Despite of recent slow economy, storage has played a very positive role in the entire IT industry. Emergence of new storage technologies has also been instrumental to create demand of storage professionls. The demand is also being fueled by increasing demand in storage capacity. But at the same time, new technologies have enforced storage pros to go for new set of skills. Let us understand better the predictable changes and also the future market for storage professionals.
Since storage has moved well beyond the practice of stashing old files in a file cabinet or storage room, the need for skilled workers has increased. Data storage has grown exponentially in recent years with increased regulatory requirements governing e-mail retention and legal discovery, data center consolidation and mission requirements for real-time, secure access to data. In other words, storage has really become core to the mission, to the operational effectiveness and to the business needs of organizations around the world.
Naturally enough, the storage professionals have to think of their jobs as more than just mastering a specific technology. They must solve business problems, manage risk and enhance the operational mission. Though 2008 and 2009, both these year have witnessed drastic slowdown in global economy, but it was not enough to stop companies from buying more storage and thinking for emerging storage technologies. So, overall storage professionals were in a much safer position rather than others IT professionals.
Despite Gloomy Economy, Storage Has Been on Demand
According to an analysis from Frost & Sullivan, the emerging storage technologies market in South Asia and the Middle East seems relatively insulated from the current economic slowdown. The storage market in India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Sri Lanka earned revenues of $653.4 million in 2008 and estimates this to reach $2146.4 million in 2015. The increase in the storage technology's adoption levels is a result of data growth as well as enterprises' need for business continuity, disaster recovery solutions, and regulatory compliance.
Businesses are increasingly focusing on gaining an edge by reducing operational risks. As a result there have been substantial technological advances in data storage to facilitate better data management and recovery. Enterprises are either investing in in-house storage solutions or are outsourcing their data backup needs, as they are looking to improve their ability to recover from any disaster at the earliest to ascertain business continuity. Within network storage, storage area network (SAN) is the most popular for its performance benefits, especially in mission critical applications. Network attached storage (NAS) is the solution of choice among customers with specific file-serving requirements.
The rapid adoption of storage technologies in the last few years is likely to create a lull in the market. The use of virtualization solutions to increase utilization of existing storage devices is also a threat to the growth of storage hardware market. Market participants also have to battle customer perceptions about the complexity and high initial costs of migrating and managing a networked solution.
However, storage solution vendors are hopeful that the market will take a turn for the better by 2010, with costs lowering and SMBs latching onto the opportunity to equip themselves with storage solutions. Although direct attached storage (DAS) solutions are expected to compete head-on against storage solutions in the SMB sector due to their low initial costs, network storage provides better returns in the long term.
Three analyst reports see an improving data storage market in 2010, with EMC (NYSE: EMC) leading the way. Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall and Stifel Nicolaus analyst Aaron Rakers had good things to say about EMC, while Rakers and R.W. Baird analysts Jayson Noland and Sonya Banerjee issued upbeat outlooks for enterprise storage spending this year. Marshall raised his fourth- and first-quarter estimates on EMC and set a $22 price target, saying, "We continue to believe solid upside exists in shares of EMC from current levels (20%+). We believe the strategic nature of the [VMware] asset cannot be overstated."
Rakers upgraded EMC to a "buy," saying the data storage giant appears to have ended the year on a strong note. He also cited EMC's "strong competitive positioning for increased storage capacity deployments and a favorable enterprise data center upgrade cycle." Analysts are looking for fourth-quarter earnings of 30 cents a share from EMC on flat sales of $4.02 billion, according to Thomson Reuters, and both Rakers and Marshall expect even better than that. EMC will report its quarterly results on Jan. 26.
Rakers also issued a positive overall outlook for the data storage sector, citing "resumption of capacity investments, some loosening of deferred data center projects, and the continued proliferation of virtualization and therefore networked storage in enterprises."
Rakers said he expects a flat first half of the year for the industry, followed by a strong second half, for an overall growth rate of about 10 percent. He said he doesn't expected to see big FCoE deployments this year, a view held by other analysts who expect the network convergence technology to begin to take off in 2011 or 2012.
Storage Administration – Find Your Level
There are many levels of the role of a storage-network administrator, which is the most common job function and is a natural extension for UNIX or Windows system administrators. Storage-network administrator is a broad description that covers multiple roles and vastly different sets of responsibilities. Storage-network administration can be divided into four distinct levels that require unique skills sets and levels of expertise:
Storage-Network Operator
The storage-network operator is the first level of storage network administration. The responsibilities of this person are to configure fibre-channel switches and to provision storage on a storage array. This person is not responsible for storage-host integration. This role is for those with little system administration experience.
This job function is typically found in companies with large, centralized data centers and mainframe environments. In these organizations, they have successfully implemented programs to transition mainframe operators to be storage operators. Many companies do not use operators. Their entry-level position will require the skills of a small-storage-network administrator.
The training requirements of a storage-network operator include: topics in the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) Storage Network Foundations (S10-100) exam; proficiency in zoning and managing a fibre-channel switch; and proficiency in provisioning virtual LUNs on a storage array.
Small-Storage-Network Administrator
The small-storage-network administrator is the next step up the ladder. Experienced systems administrators with five or more years of experience can usually start at this level. In addition to switch zoning and management, the responsibilities of this position include storage-system administration and host integration. A small SAN has 64 or fewer ports and includes one mid-level or entry-level storage system, two to four switches and approximately 10 hosts.
In addition to the requirements of a storage-network operator, the small-SAN-storage administrator needs to: update firmware and manage a host bus adapter, troubleshoot host/switch/storage system connectivity problems, troubleshoot basic host/storage performance problems and administer a small to midsize storage system.
If you are an experienced system administrator, a SNIA Storage Networking Foundations course that includes hands-on labs will prepare you for the first three items on this list. If you are a storage-network operator without extensive system administration experience, you will need to take a SAN Host Integration course. These courses are held by the storage system vendors and by smaller storage training companies.
Small-storage-network administrators are usually found in small- and medium-sized businesses or in remote offices of large companies. Typically, there is a small IT staff, which requires you to wear many hats. Be prepared for a dynamic environment where you will perform different tasks day to day. If you are currently a storage-network operator and this does not fit your personality, stay with your current large organization and push to be allowed to take additional training, slowly growing your responsibilities over time. It will take much longer to get to the level of a large-storage-network administrator in this fashion, but it will fit your personality and style. It is impossible to succeed if you place yourself in a position in which you are uncomfortable.
SAN Specialist: Database Replication
In a SAN specialist database replication role you will be responsible for creating local and remote copies of a database using local and remote (synchronous and asynchronous) replication software. This involves using storage-array-based replication, host-based replication, SAN-based replication or tools native to the particular database. The database copies may be used for tape backup, reporting, data mining, hot backup or disaster recovery.
You will need a firm understanding of the replication technologies involved and the process of recovering a database to a point-in-time using database logs. In addition, you will need to understand SAN extension technology, fibre-channel performance issues and the effects of remote replication latency on database performance among others. If you do master these skills, you should see an increase in salary of 33 to 50 percent or greater over a small-storage-networking administrator. The role of SAN specialist: database replication requires local and remote replication, database administration and recovery and advanced expertise storage-area networking.
Courses are available from all storage vendors on their unique implementation of local and remote replication procedures. Array-based replication tools are mature products and over time have become fairly easy to configure and manage. The most difficult aspect of replication is integrating your database into the process. Each database has specific requirements that need to be scripted and tested to ensure the data that is copied is useable.
To succeed, you should be a certified database administrator with an emphasis on database recovery. You will need additional training in configuring your database for a replication environment. Some storage vendors have hands-on classes that lead you through this process. In other cases, you might need to hire a consultant or spend time in user groups and discussion forums to figure it out on your own.
Large-Storage-Network Administrator
Administering a small SAN requires only basic understanding of fibre-channel switches. As SANs grow, performance, security and formal change-management procedures become increasingly important. As a SAN grows from hundreds to thousands of ports, the experience needed to manage it increases proportionally.
Tasks that were straightforward in a small SAN or DAS environment can have serious performance problems in a large SAN, such as tape backup. The particular functions of a large-storage administrator will vary from company to company but will include: analyzing SAN performance problems; advanced HBA and switch configurations; fabric topology and ISL performance; backup and recovery in a SAN; SAN security, including authentication and encryption; implementing change management; and business continuity, including local and remote replication.
These topics are covered in the SNIA Storage Networking Management/Administration exam (S10-200). Passing the SNIA S10-200 and S10-100 exams will give you the SNIA Certified Systems Engineer (SCSE) credential. Some items will need to be supplemented with additional vendor training, in particular, SAN security, change management, and local and remote replication.
The type and amount of additional training required will depend on the size, complexity and replication needs of your particular organization. For example, many companies, unfortunately, do not adhere to a formal change-management process. In this situation, you should spend extra time on your troubleshooting skills. The training and certifications that will help you most at this level are the SNIA Certified Systems Engineer credential, the ITIL Foundation (change, incident and capacity management, in particular) and Storage Array Vendor Business Continuity credentials, as well as SAN performance and security training specific to your particular switch.
Storage Certification Pays
The importance of IT certifications has been debated by computer professionals since mainframes were spitting out paper tapes. But as data centers continue to tighten their budgets in 2009, the average value of an IT certification is dropping along with most stocks.
A recent survey by Vero Beach, Fla.-based Foote Partners LLC revealed that, on average, certification pay for 185 IT skills the firm tracks were at their lowest level in 10 years. The average salary increase for a single certification is now at 7.5% of base pay vs. a peak of 8.6% in 2001. However, several storage certifications are moving against the trend, according to industry experts.
As companies place more importance on money-saving technologies, IT certifications in architecture and design, and skills in virtualization and deduplication are bringing storage professionals higher salaries.
For example, in 2009, the merit of an EMC Technology Architect (EMCTA) in the EMC Proven Professional Certification program beat the odds and rose in value. "You need to know that what you're purchasing is scalable, flexible, agile," said David Foote, CEO and chief research officer at Foote Partners. "That's certainly one of the things architects do. They save money. Period."
A group of vendor-neutral storage certifications from the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) have also been increasing in value. "None of them increased in the first three months of the year, but if you track it back to October [2008], you're seeing a 9.1% increase in the highest level -- expert," Foote said.
Jeanne Douglass, SNIA's education program manager, said the economy is impacting IT certifications in more ways than one. "We did a survey at the end of 2007 that concluded that most of the SNIA certifications that people had earned were paid for by their companies," she said. "In 2009, companies are cutting back on training budgets, so I think that more people will be paying [for it] themselves."
Today virtualization skill is in high demand. For the same reason that storage architect certifications are holding their own, virtualization skills are also in high demand, Foote said. In 2009, companies plan to spend 16% more on virtualization than they did last year. "If we look across approximately 70 line-item budgets, virtualization is No. 1 on that list," he said. "Companies are spending on virtualization for obvious reasons -- it's a recessionary spend."
Foote Partners doesn't track virtualization certifications, but VMware Inc. has reported growth in the popularity of its VMware Certified Professional (VCP) on VMware Infrastructure 3 within large enterprises. Furthermore, Microsoft Corp. has added a new line of virtualization certifications to accompany Hyper-V server virtualization technology. One of them, the Windows Server Virtualization Exam, is already available. |
Changing face of Storage Jobs
For the last few years, enterprise IT operational departments have been segregated by technological boundaries--separate server, networking, and storage groups managing IT infrastructure, each focused on their own areas of expertise. While the groups communicated with one another, the relationships could sometimes get testy to say the least. Some years ago I attended a Network World show and observed people wearing buttons proclaiming "The Problem Is Not The Network!" Later that year I heard a CIO from a large university lament that his operations groups had turned into armed camps.
Now virtualization and the convergence of Fibre Channel and Ethernet within the data center come along and change the nature of the relationships between enterprise IT operational groups as well as the traditional roles of server, networking, and storage groups. For storage professionals, the change may well be career threatening as observed earlier.
As the virtual operating systems (VMware, MS Hyper-V, etc.) progress, we will see an increased tendency to offer administrators the option of doing both storage and data management at the server rather than the storage level. Backups and data migrations can be done by a VMware administrator for example. Storage capacity can be managed from the virtualized OS management console.
Today's enterprise IT storage professional (storage administrator, storage architect, etc.) should now be broadening his or her technical horizons. I recently asked one how server virtualization was changing his life. His (ironic) answer: I'm learning more about networks. But don't stop at the network. Know what characteristics of a storage system enhance the performance and manageability of virtual server environments, how to architect a storage infrastructure in a world where everything is a virtual machine, and under what circumstances is it better to manage data and storage from within the storage layer. In short, become a converged storage pro.
There is no doubt that emerging technologies will have a dramatic impact on the traditional roles of servers, networks, and storage, and will require a convergence of technical skills. However, experts believe that the demand for storage professionals (storage administrators and storage architects) will increase as storage plays a larger and larger role within the data center.
The role for storage professionals evolved in the early 1990’s when storage systems were externalized from the servers and larger storage systems were able to support multiple servers over SCSI cables. When FC Storage Area networks and iSCSI were introduced in the early 2000’s, some pundits predicted that storage would become part of the network and storage administrators would be replaced by network administrators. That did not happen. A storage based network had very different requirements than other networks and the role of storage professionals became even more important as data centers shorted out the complexities and advantages of a SAN. The same will be true as we move to virtualization and FC/Ethernet convergence.
Virtualization in the data center is occurring on multiple levels: server, network, and storage, and each level has an impact on the administration of storage. Server virtualization enables the consolidation of multiple servers, operating systems and applications. The effect on storage is a much higher I/O rate and more random I/O per physical port. This requires more knowledge of storage performance tuning.
Network virtualization, including NPIV and FCoE will drive consolidation of bandwidth, requiring expertise in alternate pathing and congestion management. Unlike IP traffic, storage traffic must be loss-less. When the network gets congested you cannot throw an I/O packet away and try again later. While server and network administrators may find it easy to implement FCoE, storage administrators will have to be more knowledgeable about multi-pathing and congestion management in a high bandwidth network.
In order to exploit the advantages of storage virtualization, one needs to understand the requirements of storage and data. Storage virtualization enables the automated movement of data across different cost tiers of storage depending on different data life cycle demands, and non disruptive migration for technology refresh. Storage virtualization can provide dynamic provisioning, thin provisioning, wide striping for increased performance, and disaster recovery replication for heterogeneous storage with one common set of management tools. Storage virtualization has also grown to encompass file and object as well as block virtualization. This type of knowledge and experienced is very specific to storage.
Storage is a unique technology field in many ways. It is one of the few modern technologies that still rely heavily on mechanical movements which present performance and reliability challenges. Unlike servers and networks, storage must also be concerned with the preservation of the state of the data that it stores even when outages occur. Data and storage are at the core of any business as are the IT professionals who architect and manage it.
Therefore, experts do not see the role of storage professionals like storage administrators and storage architects going away, rather being expanded to include virtualization and convergence of networks.
-By: ‘InfoStore’ Bureau.
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