Understand the value of Storage Optimization historical data

Storage optimization cannot be treated as a once-and-done event. Data growth, combined with dynamic IT configurations, easily undermine the best attempts to minimize waste. Processes that regularly monitor historical data can forestall inefficient storage usage.

When analyzing storage utilization data over time, interesting trends emerge, as illustrated in the following example. This chart shows that months after successful storage reclamation efforts, storage consumption gradually climbed again. While this storage growth may be valid, this trend warrants further investigation because the growth occurred in categories known for inefficient use of storage resources.

The Storage Optimization process runs in the background on a regular schedule, gleaning historical data from already collected data. This process uses the parameters in active optimization rules to define the data that it persists in database tables designed for Storage Optimization reporting. The following steps provide a high-level view of the sequence of Storage Optimization actions.