Microsoft’s new Windows 2012 features a list of advanced data storage management tools, and Microsoft has done its best to make those tools as uncomplicated as possible to use. But despite that, writes Wikibon Analyst, Consultant, and former CIO Scott Lowe in his latest Professional Alert, “Microsoft Attacks Storage with Windows 2012”,  they are still complicated enough to deter many SMBs, that lack large IT staffs with the requisite skill sets, while larger companies already have third-party tools implemented to accomplish the same things in their infrastructure.

The major new data management tools in Windows 2012 are:

• Storage Spaces, which Lowe describes as “Microsoft’s answer to storage virtualization,”
• iSCSI target software that extends OS-level storage management to iSCSI devices,
• Deduplication in the OS rather than as an add-on tool,
• SMB (Service Message Block) 3, which drastically improves the performance and reliability of storage-related network communications,
• Offloaded Data Transfer (ODX), that allows administrators to offload processor-intensive data copy-and-move operations to the storage array, and,
• Hyper-V 3, a significant advance in virtualization over previous versions that Lowe predicts will challenge VMware. Lowe adds that his comments about the limited usefulness of the new tool set do not apply to the new Hyper-V, which SMBs should seriously consider using and will find straightforward.

The issue with the storage-focused tools is that while they are highly automated they still require skills not found in many SMB shops including:

• Managing storage virtualization,
• Disabling RAID controllers
• Configuring iSCSI targets and initiators,
• Running SMB 3, and,
• Managing deduplication.

Lowe envisions three scenarios for SMBs who want to use these tools and discusses the pros and cons of each. These are:

1. The go it alone approach: This is the least expensive but has the greatest risk.
2. The partner/consultant route: This is more expensive, but provides the CIO with an expert to call on when problems arise along with reasonable deniability, in that the consultant, not the CIO, did the actual installation.
3. The storage partner: This provides the least savings, if any, but the largest guarantees that the storage system will be stable and perform as promised. And if things do go wrong, the storage vendor or reseller will be there to provide help, particularly if the CIO chooses a partner with a strong reputation for service.

Which route an individual CIO chooses will depend on several factors, including his budget and confidence level in handling advanced storage infrastructure issues, and the company’s appetite for risk. Lowe advises that CIOs consider these issues carefully before choosing a course of action.

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