Cloud storage is a new storage paradigm leveraging pools of commodity storage devices.  Cloud storage enables pay-as-you-go expandability by providing virtualized pools of lower cost storage.

Cloud Storage offers two models of implementation:

1. Public Clouds where third parties provide storage as a service, housing data off site. Users have no control over or knowledge of the technology being used in the cloud.
2. Private Clouds where elastic storage pools are built within a company’s own data center and under their control. The company’s IT staff has complete control over and knowledge of the technology being used.

Cloud Storage Benefits
Cloud storage is being driven by the following benefits:

• Ease and speed of deployment
• Pay-as-you-go acquisition, elasticity
• Low monthly payments
• Lower management costs with fewer IT staff required
• Offers latest functionality
• Improved ability to share systems, applications and information

IT Challenges
Clearly, cloud storage is the future but the following IT challenges must be met prior to wide industry acceptance:

• Security
• Performance
• Availability
• Difficulty of integrating into existing IT architecture
• Lack of customization
• Indeterminate costs month-to-month
• Re-integrating in-house if needed
• Immaturity of market

Emulex Role
Emulex plans to work through standards and innovation to address many of these IT challenges.  As a proven, trusted partner in enterprise storage market and an expert in solving complex storage issues such as virtualization and convergence, Emulex is well positioned to be a key player in driving the adoption of cloud storage.