Virtualization helps consolidate resources so that large-scale IT operations can accomplish more with less: That is to say, less infrastructure, fewer power requirements, less hardware and less actual real estate space.

Even so, pooling resources through virtualization leaves server farms in need of storage, which typically remains local, in the form of Storage Area Network (SAN), Network Attached Storage (NAS) or Direct Attached Storage (DAS.)

While most virtual servers are created with CPU power, memory, and I/O speeds as the top considerations, fast, reliable, efficient data storage should also be at the top of the IT wish list for a cost-effective virtual server.

Mapping I/O Speeds in Your Virtual Environment

Data storage choices, including the type of RAID array selected, greatly affects the speed of your virtual server. For instance, consider an app that runs with I/O speeds of 3 to 5 IO per second (IOPS). Multiply that by 100 virtual servers, and that's putting significant I/O requirements on a server. You need data storage media that can hold up to the demands. To create a truly scalable network, always take IOPS into consideration and select the largest, most reliable storage method you can afford with the lowest latency and highest IOPS.

Data Storage for Virtual Servers

Whether you're running your company's virtual servers using VMWare, Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Citrix or another platform, you need high-speed, low latency, high-throughput storage devices. RAID arrays are a popular choice for data storage in VMWare and other virtual servers. Look for RAID solutions that offer high-speed caching and high spindle counts for faster I/O speeds and greater stability.

And, of course, always follow data back-up best practices, which includes making sure that server snapshots function as expected and are accessible in a data recovery emergency situation. 

Are you confused about selecting the right data recovery service to recover lost data from your hard drive, solid state drive or RAID array? It's important to look for a data recovery service that operates in a certified clean room environment if your hard drive has suffered physical damage.

When you open a hard drive case, it exposes the delicate platters to dust and other particles in the air. Particles such as dead skin can immediately stick to the platters, resulting in further corrupt files which can damage the drive even further. When sectors are damaged on a hard drive, it makes data recovery even more time consuming.

If you've suffered hard drive failure, do not open the hard drive to investigate. Instead, call a data recovery service with a certified clean room environment to recover your lost data.  

What Is a Clean Room?

A clean room environment (it need not be an entire room, just a portion, sometimes called a “clean bench,”) is a place where the presence of airborn particles is reduced through highly filtered air and best practices, which reduce the generation of new particles.

A clean room is a highly restricted area, where only essential personnel may enter. Proper procedures, such as donning clean room gowns and shoe coverings that contain no outside, unfiltered particles, are required.

Obviously, it's imperative to open and close doors quickly when entering a leaving a clean room environment to avoid contamination. All employees who enter the clean room should receive proper training in clean room best practices.

In an ISO Class 5, or Class 100 clean room environment, there are fewer than 100 particles larger than 0.5 microns in each cubic foot of air space.

A clean room environment should also be temperature and humidity controlled to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, 50% humidity.

Can You Create Your Own Clean Room?

You may find tips and articles on the Internet to create your own clean room environment within a shoe box for do-it-yourself data recovery. Other D-I-Yers claim you can create a clean room environment by running the shower in your bathroom for 20 minutes to disperse and dissipate all dust and particles. Another blogger suggested creating a clean room environment in a plastic food storage container.

At 24 Hour Data, we recommend against these practices. Clean rooms require sophisticated HVAC and filtering systems, something most people can't replicate at home.

To avoid risking further data loss, do not attempt to open a hard drive yourself to repair damaged or stuck platters. Call a data recovery service with a clean room to recover lost data from your hard drive the right way. 

NETGEAR showcased what judges rated as one of the most innovative inventions of the year, the N900 media storage router, at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. 

The new, integrated device took home an Innovations Design and Engineering Award at the show, and is scheduled to ship to consumers some time this summer.

The WNDR4500 combines storage and back-up capabilities with streaming and wireless networking all in one package, creating an integrated solution for families and small or businesses.

The Media Storage Router also offers the ability to run downloadable applications from the NETGEAR Smart Network App Store.

The Media Storage Router includes a 2TB, upgradeable hard drive and two high-speed USB 3.0 ports to add additional external storage or creating networked drives. The system includes automatic, continuous backups via the READYSHARE Vault.

Other features include the READYSHARE Cloud, which permits users to access files stored on the home server from their smartphone, laptop, or tablet, and DLNA-certified media sharing capabilities, to permit the router/drive to stream files to any other DLNA-certified devices in the home. This permits the router to act as a digital media hub and server.

The Home of the Future Will Need Reliable Data Recovery

A NETGEAR Media Storage Router can truly turn your home into the home of the future, with all your family's media stored on one device that is easy to access via any Internet-enabled device.

But the more hands you have in the media pie, the greater the chance of accidental file deletion, corruption of operation-critical files, or other causes of catastrophic data loss.

Don't put all your family's media -- from photos to favorite movies and even decades worth of music -- at risk. Know what to do in a data recovery emergency. Do not attempt do-it-yourself data recovery; call the specialists at 24 Hour Data.

Just as a conventional CPU has specific files that keep the machine running properly, there are files and collections of files on a virtual machine that do the same.

The VMDK flat files store the content that is on the hard disk drives of a virtual machine. VMDK files (without the word “flat” preceding dot-vmdk) are the disk descriptor files, which contain all information regarding its associated flat file. 

Meanwhile, VMDK Delta files, created during backups when a snapshot of a virtual machine hard drive is taken, store content from the time the snapshot was created until the time the snapshot is complete and operations return to normal. These files are then reconciled for an up-to-date snapshot, with all recent file changes reflected. These files also have corresponding disk descriptor files.

Signs of VMDK File Corruption

If any of these files on your virtual server or servers become corrupt, the machine may fail to power on. This may occur if:

- a descriptor file is missing

- the description section of the VMDK flat file is missing or incorrect

- a VMDK or VMDK flat file is corrupt

If a VMDK file is missing or corrupt, you may see one of the following errors when you power on your virtual machine or in the log files: 

“Failed to power on. A file was not found.”

“Unable to find file”

“The system cannot find the file specified.”

If you receive one of these error messages, you may be able to re-create the missing VMDK file or re-name it properly. The steps to do this will vary depending on what platform your virtual server is running on, whether it's Windows, Unix, Linux, or Mac OS X.

If something goes wrong and you can't get your virtual server to boot, and you keep receiving “File not found” errors, it may be time for emergency data recovery services.

24 Hour Data's VMware recovery experts stay up-to-date on the latest virtualization techniques and data recovery for every virtualization platform. Before you attempt do-it-yourself data recovery techniques that may be unfamiliar to you, give us a call for an honest price quote -- the cost may be less than you expect, and we'll have your lost data back to you within about 48 hours or less.

Source: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd...