The advent of software-defined storage http://virtualdataspace.biz/box-vdr-main-features and hyperconvergence technologies makes virtual data storage a viable option for enterprises looking to lower IT costs. These solutions can save amount of money since they don’t require redundancy of hardware that’s typically required in traditional enterprise storage systems to ensure disaster recovery.

Virtual data storage enables IT to pool physical storage devices, such as SANs, into what appears to be a single device or virtual storage array. There are a variety of methods to implement the technology such as host-based virtualization and network-based storage (which connects storage devices from an FC or iSCSI the SAN into one pool that is managed by a central management console). Host-based virtualization is most commonly used in HCI systems as well as cloud storage.

In order to work with virtual storage, it has to be compatible with underlying hardware infrastructure such as networking components and servers, as well as with standard management tools and hypervisors. It must also provide data encryption as well as granular access and authentication controls, and robust backup and disaster recovery capabilities.

Virtual storage must also be able address concerns about performance and latency. This includes ensuring critical applications can be run without compromising performance or causing delay to data retrieval. This requires evaluating storage controller capabilities, network bandwidth and disk I/O capacity as well as deploying caching mechanisms. It also requires installing advanced storage functions such as tiering or replication at the virtualization level.