The Carlson’s SAN mechanism is one of the most suitable approaches in the modern IT environment. The main challenges occur in the maintenance of the database and flow of information between different users to support steady transfer of the data. The scenario can only happen once the end users are not affected by the migration of information and whenever the database response becomes constant.
The approach by Carlson has, however, successfully met this condition. From an organization or business’s point of view, the SAN approach remains an adequate solution due to its incredible storage services, which are extended and at the same time cost effective. They include establishment of understanding the network IP technologies as well as data backup.
The Pros and Cons of the SAN
The merits of consolidations of data on the SAN data facility compared to the dispersion of the arrangements are always evident in the modern business environment. First, consolidation of the data management needs less investment in the servers and the machines. The second assertion is that whenever the data is consolidated into the central data facility, there are more and more space that get freed because of the reduction of the number of servers and the energy costs.
Maintenance and labor costs, which are often referred to as the support costs are also reduced. As argued by Compta and Ferrer (2012), more than 70% of the costs involving data centers come from the administrative system, outsources and labor services. With the server consolidation, there exists significant proportion of the expenses which are cut and others eliminated.
On one side, transfer or the migration of the dispersion on the arrangement of the SAN central facility data is accompanied by a number of the risks. The initial movement ought to have been slowly, and with very low priority application consolidated at first. If this data gets lost in the course of the migration process, it could then be a challenge to restore it to its initial position. It becomes a serious problem especially when the data storage services get inefficient or unlimited. There are unexpected effects that go hand in hand with issues of irreversible loss of data and may adversely affect the entire facility of the business (Market Research, 2015).
The high priorities deployments should always be consolidated in the last bit. They should apply at an instance when the SAN central data facility operates efficiently and in a flawless manner. On the other hand, the end users who are the frequent customers and clients of the services might come across severe difficulties whenever they are trying to gain access to the required information. For instance, some technical aspects could also trigger negative impacts on the open attitude of the customers when it comes to the security of the data they give. Besides, data consolidations on the SAN facility need a continuous optimizing (Compta & Ferrer, 2012). That is done by giving specific attention to the performance of the Central Facility and its overall capacity.
The IP SAN and Its Equipment
The central issue here is that Carlson SAN mixed the equipment from various suppliers, which is a potential weakness of the data server consolidation approach. It is important to bear in mind that the initial costs for implementing the SAN data recovery system remains critical.
However, more emphasis on retrieval of quick results ought to be considered as a way of improving efficiency. It would also involve other applications that provide virtual storages to minimize the mismatches and conflicts in the software products. Since this equipment is acquired from the various suppliers, management has to make sure that all the configurations match (Market Research, 2015). They should never cause a conflict that resultantly block and slow down the data flow and data maintenance.
One of the primary management options is dealing with the situation based on the standard software and the equipment, which could modify the match of the requirements by the Carson. From the management perspective, the IP SAN cannot require an admin to maintain the multiple servers since it has only-fill storage platforms. However, the Homogeneous software could be utilized and the entire room controlled through a single control panel that minimizes on time and the effects of administrative activities. In this regard, less training is needed to expose the employees to the operative aspects of the system.
A different administration and management of the storage networking with the IP SAN is always associated with the few involved errors. In the long term, the IP SAN storage networks are empowered to administrate and make more precise predictions. This feature is essential the future storage needs and reduction of expenses for this firm.
SAN and the Cloud Computing
SAN could utilize cloud computing as an alternative. However, business experts are skeptical when it comes to migration of cloud computing in the future (Carlson Companies Inc., 2015). SAN can be said to have a fast solution. On the other hand, cloud computing is a diminishing of the onsite storage. When it comes to considerations of the requirements and the expectations for the data storage and management, Carlson could never benefit much in terms replacing SAN with the cloud computing.
Besides, according to a recent survey conducted by the Market Research (2015), the significant number of the respondents considers cloud computing as a hazardous investment. It is because of the perceived vulnerability when it comes to reliability, security, and availability. Whenever the cloud computing gets some apparent merits, the SAN becomes a more suitable for the Carlson in terms of storage provision, data protection, and usage.
References
Carlson Companies Inc. (2013). The 2013 Annual Report. Web.
Compta, A., & Ferrer, J. (2012). A geometric approach to the Carlson problem. SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications, 22(1), 258-275.
Market Research (2015). Carlson companies, Inc.- Strategy and SWOT. Web.