STORAGE VIRTUALIZATION

Storage virtualization can increase efficiency by helping storage administrators perform the tedious and time-consuming tasks of backup, archiving and recovery in less time. Virtualization disguises the actual complexity of a storage area network (SAN). It is the pooling of physical storage from multiple network storage devices into what appears to be a single storage device that is managed from a central console. Virtualization can be implemented with software applications or by using hardware and software hybrid appliances.