Handbook

Centralized Management
The management of information resources has been evolving from
the totally centralized “glass house”systems of the 1970s and 1980s
(see Figure 1-4).In the late 1980s and into the 1990s,the client/
server model emerged.Computers were distributed, storage was
distributed, and the management of distributed resources was itself
distributed. To some extent, the mainframe-oriented management
structure was weakened.
However,without centralized,professional management,decentralized
computing systems are in danger of reducing system reliability, data
integrity, and security. Now, at the beginning of the 21st century,the
trend is for information resources to continue to be distributed,but for
resource management – including storage management – to become
more centralized,under a professional management team,using high-
level,highly integrated management tools,and more and more
automation.
Centralized management of storage resources has a powerful impact
on backup systems,creating a demand for universal backup strate-
QUANTUM DLTtape HANDBOOK 1.5
Figure 1-4 The Storage Management Evolution shows a transition to re-
centralized storage management and a continuation of distributed data resources.
Time
Regime
Early 1980s
Late 80s–90s
Late 90s
Early 2000s
Glass House
Client/Server
Professionally
Managed
Automated
Central
Distributed
Central
Central and
Distributed
Central
Distributed
Distributed
Central and
Distributed
System
Management
Location
of Data
Location of
Data Management