Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
set of files stored on the virtualization host computer. In most cases, mul-
tiple virtualized servers will be supported by a single powerful host system
or by a cluster of systems that share a storage area for high availability.
These files are easy to copy, allowing rapid creation of multiple servers
using a standard basic configuration, or facilitating rapid disaster recov-
ery by simply starting up a copy of the lost system on another host server.
Virtualized systems rely on storage in many ways, and often employ
dynamically expanding virtual disks for internal operations. Without
coordination, expansion of multiple virtualized disks can rapidly overrun
available host storage capacity. Because virtualized systems can include
databases, user accounts, and other forms of protected or sensitive digital
information, these systems may require specialize handling and storage
to meet regulatory demands. This becomes problematic when a single
file can easily exceed 100 GB or larger, and any use of the virtualized
server will be reflected as a recent change to the entire file set. Backing
up virtualized systems can consume available resources quickly if the
same strategies for backing up file servers are used for managing virtual
host backups.
Rich Media
Raw ASCII text and other basic file types take up very little overhead
beyond the actual file content. Modern word processing documents,
spreadsheets, and presentation files can include huge amounts of addi-
tional information for formatting and rendering as well as image, audio,
and active media content. Recent developments point toward 100-Gbit/s
networks and 50-TB workstation drives in the near future, in no small
part due to the rapidly expanding demand for rich media content.
With streaming audio and video podcasts, dynamically updated web-
cam feeds, and multigigabyte movie clips embedded in overhead presenta-
tions, the mandate for data storage and transfer continues to expand at an
accelerating rate. An enterprise architect should develop strategic policies
on total user file storage and acceptable file types, but should also remem-
ber that these policies must remain living documents in order to meet
the requirements of emerging forms of information exchange. Increasing
complexity in media, security key data such as biometric measurements,
and dynamic presentation content all contribute to a constantly growing
need for more space.
