FileCensus Brochure

FileCensus -

Storage Resource Management (SRM) and FileCensus

Storage Resource Management represents a fundamental approach that allows organizations to manage their storage assets more efficiently while reducing administrative effort. Rather than being a single comprehensive product, SRM is best understood as a framework that helps organizations utilize their existing hardware resources more effectively.

While traditional SRM products evolved from hardware infrastructure management, modern requirements have shifted toward corporate Storage Information Management that operates independently of physical location. In this landscape, FileCensus stands out as an innovative solution. It is the first SRM product designed to systematically collect information about every file within an organization's storage environment. Through its unique compression technology, FileCensus enables efficient data collection and storage, delivering unprecedented speed in reporting and detailed analysis capabilities for both daily operations and historical trends. This makes it the market's most scalable and efficient cross-platform Storage Resource Management solution.

Managing Data Growth in Modern Organizations

Today's operating systems, while advanced in many ways, face a significant challenge: they were designed to handle the ever-increasing volume of organizational data, but not to provide insights into how that storage is being used. This limitation creates several critical issues in data management.

Business-critical information faces multiple risks, including quality degradation due to inefficient creation, retention, and replication processes by users. The situation is further complicated by the presence of non-business, illegitimate, and orphaned data that act like parasites within the storage system.

The widespread adoption of shared storage and Storage Area Networks (SANs) has made it easier than ever to provide users with additional space. This has effectively removed what was traditionally the main constraint on storage growth - limited server space. As a result, organizations now require new tools to gain insight into their storage needs, establish accountability, and effectively manage growth patterns.

Real Business Opportunities and Financial Benefits

Every organization has unique opportunities to improve efficiency, enhance IT effectiveness, and reduce storage costs within their environment. FileCensus enables organizations to identify these opportunities, understand their root causes, establish metrics for storage provisioning, and automate processes. These opportunities translate into tangible benefits:

Storage Capacity Optimization

  • Organizations can eliminate the need for storage capacity expenditures for 6 to 24 months
  • Typically, 20-40% of network storage data can be optimized through immediate grooming
  • Continuous management is essential as data ages and unnecessary files accumulate daily

Operational Cost Reduction

  • Reduced storage-related management costs through root cause analysis
  • Prevention of user-caused and compression-based storage outages
  • Improved storage policy compliance
  • Enhanced storage planning capabilities

Backup and Disaster Recovery Enhancement

  • Prevention of backup window overruns and failures
  • Ensures 100% backup coverage
  • Improved disaster recovery preparedness

Departmental Cost Management

  • Implementation of departmental chargeback systems for both disk and tape usage
  • Ability to offer internal customers multi-tiered storage solutions
  • High-performance storage options without centralized IT funding requirements

Advanced Technical Architecture and Capabilities

FileCensus leverages unique file image and compression technology to deliver significant technological advantages:

Core Capabilities

  • Maintains detailed long-term storage data collection and history
  • Delivers exceptional reporting speeds for both daily and historical data analysis
  • Provides comprehensive departmental chargeback visibility
  • Offers enterprise-wide views across multiple servers

Implementation Benefits

  • Simple and rapid installation process
  • Flexible deployment with both agent and agent-less scanning options
  • Minimizes impact on production servers through offline interrogation
  • Supports integration with other applications via XML

Enterprise Scalability FileCensus is specifically engineered for large enterprise environments, with proven capability to handle massive file systems (demonstrated in environments with 1,500 hosts and 2,000,000 files). The system provides global visibility across entire cross-platform networks without compromising existing infrastructure resources, regardless of geographical distribution.

Platform Support The system employs efficient, minimally intrusive agent technology (or remote scan agent-free options) to collect comprehensive information with minimal production impact. Supported platforms include:

  • Windows NT, 2000, XP, 2003
  • UNIX systems (Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, BSD & Tru64)
  • NetWare 4, 5 & 6 (via NLM or Remote Agents)
  • All CIFS-compliant NAS devices using Remote Scanning Agents

Advanced Reporting and Automation Capabilities

FileCensus's sophisticated retention of file system metadata enables comprehensive reporting and analysis capabilities that transform how organizations understand their storage usage:

Comprehensive Analysis Features

  • Out-of-the-box reporting covering the entire data ecosystem
  • Complete ad-hoc analysis capabilities across all file systems
  • Cross-platform analysis spanning all servers and supported environments
  • Ability to analyze both current and historical data patterns

Operational Efficiency

  • Tasks that previously took days or weeks can be completed in minutes
  • Guaranteed accuracy and repeatability in all analyses
  • Custom departmental views can be created and deployed rapidly
  • Rapid identification of non-business-critical files
  • Advanced trend analysis for predicting future storage requirements

The system's metadata retention capabilities ensure that organizations can maintain complete visibility of their storage environment over time, enabling both immediate operational insights and long-term strategic planning.

About Intermine.com.au Pty Ltd

Established in 1999, Intermine is a specialized software development company focused on empowering organizations to better manage and protect their data storage while reducing the workload on storage administrators and managers. The company has built a strong track record of success with installations across multiple continents, including the United States, Europe, and South-East Asia.

Intermine's client portfolio includes major global organizations such as:

  • EDS
  • Schering Plough
  • Novell
  • MLC
  • Time Warner
  • ABN AMRO
  • Zurich Insurance
  • Macquarie Bank

The company offers comprehensive support including free enterprise storage audits to demonstrate cleanup and chargeback opportunities while showcasing FileCensus's power, speed, and scope. Case studies and additional references are available upon request.