SAN Management: Why It’s Important for Your Firm

Storage area network (SAN) management. It might not be the hottest topic on the tech blogs these days, but effective management of your firm’s storage infrastructure is essential to running an efficient and profitable investment company. And lately, managing storage infrastructures has become increasingly complex and time consuming.
 
So, why is effective SAN management important for your firm?
 
If your storage infrastructure doesn’t function at peak speed and performance, your team’s productivity levels will be limited. Effective SAN management involves ensuring that your environment is monitored on a 24x7x365 basis so that optimum performance is constantly maintained. This helps you detect potential issues before they arise, preventing costly downtime. Additionally, as your firm’s needs evolve over time, you’ll want to be sure that your storage capabilities adapt to meet these requirements. Failing to effectively manage your SAN environment could result in under-utilization of the storage capabilities you have procured, or the firm’s needs growing at a faster rate than the storage space you have available. Both of these scenarios are highly inefficient and can be damaging to your bottom line.
 
How can you ensure your firm is managing its SAN environment as efficiently as possible?
 
First, start with the experts. Well-known brands and industry leaders such as NetApp, Dell EqualLogic and EMC offer superior storage solutions with rich management features. Choosing these top-of-the-line solutions will help ensure your fund experiences significant gains in operational efficiency and overall productivity.
 
Next, select a technology and consulting partner to help with the heavy lifting – i.e. storage design, acquisition, implementation and ongoing management and maintenance. When vetting potential partners during this phase, be sure to choose an organization that meets the following criteria:

• Deep experience and expertise in addressing the storages needs and challenges of the investment management industry

• Storage support experts available around the clock to answer questions or assist with any performance issues that may arise

• Preventive network and infrastructure maintenance

• Proactive monitoring and reporting on storage availability, utilization and performance so that you always know where you stand

• Monitoring of all SAN and virtualization alerts

• Managing of data backup, replication, recovery and archive processes

• Assistance with disaster recovery testing

Eze Castle Integration provides full storage management and maintenance service for hedge funds and investment management firms. For more information on SAN management or virtualization, visit our website or contact an Eze Castle Integration representative.