What is File Virtualization?

You need all 4 features to realize the true promise of file virtualization

Faced with explosive growth of unstructured data, enterprises today are looking for ways to reduce storage capital expenditures and the huge administrative burden associated with managing heterogeneous storage environments. File virtualization provides the most cost-effective and powerful solution. However, in order for a company to realize its true value, a file virtualization system must have the following four components:

In-depth environmental reporting and analysis
Custom namespace
Non-disruptive migration
Real-time policy management

Attune Systems’ Maestro File Manager is the only file virtualization system today that effectively delivers all of these features.

Environmental Reporting and Analysis

The Maestro File Manager provides comprehensive reporting and analysis of storage environments across heterogeneous file systems in the enterprise. Using Maestro, storage administrators can learn how their file servers and file system are performing over time by looking at metrics such as CPU utilization, memory utilization, and throughput. In addition, data access patterns such as data of last access or frequency of access, as well as duplicate data, can to analyzed to optimize and efficiently manage file share resources. After users quickly and easily gain insight into their file systems trends, they can gradually adapt Maestro’s other file virtualization capabilities.

Custom Namespace

Maestro introduces a virtual layer between the files and the clients or applications accessing them, decoupling where a file is stored from how it is represented to users and applications. File servers and file shares are automatically discovered on the network so administrators can easily select which to incorporate in the virtual namespace. Once files are in the namespace, system administrators can migrate these files between heterogeneous file servers transparently to users. And, after files are moved, user configurations and application file references do not need to be changed to reflect the new file locations—a time consuming and error-prone task.

Non-disruptive Migration

Using Maestro, administrators can move data while the users are accessing—even modifying—the data. All file movement is totally transparent to users and applications. This eliminates the problem of user downtime or administrators working nights or weekends to perform migrations. With the dramatic growth in unstructured data and 24x7 operations, neither of these options is acceptable.

Real-time Policy Management

Using Maestro, systems administrators can set policies that are executed in real time to control file migration. Metadata attributes, such as file size, file type, date last accessed or date last modified, can be used to direct file movement. For example, a policy can be created to move all files that have not been accessed in the past twelve months from high-performance NAS servers to a lower-cost NetApp NearStore R200 system. Users and applications are not impacted by file migration.

Maestro’s powerful policy-based automation capabilities are particularly effective for creating tiered storage. Custom scripts can be broadly applied to all CIFS files and heterogeneous storage devices in the network. For example, all mission critical files can automatically be mirrored and placed on high-performance storage systems. Whereas, lower-value or infrequently accessed data can be migrated transparently to near-line or secondary storage. With Maestro, systems administrators gain a more granular level of control over the placement of files, and policies can be changed in real time while the file system remains active.

File Area Networking: optimize your existing resources

File Area Networking (FAN) is a broad concept embraced by the industry to help companies optimize their existing resources. Attune Systems’ Maestro File Manager is a low-risk, high-impact first step towards implementing an effective File Area Network. Meeting the FAN requirement of moving heterogeneous file servers and NAS systems to an aggregated file system with a single namespace, Maestro delivers all the benefits of simplifying management, slashing operating costs, and scaling existing storage environments.