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INTEllIGENT COMPUTING | EMERGING TECHNOLOGY
Krishnan srinath
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in

Intent driven storage – Beyond the

hype and why does it matter?

Intent driven storage avoids IT administrators to stop walking systems
through each step for desired outcomes

here is a lot of buzz these days around intent
driven storage or intent based programming.
The question is, is this real or another hype years
T away from reality?

WhaT IS INTENT drIvEN STOraGE?
At a basic level, you say “what” you want rather than
“how” to do it. The details are understood, filled as the
intent is instantiated in the storage. Imagine you need to
deploy application on storage. Rather than sitting at your
console carefully plan capacity, performance needs of
application and map the storage hardware on which it is
deployed, you interact instead with software that does the
work for you. You specify the needs in terms of application
objectives - Capacity, Performance, Protection. Behind
the scenes the software maps application objectives to
storage array technology, finds candidate in the network
that meets criteria. Once a suitable storage candidate is
located, the software connects two of you.
An illustrative analogy that is well understood is virtual
assistant or bots. Imagine you need to plan for a team
lunch. Rather than sitting at your computer and scouring walking systems through each step for desired outcomes.
the web to find best hotels in the vicinity, you interact It means mundane operational tasks can be eliminated,
instead with a virtual assistant or bots that does the work allowing IT administrators to work at a higher level. As
for you. Behind the scenes, the bot is linked to an API the level of detailed interaction with storage elements is
that orchestrates hotel reservation from OpenTable and greatly reduced, the scope for human error is minimized.
taxi booking from Uber. Once a suitable hotel is located
and taxi reservation is confirmed, the bot connects two WhEN WIll IT GO MaINSTrEaM?
of you. Intent driven storage is in early stages. We see some early
There are three characteristics of intent driven storage: implementation of intent based storage operational today.
l Policy – Declarative language captures users intent, a With the mounting complexity of system and shrinking
desired goal. talent pool, a paradigm shift is inevitable. We believe the
l Automate – Map users goal to actions on systems and technology will see significant acceleration over the next 3
automate actions. years. This is the future where the goals are sophisticated,
l Assurance – Ensure the desired state is maintained. humans choreograph outcomes and storage systems
solve their complexity.
WhaT arE ThE BENEfITS?
Intent driven storage avoids IT administrators to stop ( The author is Director Engineering at NetApp)

| A CyberMedia Publication www.dqindia.com January, 2018 | 33