With the mass migration toward virtual computing well underway, organizations have begun gradually transforming their applications and servers to accommodate for this new era of virtualization. However, to exploit the true power of virtualization, IT managers will eventually need to execute the network convergence of their data and storage capabilities.

The importance of bringing storage and networking together in a cloud-based data center switching solution —along the strategy necessary to accomplish this goal – is discussed in detail in a new Yankee Group (News - Alert) white paper titled, "The Why, When and How of Storage Convergence."

Benefits

The chief benefit of converging storage and data networks is efficiency, says Yankee Group's Zeus Kerravala (News - Alert). Unlike traditional data centers, where resources can effectively be deployed in silos, virtualized architectures require all resources – including storage and data networking – to work in harmony.

Simply put, maintaining two separate, parallel networks prevents organizations from attaining a fully virtualized data center. In addition, maintenance and upgrading tasks will often need to be done twice, and could negatively impact application performance.

Network convergence, on the other hand, creates a fluid, integrated IT environment where the network becomes storage-aware and provides all resources with access to any application or service.

Another clear benefit of network convergence is cost savings, says Kerravala. Unlike disparate networks – which require additional hardware and maintenance investments – a converged network minimizes the need for new cables, I/O cards, management tools and optical connectors. The end result is a cost savings of up to 50 percent.

Challenges

While stressing the long-term importance of network convergence, Kerravala acknowledges that several challenges accompany the migration, and recommends that organizations carefully assess the decision and take a piecemeal approach to the implementation.

The most often-cited barrier is the critical nature of storage, which decision makers see as the lifeblood of their company. Another challenge is that fact that data and storage networks tend to be managed by separate IT staffs, meaning two operational teams must also converge into one. Adding to this personnel issue is the fact that neither network managers nor storage managers have the complete skill set to manage a converged network. It is simply a different animal.

Cost is also a concern for many decision makers. Although network convergence leads to long-term cost savings, it also requires significant upfront expenditures that some companies are unwilling to make. Slow adoption of high-speed Ethernet, lack of a de facto standard and the probable need for a forklift upgrade also add to the overall concern.

What to Look for in a Vendor

With no incumbent vendor in this evolving market, Kerravala believes that organizations should look at the following criteria selecting a technology partner:

• Technology Support: A converged storage network on Ethernet can be based on either iSCSI or FCoE, depending upon what each particular organization requires. Therefore, choosing a partner that offers solutions that support iSCSI or FCoE is advised. In addition, top solution providers should offer support for high-density 10 GigE that can be upgraded to 40 GigE and 100 GigE as needed.
• Future-Proof Technology: Look for a solution that supports newer data center protocols such as Multi-Channel Link Aggregation (MC-LAG), lossless Ethernet and Shortest Path Bridging (SPB). This will allow a network to evolve alongside a virtual data center. 
• Choice of Migration Path: Whether through a forklift upgrade or a more gradual migration, vendors should offer several different paths to a converged network.

Once a vendor has been chosen, organizations must prep their network and infrastructure for the migration to the type of network cloud solution that is best for them. To hear the detailed list of best practices, check out the Alcatel-Lucent (News - Alert) sponsored webinar, “The Why, When, and How of Network Convergence (News - Alert),” featuring Kerravala discussing his finding with ALU's Director Strategic Marketing, Cliff Grossner which kicks off on Friday, March 23 at 11:00 a.m. EST.