Pioneer DRM-6NX - Manual (Page 2)

Market Situation
In today’s dynamic marketplace, it is almost
impossible for companies to predict or plan further
than the current year when it comes to technological
infrastructure. The rate at which products, services
and trends change can make it confusing for IT
managers and companies when selecting the
appropriate equipment at the heart of their
existence. Just as the computer age has directly
affected the way and rate at which we do business, it
also has contributed to the drastic amount of data
produced. Thus, the industry now finds itself at
another vital crossroad. How can we best manage all
of the data and company resources to meet our
specific needs?
According to Strategic Research Corporation,
storage needs are doubling each year and spending
for storage systems continues to rise.
1 One of the
greater concerns among companies is how to share
the pool of resources both effectively and efficiently,
without sacrificing performance. Today, more data is
scattered among desktops, on department servers,
or in notebooks out-in-the-field. It is estimated that
for every gigabyte at corporate, another two
gigabytes is scattered elsewhere.
2
This demand for greater use of shared resources
creates an increased need for network trafficking.
This has placed system reliability in question at many
companies, and has sent IT support costs spiraling.
The challenge also includes adding capacity and
system compatibility without having to reconfigure an
entire system.
As a result, users are making more storage
decisions independent of server decisions. Many are
focusing more towards newer options such as
Network Attached Storage (NAS). Storage
networking is the architectural separation of the
storage subsystem from the computer, placing
storage on the network as a shared resource.
Among several notable benefits, NAS can reduce
overall management costs while continuing to meet
needs for available data, maintaining interoperability
of applications, and providing no downtime.
It is estimated that about 60 per cent of server
capacity is applied towards storage versus
application usage, such as tape back-up. NAS
technology completely off-loads server storage
altogether. In addition, a NAS solution can be added
to a system and be up and running in a little as
fifteen minutes, allowing users to benefit immediately.
Also, NAS technology now offers users the ability to
easily localize applications, thereby customizing the
use of company material for optimal use. Businesses
can now easily segment or share data in smaller
workgroup applications. For example, confidential or
exclusive data can be segmented for Human
Resource or accounting departments with protected
use. Legal firms can segment use of specific case
information or share legal resources across a
network.
Whichever the case, network computing is forecast
to rise from less than 10 million users in 1990 to
over 100 million in 2000
3 . In direct response, it is
no wonder NAS technology is becoming one of the
fastest emerging storage opportunities in terms of
market size and growth potential.
Caching In On Network
Attached Storage
2
1 Strategic Research Corporation, Comparing
NAS & SAN Technology, February 1999
2,3 International Data Corporation, March 1999 Special Report,
Network Attached Storage Opportunity
Source: GartnerGroup, 1999