Expert BLOG: A brief overview of five steps to implement cloud storage services

Cloud storage is not a storage, but a service: like a cloud wide area network and the Internet, cloud storage does not refer to a specific device, but to a collection of many storage devices and servers. Using cloud storage, the consumer does not use a single storage device, but rather a data access service that comes with the entire cloud storage system. So strictly speaking, cloud storage is not storage, but a service.

The core of cloud storage is the combination of application software and storage device to realize the transformation of storage device to storage service through application software.

The five-step implementation of cloud storage services includes:

1. Centralize IT management to gain economies of scale, better understand costs, and control IT services.

2. Standardize cloud storage services according to major business requirements. If you try to support a specific solution for each application, you will be burdened with resources. Consistency is the key to improving quality, reducing support costs, and risk. Standardization is a prerequisite for successful consolidation and automation.

3. Virtualization and merging of physical schemas. Virtualization and consolidation can improve utilization and storage efficiency. Virtualization can be implemented at each level of the architecture stack. Once applications and data have been moved, users have access to unified storage, unified fibre architecture, virtual servers, higher asset utilization, and simplified asset lifecycle management. Consolidated resources can lead to faster market reaction rates and lower overall costs.

4. Automation environment. Once the cloud storage services and processes are standardized and the architecture is virtualized, automation can be implemented. Automation tools can improve abstraction and provide simplified and efficient control of overall workflow management.

5. Authorization to the Service and API (application programming Interface). Transferring control to an organization/user is a testament to the success of the cloud storage service model deployment. With application consolidation and self service capabilities, application administrators and owners have the flexibility to scale on demand, choose different levels of performance and data protection, and automatically recover from application errors as required by the organization. This largely reduces the burden on administrators. The expansion of cloud storage services requires the cooperation of various departments within the organization to smoothly pass through each stage.

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)