Table of contents
1.
Introduction
2.
Types of  Storage virtualization
3.
Why should Storage Virtualization be implemented?
4.
Benefits of storage virtualization
5.
FAQs
6.
Key Takeaways
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024

Storage Virtualization in Cloud Computing

Author yuvatimankar
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Introduction

In the early days, the Traditional system was the way to deal with all the storage. The traditional method is getting replaced because it is physical and has typical storage utilization. Due to this, the availability requirement driven by e-business is not fulfilled, and then storage virtualization comes into the picture.

 

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Storage Virtualization in Cloud Computing pools multiple physical storage arrays from Storage Area Networks(SANs) and makes them appear as a single virtual storage device. Virtualization storage separates the storage management software from the underlying hardware infrastructure to provide more flexibility and scalable pools of storage resources.

This virtualization provides various benefits such as backup, achieving, and data recovery. Storage virtualization requires less time and works efficiently.

Types of  Storage virtualization

  • Hardware-Assisted Virtualization
  • Kernel level virtualization
  • Para-Virtualization
  • Full virtualization
  • Hardware-Assisted virtualization

Hardware-Assisted virtualization needs hardware to keep up. It is similar to  Para-Virtualization.In this virtualization, an unmodified OS can run as hardware support for virtualization and also can be used to handle hardware access requests and protect operations.

  • Kernel level virtualization

Kernel-level virtualization runs a different version of Linux Kernel. It allows running various servers in a single host. It uses a device driver to impart between the fundamental virtual machine and Linux kernel.

  • Para-Virtualization

Para-Virtualization is based on a hypervisor that handles the trapping and emulation of software. Here the guest operating system is changed before installing it to another machine.

  • Full virtualization

Full virtualization is the same as paravirtualization. In this virtualization, the hypervisor traps the machine operation, which the operating system utilizes to perform operations.

Why should Storage Virtualization be implemented?

Following are some reasons why we should implement storage virtualization:

  • Storage virtualization in any IT environment will improve the management of storage. As everything will be properly organized and maintained, there won't be any crowding, and the tasks will be performed quickly.
  • Storage virtualization will provide better storage utilization because storing information together in a particular place will result in loss of data, congestion, and many more problems, and in this virtualization, data will be stored in an organized manner so it will be easy to maintain and perform tasks in storage data.
  • Storage virtualization also works hand-in-hand with server virtualization. Most organizations today are facing problems of server, power, and cooling restrictions in their data centers. With Virtual machines like Vmware, Hyper-v administrators can take advantage of the processing power of quad-core processors and low-cost server memory while virtualizing their server across a bunch of servers.

Benefits of storage virtualization

  • Better Management: As data is exploding at a very speedy rate day by day, storage virtualization acts as a privilege to any organization in locating data, accessing data, and managing it.
  • Data duplication and recovery: It's easier to replicate data from one device to another if your data is properly organized. Storage virtualization helps organizations to many extents for data backup and recovery.
  • Cost Cutting: When you have a centralized dashboard to maintain several vendors, a lot of time and money is saved.

FAQs

1. What is storage virtualization in cloud computing?

Ans. Storage virtualization in cloud computing is sharing physical storage into multiple storage devices that appear as a single virtual device.  

2. What are the types of storage virtualization in cloud computing?

Ans. Types of storage virtualization are:

  • Paravirtualization,
  • Full virtualization 
  • Kernel-level virtualization
  • Hardware-assisted virtualization

3. What are the examples of storage virtualization in cloud computing?

Ans. Examples of storage virtualization are Logic Unit Number(LUN), Logical Volume(LV), RAID groups, etc.

Key Takeaways

In this article, we have discussed storage virtualization in cloud computing, the types of storage virtualization in cloud computing, why we implement storage virtualization in cloud computing, and the benefits of storage virtualization in cloud computing. We have seen how the data in storage virtualization can be easily uploaded and retrieved whenever necessary.

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