Augmented Data Management (ADM) is the new buzz in town. We hear so much about it, but why? Is this just another passing fad or are there any real benefits that can be had from ADMs? According to Gartner principal analyst Jack E. Gold, “There are five ways that augmented data management can drive you bankrupt – fast.” This seems a little drastic for what appears on the surface to be an intelligent way of tackling your storage space challenges.Â
Augmented Data Management (ADM) is the new buzz in town. We hear so much about it, but why? Is this just another passing fad or are there any real benefits that can be had from ADMs? According to Gartner principal analyst Jack E. Gold, “There are five ways that augmented data management can drive you bankrupt – fast.” This seems a little drastic for what appears on the surface to be an intelligent way of tackling your storage space challenges.Â
1. Augmented Data Management doesn’t solve problems
Gold states that “In the past, most storage managers would have used a tape library or offline disk to extend their capacity and help with recoverability. This is still an option with ADM, but there are some added complexities in terms of management and the usual performance considerations.”
This may be true. Many companies will look at ADMs as a way of getting around spending money on more hardware when in fact they should really spend that cash in order to get a proper data solution in place that will benefit them in the long run.
2. The hidden cost of management
In my opinion this is one of Gold’s best points when it comes to arguing against ADMs. He says, “A typical secondary storage requires less hands-on management, but the size of the secondary storage grows rapidly, and it’s typically difficult to manage by it.”
This is a very valid point. If your data management solution cannot easily be monitored or does not have any way of being properly backed up by your organization then you are asking for trouble. It is essential to make sure that whatever system you implement has these features built in. This way there should never be any need for further investment into other systems just for monitoring purposes.
3. ADM will fail if virtualization isn’t part of its foundation
Gold says that “Virtualization must be tightly coupled with ADM if it is going to work effectively.”
He goes on to explain why this is so important by saying, “If you are going to try to put VMs on the primary storage, you have moved this data closer to applications, but if virtualized backed stores are not centrally managed or easily accessible for recovery, then the secondary problem isn’t solved. The Oracle example of storing an entire VM in one file is a case where both technologies fail.”
I think that Gold makes some very valid points here and it would really depend on your organization’s structure as to whether ADM has any real benefit for you.
4. Data needs context in order to be effective
Gold says that “Data management without context is wasteful at best; unusable at worst.” He goes on to say that in order for ADM solutions to work well they need something very important, “This is similar to how a VDI strategy works – data must have context.”
Again this is a very good point that really should not be overlooked. In order to get the most out of your ADM solution then it must take into account other solutions already in place within your organisation. If you intend to implement ADMs as part of a virtualization strategy then it makes perfect sense to look at getting them integrated with your other management tools so that there is no unnecessary double handling of data and everything remains well organized and accessible.
5. it’s all about checking back!
Gold rounds off his argument against ADMs by saying, “It doesn’t matter how many file systems or storage tiers you have if you can’t get to the data when you need it. The only goal should be getting data back if a problem arises.”
Conclusion:
In my opinion Gold makes perfect sense here and does his best to get across some very good points that really should not be overlooked or taken lightly. He says, “There is no point putting backups in front of applications; you end up with tape drives and backup application silos that require constant babysitting and special hardware platforms to perform the simplest tasks without interruption.” He goes on to explain how important checking back is by saying, “It’s like driving your car with the parking brake on: All the pieces may be there, but it simply won’t go anywhere.”