This document explores some of the common challenges Windows® architects and administrators face in managing storage for Microsoft® environments with workloads such as: • Microsoft Exchange Server, • Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server, • Microsoft SQL Serv

1. Storage for Windows Environments
This document explores some of the common challenges Windows® architects and administrators face in managing storage for
Microsoft® environments with workloads such as:
• Microsoft Exchange Server
• Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server
• Microsoft SQL Server®
• Windows File Services
• Server and desktop virtualization
Activity Challenges NetApp Solution
Manage server • Rapid proliferation of file, • Consolidate application, file, and virtualization storage by eliminating
and storage database, DAS, and SAN storage storage silos with the right NetApp® platform including the price-
sprawl servers resulting in operational focused FAS2000, the midrange FAS3000, and the high-end FAS6000.
inefficiency, infrastructure • Improve your storage efficiency by doubling utilization.
complexity, insufficient data • Meet rapid data growth needs and improve utilization with NetApp’s
protection, poor availability, long unified storage architecture, pooled storage, thin provisioning, and
deployment times, higher costs, FlexVol®.
lower productivity, and poor • Compress data files at the block level to further increase storage
resource utilization. efficiency using integrated deduplication for primary storage and
• Explosive growth in deployments of backups. Use deduplication to reduce storage needs by an extra 30%
Microsoft applications, presenting or more in certain environments.
increasing challenges to network,
storage, and systems
administrators.
Simplify data • Managing applications, patches, • Implement policies to automate data and infrastructure management
and storage antivirus, backup, security, data, with NetApp’s suite of manageability tools, including System Manager,
infrastructure services, and storage resulting in VFM® (Virtual File Manager™), Single Mailbox Recovery, and various
management high overheads and inadequate SnapManager® products to reduce management overhead by
storage services. eliminating Windows server and storage proliferation by as much as
• Integrating disparate data in 60%.
existing environments can be time • Automate daily tasks with policies to reduce speed time to deployment
consuming. from days to hours and reduce the number of interfaces.
• Enable Windows server and application administrators to directly
manage all Windows storage without having to constantly rely on
storage administrators.
Protect vital data • Long, infrequent, and disruptive • Create more frequent backups of all your Windows storage, so that you
files with backups with end-user and better protection using Snapshot™ without the headaches of traditional
backups in both application disruptions and high solutions.
central and overhead. • Eliminate unreliable tape in your backup solution with SnapVault® and
remote office • Minimize the use of unreliable tape Open Systems SnapVault, which enable a centralized disk-to-disk
locations in the backup environment. backup solution allowing you to securely retain backup images for as
• Backing up data is network- long as needed.
intensive and can bog down other • Efficiently archive data and backups to SATA using SnapMirror® and
applications and workloads. SnapVault where only data changes are transmitted over the network.
• Need a solution for not only the • Eliminate remote backup infrastructure and administration with Open
data center, but also remote Systems SnapVault and centralized management that scales to
offices. thousands of sites, making efficient use of your resources.
Restore backed- • Restoring data is time consuming • Allow server and desktop administrators and even end users to quickly
up data and requires coordinating between restore data directly without having to rely on storage and backup
different groups. administrators, eliminating ambiguity and potential for errors.
• Avoid tape bingo on guessing if the • Avoid going back to tape and instead restore for an online backup

2. right data is being restored from archive which was backed up using NetApp Snapshot or SnapVault.
the right tape. • Use simple self-service restore to present file system view of previously
• Need integration with Windows and backed up copies to end users or Windows administrators and integrate
different applications not only with Windows Virtual Shadow Copy Service.
backup, but also to restore files. • Manage backups and recovery using SnapManager products for
Exchange, SharePoint, SQL Server, and Virtual Infrastructure and
restore individual mailboxes with the Single Mailbox Recovery tool.
Make sure of • Making sure of uninterrupted • Synchronously or asynchronously mirroring data across geographically
data and storage access to data and storage in separated clusters to minimize downtime in a cost-effective fashion.
availability, dealing with planned and NetApp active-active clusters provide RAID 1 capability and can be
continuity, and unplanned outages. either collocated or geographically dispersed by as much as 100
reliability • Minimize disruptions in case of disk kilometers (or more if the data is asynchronously mirrored across the
failures, maintenance, and cluster).
outages. • Implement failover with minimal disruption, simple installation, and cost-
• Making sure of continuous access effective operation providing automated failover.
to vital data. • Virtually eliminate the potential for data loss from disk failure with
• Disaster recovery involving NetApp RAID-DP® technology.
complex setup and expensive • Mirror files on to another NetApp storage platform with NetApp
infrastructure. SnapMirror. The mirror copy can be used if the original files are
destroyed or severely damaged.
Archive and • Dealing with the problem of • Efficiently and quickly organize your files across different storage tiers
securely store appropriately storing files in the (Fibre Channel, SAS, or SATA disk drives) using automated policies.
files for most cost-effective manner. o Tiering keeps often-accessed data on a fast tier 1 spinning or solid-
compliance • Securely storing files to comply state disk.
with various compliance and o Tier 2 data, accessed less frequently, is kept on slower, cheaper
regulatory (BASEL II, HIPAA, SATA disks.
Graham-Leech-Bliley, Sarbanes- o Tier 3 is tape storage for data that might never see the light of day
Oxley) requirements. again.
• Use NetApp SnapLock® and LockVault™ to create secure, unalterable,
and immediately accessible copies and meet regulations for record
retention and legal support.
Deliver scalable • Growth in data might require new • Allocate, grow, and shrink storage for different Windows workloads by
architecture to storage, resulting in more silos. pooling storage and flexible (thin) provisioning it for individual
handle business • Inaccurate capacity and applications resulting in better control and higher efficiency.
growth performance planning resulting in • Scale performance and capacity with a variety of platforms with clear
poor performance, utilization, and upgrade to meet current and future needs.
missed SLAs. • Consolidate multiple storage systems including CIFS and SAN (Fibre
• Difficult to add new storage Channel and iSCSI) to share and prioritize resources for different
services without additional workloads, enabling adding new storage services with ease.
resources.
Reduce costs • Storage costs can be high and • Achieve real space savings with 30% to 50% for primary storage and
and improve unpredictable, making it difficult to up to 95% for backups with NetApp’s storage efficiency.
effectiveness of plan for the future, resulting in • Lower costs by as much as 50% by consolidation all your Windows
IT inefficient use of capital and storage, whether files, applications, databases, or virtualization, to
resources. NetApp.
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further, faster, FlexVol, LockVault, RAID-DP, SnapLock, SnapManager, SnapMirror, Snapshot, SnapVault, VFM, and
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countries. Microsoft, Windows, SharePoint, and SQL Server are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All
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such.