Twelve Tips to Consider When Evaluating SANs Upgrades

The frenzy to upgrade is on. The Cloud is here to stay – well, at least for the time being. Eventually everything will be 16 Gbps before it becomes 32 Gbps. You will have made your decision between public and private cloud or some hybrid combination of both public and private cloud. Encryption algorithms have been decided on. BYOD protocols have been put in place. And the challenge of Big Data has been met and conquered at least in your team’s mind. Convergence (News - Alert) here we come.

The mania to move your SAN to the next level has begun.  Your Enterprise, flush with cash – except when it comes to hiring and raises – is looking for improved performance and speed through enhanced technology.

You’re ready to plunk down serious cash to implement that fourth generation SAN. But are you really ready? Have you thought it all through? Has everything been taken into account? Are there ways to get more bang for your buck that you haven’t considered? Of course there are. We humbly offer these twelve tips for your consideration when evaluating SAN upgrades.  

1)    If you are not the first to adopt a technological solution, make sure you speak with the people who were the first. Don’t take the manufacturer’s word for it. Exaggeration and hyperbole are part of the sales game.  No manufacturer’s story is 100 percent true. A trusted source has told us that over 80 percent of customers never call references. They simply look at the gravitas of the clients list and figure that if it’s good enough for the blue ribbon collection of companies on the list the manufacturer has supplied it is good enough for us. Never even bothering to find out the pitfalls, pratfalls and hidden costs they may encounter.  

2)    Make sure you need what you are buying? For example do you really need 16-Gbps switching when storage manufacturers are only delivering 8-Gbps storage today? Keep in mind the price of new equipment will drop at least 10% per year, so delaying a purchase until you need it (i.e. when switching and storage can both operate at 16-Gbps) will always work in your favor. 

3)    Hire a consultant to make sure you can’t upgrade or tweak your current SAN to do what you want to get done. Often a company that is highly competent and proficient in its own business does not always possess all the technical skills to perform a highly technical evaluation. Remember, getting an extra year out of your old SAN will save 10-20 percent of the acquisition cost.

4)    Be aware of the technology cycle. You do not want to be the last company that buys a particular product new from the manufacturer. If you are you probably paid too much. Keep your eye on the future. Remember, the next product is already being talked about.

5)    Try to redeploy your old SAN equipment. One way might be to find another application where you can use older slower storage. Another way might be to use older directors as edge switches on your upgraded SAN.   

6)    Make sure you’ve taken training into account. A new technology will invariably require people to be retrained. Can they be trained on site? Or will they have to travel off site? How will you cope with key people being out for long periods of time while they are being trained?

7)    Don’t forget business continuity. With any major change to your SAN there will always be changes to your continuity and disaster protocols.  

8)    Have you checked the used market? Many times relatively new equipment finds its way into the used market. Bankruptcy, changed plans, cut backs, discontinued test equipment, or a change of vendors are just a few of the reason that will prematurely push nearly new equipment into the used market. More often than not, this early turnover equipment will be exceptionally low priced.

9)    Check the mechanicals. Power and HVAC are significant portions of your costs but are many times ignored when buying new equipment.

10)   Buy the features and software licenses you need but don’t buy features you don’t need, even if you think you may need these enhancements in the future, unless you can get the manufacturer’s to throw it in for free. Any feature or software license you do not buy at the time of the initial purchase can always be purchased later, at more than likely a lower price. 

11)   In addition to the base hardware and software costs evaluate maintenance costs, operating costs, yearly software license costs, and yearly software maintenance costs over both a three year and five year basis when comparing competitive proposals.

12)   Make sure your upgrade fits with your existing SAN hardware and software tools. A new switch, for example, should work with your existing management software tools as should arrays be supported by virtualization and/or replication software. 

The process is never simple and of course no list is ever complete but taking these twelve tips into account will certainly produce positive measurable results.