Storage Virtualization in Cloud Computing –

Types & Benefits

What is Storage Virtualization in Cloud Computing

• Storage virtualization in Cloud Computing is

nothing but the sharing of physical storage into
multiple storage devices which further appears
to be a single storage device.
• It can be also called as a group of an available
storage device which simply manages from a
central console.
• This virtualization provides numerous benefits
such as easy backup, achieving, and recovery of
the data.
• This whole process requires very less time and
works in an efficient manner.
• Storage virtualization in Cloud Computing
does not show the actual complexity of the
Storage Area Network (SAN).
• This virtualization is applicable to all levels of
SAN.
 Why Storage Virtualization should be implemented?

• Following are the reasons shows why we

storage virtualization in Cloud Computing
implements:
• If this virtualization implements in IT
environment it will improve the management
of the storage. As each and everything will
properly store and manage there won’t be any
congestion and the task will perform quickly.
• There will be very less downtime as the
storage availability is better. All these
problems eliminate with the help of an
automated management system.
• Storage virtualization will provide better
storage utilization as storing most information
in a particular place can cause loss of data,
congestion, and any other problems. So,
properly dividing storage and storing data can
be useful.
 Types of Storage Virtualization

• All the storage virtualization in Cloud

Computing
– Hardware Assisted Virtualization
– Kernel Level Virtualization
– Hypervisor Virtualization
– Para-Virtualization
– Full Virtualization
• Hardware Assisted Virtualization
– This type of virtualization requires hardware support.
It is similar to full Para-virtualization. Here, the
unmodified OS can run as hardware support for
virtualization and we can also use to handle
hardware access requests and protect operations.
• Kernel Level Virtualization
– It runs a separate version of the Linux Kernel. Kernel
level allows running multiple servers in a single host.
It uses a device driver to communicate between main
Linux Kernel and the virtual machine. This
virtualization is a special form of Server
Virtualization.
 Hypervisor Virtualization
• A hypervisor is a layer between the Operating
system and hardware. With the help of
hypervisor multiple operating systems can
work. Moreover, it provides features and
necessary services which help OS to work
properly.
 Para-Virtualization
• It is based on hypervisor which handles
emulation and trapping of software.
• Here, the guest operating system is modified
before installing it to any further machine.
• The modified system communicates directly
with the hypervisor and improves the
performance.
 Full Virtualization
• This virtualization is similar to Para-
Virtualization. In this, the hypervisor traps the
machine operations which is used by the
operating system to perform the operations.
• After trapping the operations, it emulates in
particular software and the status codes
returned.
Storage Virtualization- Risk & Methods
 4. Storage Virtualization Risks

• Limited Adoption
– The one-third of the enterprise is reporting in a
computer economics survey that they are
increasing the funds for storage virtualization.
There are some understanding of adoption rates,
return of investment and the cost of ownership.
• Problems in Naming
– Before very less VMS was used but now there has
been a rapid growth of VMS which makes it
difficult to distinguish between the important and
the unimportant VMS.
– To make it more future proof building a naming
system and sharing with it with all involved parties
should be done.
• Failure
– The failure occurs due to downtime and data loss.
The installation of VMware which hosts crucial
services becomes a single point of failure.
– So to eliminate this threat the protection of virtual
machine data should prioritize to the top.
 File Based Vs Block Based Storage
• A File Level storage system is the most
common storage system that we find with our
hard-drives, NAS systems, etc.
• In this type of storage, the storage disk is
configured with a particular protocol (Like
NFS, etc) and files are stored and accessed
from it as such, in bulk.
 Advantages of File Based Storage
• File level storage system is simple to implement and simple to use.
• It stores files and folders and is visible as such, to both the systems storing the files and
the systems accessing it.
• File level storage systems are generally inexpensive, when compared to block level
storage systems.
• File level storage systems are more popular with NAS based storage systems – Network
Attached Storage.
• They can be configured with common file level protocols like NTFS (Windows),
NFS(Linux), etc.
• File level storage systems are well suited for bulk file storage.
• The file level storage device itself can generally handle operations like access control,
integration with corporate directories, etc.

• .
 Block Level Storage System
• In Block level storage systems, raw blocks
(storage volumes) are created and each block
can be controlled like an individual hard drive.
Generally, these blocks are controlled by the
Server based Operating Systems. Each block/
storage volume can be individually formatted
with the required file system.
 Advantages of Block Level Storage
• Block level storage systems offer a better performance/
speed than file level storage systems.
• Each block / storage volume can be treated as an
independent disk drive and are controlled by external
Server OS.
• Each block / storage volume can be formatted with the file
system required by the application (NFS / NTFS / SMB , etc).
• Block level storage systems are very popular with SAN –
Storage Area Networks.
• Block level storage systems are more reliable, and their
transport systems are very efficient
 Advantages of Storage Virtualization
• Easy Retrieval and Upload of Data
– In storage virtualization, the data quickly retrieve from virtual
storage. It is as easy as accessing a file on the local computer.
– The data store very easily with the help of some application
and an internet connection which is an easy task.
• Better Management
– The data can be migrated based upon the utilization such as
the data which is frequently used can be stored on a high-
performance storage system.
– However, the data which is rarely used can be placed on a bit
slower system. This is an example of a battery management
system and the customer won’t face any issue regarding
storage.
• Security
– In storage virtualization, the data stores in
different place and secure with maximum security.
If any disaster takes place the data can be
retrieved from some other place and it won’t
affect the customer. The security has the ability to
meet the real utilization necessities rather than
providing additional storage.
 Why Storage Virtualization is Important?

• Performs Tasks
– The appliances of storage virtualization are
responsible for several tasks such as
heterogeneous replication and federation.
– These devices lineup in front of arrays and create
a common interface for the host.
– This allows the administrator to mix and match
the protocols and array which are behind the
appliances
• WAN Management
– It does not send multiple copies of the similar data
over WAN. The WAN accelerator use to cache the
data and send it LAN speed without changing the
performance of WAN.
• Disaster Recovery
– Storage virtualization in Cloud Computing can
increase disk utilization and is flexible. This
ameliorates disaster recovery and the continuity
of the business.
• Storage Tiering
– Storage tiering is a technique which monitors and
selects the most commonly used data and put it
on its highest performing storage pool. The least
used data is put in the weakest performance
storage pool.
 How Storage Virtualization Apply?

• Following are the different ways for storage

applies to the virtualization:
– Host-Based
– Network-Based
– Array-Based
 i. Host-Based Storage Virtualization

• Here, all the virtualizations and management

is done at the host level with the help of
software and physical storage, it can be any
device or array.
• The host is made up of multiple hosts which
present virtual drives of a set to the guest
machines. Doesn’t matter whether they are
VMs in an enterprise or PCs.
 ii. Network-Based Storage Virtualization

• Network-based storage virtualization is the

most common form which are using
nowadays.
• Devices such as a smart switch or purpose-
built server connect to all the storage device
in a fibre channel storage network and present
the storage as a virtual pool.
 iii. Array-Based Storage Virtualization

• Here the storage array provides different types

of storage which are physical and used as
storage tiers.
• The software is available which handles the
amount of storage tier made up of solid-state
drives hard drives.
 Centralized Management

• Centralized management system provides

various benefits such as it allows managing,
allocating, and viewing storage from a single
interface.
• Moreover, the downtime is minimized as
centralized management system provides
maximum availability.
 Conclusion
• The storage virtualization technique is now
common among the users as it has its own
benefits.
• With the help of storage virtualization in Cloud
Computing, all the drives can combine with a
single centrally managed resource.
• Moreover, it allows modifying and making
changes without downtime.
• This provides flexibility to the customer by
making data migration flexible.