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"Storage consolidation" is a term that has typically meant the consolidation of direct attached storage to a storage network, whether it is Network Attached Storage (NAS) or Storage Area Network (SAN). Consolidation has usually been undertaken to improve utilization of assets, lower the total cost of ownership (TCO), increase return on capital investment, improve IT operational efficiency and increase service levels. The cost of acquiring networked storage hardware has been dropping, and is continuing to fall quarter after quarter. In addition, the service levels and the accessibility of networked storage have improved. Despite these promising developments, reduction of the overall TCO has been hampered by the increasing complexity of managing the networked storage. Furthermore, consolidation of storage has only partially been achieved due to concerns about risks associated with change propagation, costs associated with incorporating low cost servers into the storage network, and isolation of applications in SAN and NAS islands.
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