Why not stick with direct-attached storage?

"If all else fails, I could just stick with tried-and-true direct-attached storage on each of my servers. However, I feel that this would be pretty short-sighted. With direct-attached storage, I would not gain any of the benefits normally associated with shared storage, including:

• Centralized space allocation from a large pool of storage.


• Ability to make use of some high-availability applications, such as VMware VMotion.


• The ability to cluster certain applications, which often requires shared storage.


• Centralized snapshots.


• Disaster recovery features.

Personally, I feel that a shared storage solution is simply better than constantly throwing more space in servers … and then hoping it’s all in the right place. After having successfully migrated to a centrally-managed, shared storage solution in my previous position, it’s high on the to do list in my new job."

Source:
Scott Lowe
Tech Republic
February 13, 2007
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