carlson.docx

Case Study 1 1 Case Study 1: Carlson Companies CIS:505 Communication Technologies  2 Case Study 1: Carlson Companies Carlson Companies began in 1938 trading as a gold bond stamp company in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Today, they operate globally in 150 countries with a workforce that is exceedingly high at above 100,000 (Shorish, 2015). Previously, Carlson companies had interests in stamps, restaurants, supermarkets and travel. Presently, they have shifted their attention to leisure travel and the hospitality industry alongside having stakes in private equity management firms, where Carlson Companies have ensured financial backing for numerous businesses (Walker, 2013). The company’s portfolio forces it to find the most efficient ways to communicate, use and store data. Through the Carlson SAN approach, the company gains the capacity to set up and maintain a global Network linking and providing access to the database within the data center (Carlson builds IP SAN with global reach, 2002). The approach is compatible and can adapt to the contemporary data formats and usage environment, and its dynamic nature. A definition of the environment requires a mention of all the data storage and management systems that are predominantly used in the corporate setting. These include the DAS, SAN, and NAS. DAS is a block device from which a disk which is physically (directly) attached to the host machine (Walker, 2013). One must place a file system up on it before it can be used. Technologies to do this include IDE, SCSI, SATA, ETC. The essay in is a block device which is delivered over the network like the Das it must still place a file system up on it before it can be used technologies to do this include fiber channel, iSCSI, FCoE, etc (Carlson & Johnston 2015). The third technology is in AS, it is a file system delivered over the network it is ready to Mount and use technologies to do this include NFS com CIFS, ETC.  3 The storage area network is a specialized, high speed network that provides block level network access to storage (Shorish, 2015). It is the most common storage networking architecture used by enterprises for business critical applications that need to deliver high throughput and low latency. Storage area networks are typically composed of host, switches, storage elements, and storage devices that are interconnected using a variety of technologies, to apologies, and protocols (Walker, 2013). System area networks are often used to improve application availability (through multiple data paths), enhance application performance (off-load storage functions, segregate networks), Increase storage utilization and effectiveness (consolidate storage resources, provide tiered storage) and improve data protection and security. The storage area network present storage devices to a host, such that the storage appears to be locally attached (Walker, 2013). Simplifying presentation of storage to a host is accomplished through the different types of virtualization (Carlson & Johnston 2015). In the SAN, storage is provided to the host as a LUN’s, the LUN is a range of blocks provisioned from a pool of shared storage and presented to the server as a logical disk. The most common SAN protocols are fiber channel protocol, Internet small computer surface interface, and fiber channel over Ethernet. Fiber channel protocol, the most widely used SAN or block protocol, deployed in 70% to 80% of the total SAN market. FCP uses fiber channel transport protocols with embedded SCSI commands (Walker, 2013). Next, Internet small computer system interface (iSCSI) is the next largest SAN in or block protocol, with approximately 10% to 15% of the market, iSCSI encapsulates SCSI commands inside an Ethernet frame and then uses an IP Ethernet network for transport. Fiber channel over Ethernet is less than 5% of the SAN marketplace. It is similar to iSCSI, since it encapsulates an FC frame  4 inside an Ethernet datagram (Walker, 2013). Then like the iSCSI, it uses an IP Ethernet network for transport. The SAN network uses components such as cabling, host bus adapters, and switches attached to the storage array and servers (Carlson & Johnston 2015). “Each switch and storage system on the SAN must be interconnected, and the physical interconnections must support bandwidth levels that can adequately handle peak data activities” (). An Assessment of Carlson Companies SAN'S Compatibility to the Environment The approach works in many ways, and one key way is the use of IP management tools. The ability to link the data depends on the storage components that the organization chooses to apply. These components include the software and hardware, alongside the approaches and techniques that work to facilitate the same storage (Carlson & Johnston 2015). In technical terms, storage refers to the process and the components of that process, where data in all its forms is transferred to and made available within a storage device. For this process to be efficient, there exists a need for the data to be readily available, secure and safe from corruption and unauthorized access. According to Walker (2013) the SAN approach is one way that data can be stored and made available in such an efficient manner. The SAN approach offers the user the chance to make storage both permanent and temporary, and hence appears as one of the most efficient data storage approaches available. The other systems for storing data include the central data storage systems and cloud computing. SAN is like a hybrid version that combines both of these approaches and enables the user to apply an efficient and flexible approach to storing and using data within a network (Carlson & Johnston 2015).Storage Area Network as an approach is new and still unpopular.  5 A Comparison of the Pros and Cons for Using and Applying SAN Approach SAN approach has since the 2000s presented reduced Costa for businesses and hence make the storage and access to data occur efficiently (Shorish, 2015). Naturally, SAN eliminates the use of and the need for large servers and huge internal disk and storage spaces. Businesses like Carlson’s and its affiliated operations need such a system that provides data storage and management services at an affordable cost, with a reduced need for hardware and software to that effect (Rolando et al 2015). Cost cutting in SAN is also visible through its efficient disk utilization that directly and efficiently commits disk space to usage as opposed to the alternative where disk space is installed and left empty until that time when the amount of data is excess. SAN protects against vulnerabilities and risks to data by ensuring constant and continued updates as well as storage across the network (Shorish, 2015). In such a system, even when one data storage facility is struck by disaster, the data held will still be accessible through the network. SAN also works well and is compatible with most Disaster Recovery solutions and approaches. Minus the initial installation costs for such a solution, the benefits are overwhelmingly fitting (Walker, 2013). An organization will have an insurance policy for data should the unfortunate happen. SAN n the case of Carlson, this system fits well given the fact that a majority of its locations and operations are at risk of both human made and natural disasters. One of the main features of SAN is the fact that it presents data and the entire system as one easy to access system. By this, it is meant that access to data and the system is real-time and does not suffer the diverse nature of the global locations where the company and its operations occur. The use of SAN also allows the organization to install and manage applications effortlessly (Carlson & Johnston 2015). Applications are easily installed and made available to  6 all users within the network. The alternative approach would require the applications to be installed at each location and as such increase the costs. At the same time, SAN allows all network systems to function as part of single systems, connecting all devices and operational systems to the main database and providing avenues for use throughout the business’s multiple locations. The systems curtail the risk of data corruption by way of its complex and good data protection algorithms (Carlson & Johnston 2015). The SAN makes it possible for systems data to remain consistent and usable throughout. SAN also curtails the risks of delays with data backup and transfers. As posited before, the system works in real-time, where data is easily transferable, and accessible. Additionally, the SAN can make it possible for easy and quick backup and updates of data (Shorish, 2015). Data backup delays are a huge constraint to data use and management. SAN makes it easier to save on delays as even backups are real-time and constant. Cons Even so, SAN is not without its challenges. One main challenge is that the approach and all the components that facilitate it are expensive in the initial installation. The costs for setting up the system are naturally high, and in the case of Carlson, the costs exceeded those of keeping the alternative approach it replaced (Rolando et al, 2015). As indicated by the company, the initial costs were very high. Carlson group paid $2m for the 12 IP switches, two routers and the 10 terabyte of array storage. All these were acquired from separate vendors.  7 References Walker, D. J. (2013). Please Welcome the Minnesota Public Benefit Corporation. U. St. Thomas LJ, 11, 151. Carlson, J., & Johnston, L. R. (Eds.). (2015). Data information literacy: Librarians, data, and the education of a new generation of researchers (Vol. 2). Purdue University Press. Rolando, L., Carlson, J., Hswe, P., Parham, S. W., Westra, B., & Whitmire, A. L. (2015). Data management plans as a research tool. Bulletin of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 41(5), 43-45. Shorish, Y. (2015). Data information literacy and undergraduates: A critical competency. College & undergraduate libraries, 22(1), 97-106.