Bell Business Insights newsletter

Virtualization, deduplication, and more

Data centres are an area where you can find savings quickly. To uncover these opportunities, ask yourself the following:

• Is all the data we currently have necessary and/or do we have multiple copies of files?
• Are we making the best use of the servers we have, or can we consolidate underutilized ones?

Chances are high that you have more data in storage and more server firepower to service it than is strictly needed. Deduplication, or eliminating multiple copies of files, and server consolidation can add up to substantial savings. The trick lies in knowing how to find excesses and consolidate information and equipment.

Deduplication: Reducing backup and storage costs

Businesses are growing the amount of data they store by up to 60 percent per year. As storage requirements keep on growing, so does the price of information backup. There is the cost of tapes, the cost of secure storage and considerations such as backup time and the capacity of network links to handle huge amounts of data. While it is clear that data backup is a baseline cost of doing business, there are ways to lower costs.
 
Data deduplication is a way to look for and eliminate duplicate copies of data so that only one copy is stored in backup.  For example, if an email is sent with a 1 megabyte attachment to 10 people, then 10 megabytes must be backed up – once for each person.  With deduplication that message and attachment need only be backed up once. This makes email a good focus for deduplication efforts.  Deduplication can also be usefully applied to reduce the amount of data backed up across WAN links and to reduce the total size of virtual system images backed up as virtualization becomes more popular.

Virtualization: reducing data centre costs

Are each of your servers dedicated to just one function? Rigid compartmentalization results in massive underutilization of computing power. Consolidate through virtualization and each server will rise to its true potential. Unplugging servers leads to all sorts of cost savings: electricity, space, maintenance, cooling – not to mention the proceeds of selling the servers.

Some of the less easily quantified benefits of virtualization are just as alluring. For example, virtualization can enable continuous improvement. Instead of deploying fixed solutions to clients on fixed replacement cycles, applications are delivered from data centres in a shared, virtual and/or streamed environment. This means you deliver the full application solution your users need to access their device on demand.

Learn more

Use this practical assessment tool to discover whether your organization could benefit from deduplication and virtualization solutions.

Ask Bell for help

If you know that your data centre could be leaner, the Bell Data Centre team can conduct file system and/or email system audits that will quickly uncover areas where savings can be immediately realized. To find out if Bell Data Centre solutions make sense for your business, contact your Bell representative or click here to have a Bell representative contact you.