Enterprises today face the challenge of managing and storing an ever-increasing amount of information. Not only is information being created at an unprecedented rate, but regulatory and business needs are also requiring the preservation of information for longer periods. At the same time, IT organizations must do more with less - operational budgets have not kept pace with the rapid growth in storage capacity requirements. This poses a paradox: each new device added to meet capacity demands increases complexity and escalates operational costs.

There are a number of challenges associated with current file storage infrastructures. The insatiable demand for additional storage capacity, coupled with the far greater cost of managing the storage, results in spiraling storage costs. There must be a better way to manage this rapidly growing file storage infrastructure without a corresponding increase in the costs to manage it all.

Intelligent file virtualization resolves this dilemma in a simple and effective manner. This white paper introduces the Acopia intelligent file virtualization solution, which is now a part of F5 Networks. It also discusses the key applications and benefits of this innovative technology.