Speaking with several NetApp prospects over the past few weeks, one of the top-of-mind issues for 2008 is integrating data management with their company's applications. Typically, most vendors will attempt to "simplify" the problem by cataloging the entire infrastructure with some sort of storage resource management (SRM) software.
Won't that work?
From my experience as an IT guy, SRM tools tend to use the infrastructure as a proxy to manage data, thus forcing me to manage my little SQL Server database by also managing the other hundred or so components (LUNs, replication relationships, etc.). The SRM assumes I'm a storage admin that understands the underlying disk subsystem -- Ouch !!
So NetApp's integrated data management model lets the application admins work with their data, while maintaining supreme control of the underlying storage subsystem.
It's all about automation and application-awareness. We call it SnapManager -- comes in several flavors (pick your fave biz app).
SnapManager is similar to your bank's ATM: Your bank can control your ability to withdraw cash at any point, not to mention the amount and any associated fees. With ATMs, we reduce the amount of cash withdrawn on any given day (thus, maintaining a healthy fractional-reserve model with quality asset control).
Both ATMs --and-- SnapManager improve the customer experience -- so, if I need cash at 2 am on a holiday, I don't have to wait for the bank to open the next business day. Same thing applies to my business: If I'm a DBA and I need a database restore, I don't have to wake up my storage admin. I do it myself.
Or, as I like to say, we're "virtualizing" the storage admin.
