This document discusses the realities of working in storage over the past 30 years. It covers how storage technology has changed dramatically, with storage prices declining exponentially and device densities continuing to rise. It also discusses the challenges of dealing with users, bosses, colleagues, and vendors. Users are seen as getting in the way and justifying more storage, bosses demand things without notice and expect technology to solve all problems, colleagues don't follow standards and it's best to do everything yourself, and vendors only care about making sales. Some coping strategies discussed are keeping a little storage in reserve, being paranoid, and avoiding risky jobs. The overall lesson is that storage needs will always grow and the role is becoming more about data management than hardware.

1. Real World Storage
Dealing with scale, operational complexity, users and bosses!

2. Warning!
This is a light hearted discussion on my experiences in storage
over the last 30 years. As such it contains no technical deep
dives, no incisive comment or corporate analysis. If you’re easily
offended, don’t worry, I do my best to make fun of everyone.

3. TRUISMS
Let’s start by discussing the most obvious statements in storage…

4. Truisms
Everyone is
expected to do
more with less.
We are creating too
much data.
Shared storage is
dead!
Storage
Administration is
dead.
Vendors have the
solutions to all of
our problems.

5. Same As It Ever Was
THIS CHART IS FROM 1987…

6. FACTS
But what are the real facts about storage and data?

7. Facts
Storage prices ($/TB) continue to decline for all media
Data volumes are increasing – but a lot is transient
We have no way to measure the value of data
Storage hardware is super reliable

8. The future of storage is about managing
the DATA and not the hardware

9. Technology
How has the technology changed over the past 30 years? Let’s have some
fun….

10. IBM Mass Storage Subsystem

11. IBM 3420 Tape

12. IBM 3380 Disk (1987)
•3MB/s transfer rate
•$70,000 list ($55,000/GB)
•1.26GB capacity per drive
•IBM 3380 model K 16ms
response time

13. Hitachi Disk Drive

14. Hard Drive Form Factors

15. Hard Drive Heads
IBM 0665 (around 1985, capacity 20-44MB)
Modern HDD (400GB drive)

16. Storage Arrays and Crazy Names

17. Flash Memory in 1987!
• 0.3ms access time
• 3MB/s transfer
• 32-512MB capacity

18. Technology Realities
Storage media is truly a commodity
We have too much data to micromanage everything
Storage is cheap – don’t worry about a little wastage
Device densities will continue to rise exponentially

19. People
OK, so technology is in a good place; what about the people?

20. USERS
PERCEPTION: Technically
these people are our customers.
Without them we have no
purpose. Users justify why we
design and implement new
storage systems.
REALITY: Users get in the
way. Without them, we’d
have lovely systems that
never ran out of storage and
always performed perfectly.

21. User Types
The Panicker The Daydreamer
The PerfectionistThe Hoarder

22. BOSSES
• PERCEPTION: Our
managers are more in
tune with customer and
business needs than
we are. They spend
endless hours planning
and strategizing how
we implement best of
breed technology.
REALITY: Bosses are a right
pain in the a**e. They demand
things at short notice, they
moan about buying more
storage and they expect you to
use the technology that got
them the best deal, not the
stuff you know will work.

23. Boss Types
The Tyrant
The Walkover
The Corporate
Micromanager

24. COLLEAGUES
PERCEPTION: There’s no
“I” in TEAM; we all work
together for the good of the
company, supporting our
colleagues to get the job
done.
REALITY: No-one is as good
at storage management as
you; other people don’t adhere
to standards, don’t clean up
after them and are terrible at
maintaining documentation.
Given the choice, you’d prefer
to do it all yourself.

25. Colleague Types
The Idler
The Tinkerer
The Loner
The Sticker

26. VENDORS
PERCEPTION: As far as the
vendor is concerned, it’s all
about the customer. Your
vendor will go that extra mile to
ensure you’re happy and that
their product is suited to your
requirements.
REALITY: Vendors sell
products; whether you need it
or not, they will still try and sell
it to you. Vendors are in it to
make money; remember that
when their salesmen come to
call.

27. Vendor Types
The Backstabber
The MateThe Miser

28. Coping Strategies
Keep a little
storage for
”emergencies”

29. Coping Strategies
Be a little Paranoid!

30. Coping Strategies
Never volunteer
for the risky jobs

31. Lessons Learned
•You will never have
enough storage
•Document things
separately
•Be prepared to become
a data manager

32. Thank You!