management strategy, and reap the benefits of a low risk, productive and less expensive storage system that is aligned to the organisational goals - not the big, expensive bucket that the board thinks storage is today!"

Implementing an ILM strategy certainly means identifying the right software, hardware and process at each stage of the information's lifecycle. This means shifting data between storage mediums, in an effort to provide the ideal levels of access, protection and recovery at the lowest possible total cost.

To understand ILM better , the best place from which to start is with the data itself and how it is classified within a specific organisation. Storage administrators have several processes within ILM that they need to go through. First, they need to locate where the data is residing in their storage environment. Once this is determined, the IT department can generate reports from the data storage profiling solutions - or storage resource management (SRM) tools - Tozer refers to and then present the reports to the department heads. These reports explain the breakdown of the data storage and the costs involved.

Any IT department must be fully aware - and buy into the concept - that, unless the real value of data is determined within the environment, it remains difficult to assign the best storage resources for its placement. Automating the data management and migration process can ensure that resources are being optimised and also reduce the number of staff and man-hours required to manage the storage. By using SRM tools, for example, IT no longer has to back up the same .mpg file of which it has has multiple copies already. This process saves time (backup), disk space (secondary storage) and tape space.

So where is ILM going now, in terms of the technology that underscores best practice? "A good proactive business strategy for protecting any valuable company asset involves planning, processes, and execution," points out Brendan Kinkade, vice president of marketing, Nexsan Technologies.

"For such a strategy to be effective, it must encompass not only business practices, but the technology used to implement them. Next-generation ILM systems are delivering technology platforms that enable companies to protect, retain, access, dispose of and prove the integrity of information being stored. More and more companies are learning that there is a stiff price to pay for failing to produce accurate information in a secure and timely manner.

"If a company is asked to do electronic discovery in order to defend against a lawsuit, the court will expect the company to prove that the security umbrella that protects the business records is tamper-proof. Using the right technology platform to protect and preserve the company's archived business records is a good proactive strategy and greatly simplifies the electronic discovery process.”

Companies looking to implement an ILM solution should seriously consider the impact of electronic discovery and, when considering an ILM solution, place value on the systems ability to provide tamper-proof security and ensure the authenticity of every record under management.

"Given that ILM has been driven and even mandated worldwide by over 20,000 regulations," adds Kinkade, "implementing an ILM solution is the right business decision. When you consider that the costs of electronic discovery can bankrupt a company, investing in the right ILM solution makes perfect sense."

Nigel Ghent, EMC, regards ILM is a powerful IT strategy, based on the simple fact that all information is not created equal. "Today's urgent email is more important than last year's staff memo. Over time, the value of information keeps increasing or decreasing. That urgent email may become a critical element for legal discovery or just more data cluttering your storage infrastructure. Based on its changing value - as it aligns to your organisation's needs - your information requires different levels of accessibility, availability and protection; this is at the heart of ILM."

He also stresses the importance of a company asking itself what are the most important issues it faces and ensuring its ILM strategy mirrors it business strategy - ie, what's important to the business is dealt with differently to what is not.

"Practical solutions to support an ILM strategy are being delivered to customers today, following three key steps," he says:

Step 1: Tiered Network Storage
• Enable networked storage
• Automate the environment
• Classify applications and data

Step 2: ILM for specific applications
• Define business policies for various information types
• Deploy ILM components into principal applications

Step 3: Cross-Application ILM
• Implementation of an ILM strategy across applications
• Policy-based automation
• Full visibility into all information

One organisation that has taken these steps is South Yorkshire Police, which is aiming to make cost savings of £1.1 million. By standardising on an integrated EMC Information Lifecycle Management strategy, the force is delivering the right level of protection, replication and recovery at the lowest possible cost and has found an ILM strategy that meets its specific needs.

Duplication threat
Eran Farajun, executive VP of Asigra, also stresses that businesses need to be aware that ILM can lead to duplication of stored data, resulting in high costs and inefficient storage for businesses. "Businesses are alert to the fact that they need to include data from communications, such as email, instant messages and VoIP when choosing an ILM solution. However, where conventional ILM solutions succeed in managing active primary data, they largely ignore backup archives.

Businesses need to take into account their existing backup solution when implementing an ILM solution, otherwise they will risk duplicating the stored data.

"If the backup solution is not 'ILM-aware', the backup will continue to store backup files on tape or secondary disk, even though this data has been archived elsewhere by the ILM solution. Usually a backup saves files from primary storage to secondary storage on a daily basis. In most businesses, as long as a file remains critical (on primary storage), it will be backed up routinely, and therefore the same file - often in multiple versions - is saved and stored many times. This results in excessive hardware or media costs, administration time and storage costs, both onsite and offsite.

“To overcome this problem, businesses need a backup approach that is ILM-aware. Asigra Backup Lifecycle Management (BLM) prevents data duplication of all data files, whilst effectively managing data lifecycle according to business requirement and helping a company to achieve ROI from its ILM and backup solutions."
Despite the tendency of hardware and softer vendors to redefine ILM in terms of their own products, the reality is that ILM is simply a philosophy of ensuring that the infrastructure chosen for the storing of data is periodically aligned with and thus relative to the actual business value of the data. That is the view of Dick Benton, principal consultant, GlassHouse Technologies.

"Some vendors, analysts and pundits in the marketplace seem to imply that this alignment is expected to be automatically initiated and maintained, driven by policy based workflow supported by some ability to ascertain change in data value," he says. "The ILM philosophy of using data value to determine the most cost-effective storage can be achieved in a reference architecture that provides tiers of service of differing capabilities and thus differing costs delivered under service level agreements - the internal service provider model.

“Indeed, this is how the SNIA [Storage Network Industry Association] currently defines ILM. In the service provider model, each tier of service is supported by a technology architecture characterised by specific service attributes. The variance in delivery capabilities provided by those attributes drives differing costs for each tier of storage."

"In considering the costs and benefits of ILM, it is important to understand the business drivers for ILM, he adds. "Are these drivers truly business unit initiated or are they actually driven by need for further internal IT efficiencies? Are ILM policies simply a means of achieving compliance or really part of a larger data governance strategy? Unless there is a clear understanding of the rationale for ILM, there will not be an empirical basis for the assessment and selection of suitable reference architecture [hardware and software]. There is a danger that the vendors may drive the solution from the hardware end. So, before you allow vendors to talk to you about their definition of ILM, it's good to assess all the many considerations."

For Grant Cooper, head of technology and solutions, SunGard Availability Services, buying the latest hardware or software should probably be one of the final considerations when developing your ILM strategy.

"There are two key considerations when starting down the ILM path: what does your data currently look like and what benefit will the business see if ILM is successfully implemented?

Many companies have no idea how much data they have, how it is made up or even how it is being used. The presence of duplicate files, illegal content or data that hasn't been used for months or years may be occupying a large percentage of that expensive resource you call storage. Getting this beast under control starts with doing an extensive audit of what you have.

"There are a number of tools and techniques for doing this on the market today,” says Cooper, “but, rather than doing this yourself, it's probably worthwhile getting an expert in to audit your data make-up, rather than using your own valuable resources and trying to train one of your own people for an exercise that will only happen a few times a year at most. Typically, this is not an expensive engagement and the benefits far outweigh the cost."

Once you understand what you have and what you don't need, you can apply your businesses criteria for data use against the data you actually have, he argues. "For example, do you need to reduce costs? If so, looking to archive data that isn't being used on to less expensive media might be your top priority. However, if compliance is your primary driver, then the type of media you store the information on, and the mechanism you use for retrieving that information, is probably more important.

“Maybe it's the ever-growing mountain of email that you need to get under control. There are a myriad of reasons to use ILM. Before you buy anything, though, understand what you have and what you want to do with it. If you are armed with the right information, the rest will fall into place naturally. Cutting corners will only cause you pain in the long run."

Although ILM is sometimes seen from afar as a complicated process - and even an 'optional extra' - in reality, it has a crucial role to play within any business. As part of an overall IT strategy, as it relates to disaster recovery/business continuance and regulatory requirements, Information Lifecycle Management delivers the ability to track the location of data within a company and help IT successfully handle situations, ranging from everyday audits to outright disaster. And the farther along that scale a business travels towards a potential or actual catastrophic incidence, the more likely it is that the benefits ILM delivers will be fully appreciated and realised. ST