Can Storage Hypervisors Enable BYOD for Data Storage?

By George Teixeira, CEO & President DataCore Software

I’m sure you have seen the wider use of the term BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) in our industry and while I know it mainly refers to mobile devices, it got me thinking about why this is an inevitable trend – fueled by customers wanting greater buying power and flexibility. Therefore why shouldn’t this same trend impact their storage devices?

In reality, with storage hypervisors it already has. DataCore’s SANsymphony-V software empowers users with hardware interchangeability (another way to say BYOD) and a powerful, enterprise-wide feature set that works with whatever the existing or latest storage devices happen to be. For those skeptics out there, try it out yourself Download a Storage Hypervisor or give it a Test Drive on our hosted virtual environment.

Why do I say it’s inevitable? Because it has already happened before with server hypervisors and they dramatically make the point. Think how the world has changed in terms of server platforms. We now take for granted that with VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V software in place that the hardware they run on has become largely irrelevant and for the most part a matter of personal preference.

Think about it. When you deploy VMware vSphere or Hyper-V, do you really care if it is running on a Dell, HP, IBM or Intel server platform? Sure you may have a preference, but it clearly a secondary consideration. Instead, other factors like company buying practices, best price or the personal vendor choice of your boss often drive the decision. It is now obvious that after the advent of server virtualization, we now can take it for granted that software architecture is what truly matters and that the underlying hardware will continuously change. The software-based hypervisor architecture is what endures and enables new technologies to be incorporated over time. Specific hardware devices (or brands) are like fads -- they will continue to "come and go." The faster pace of change and the need to continue to drive costs down will make this trend inevitable. BYOD in a corporate sense means greater purchasing power and greater freedom to incorporate ”best value” storage solutions when and where they are needed.

Don’t take my word for it. Thousands of customers have already deployed DataCore SANsymphony-V and are realizing the compelling benefits of hardware independence. Find out more by checking out the SANsymphony-V analyst lab reports and the latest storage hypervisor capabilities like automated storage tiering that let you not only bring new devices into your infrastructure but get the most out of them.