RCGNE understands the dynamic needs of business information storage and can provide a storage solution tailored for the unique needs of your organization utilizing industry best practices, technology and experience. Today's businesses need fast, reliable access to large quantities of information in order to gain competitive advantage and establish themselves as leaders in the marketplace of tomorrow. The explosive growth in storage that can occur often leaves businesses with a complex set of distributed data that is extremely difficult to manage. To meet these demands, RCGNE will assess your current and future storage requirements and deliver written recommendations for a 2-5 year storage "roadmap" based on a combination of the following types of storage:   DAS (Direct Attached Storage) - Storage, directly attached (internally or externally) to the host servers, configured to meet the needs of the server and expandable only on a per server basis. NAS (Network Attached Storage) - A scalable, optimized file server, with expandable external storage and flexible management that is attached to the Ethernet network for file access by users and other servers. SAN (Storage Area Network) - An External Storage Network, consisting of centralized storage arrays. Hosts are able to connect to this high speed network with tremendous flexibility. Network based array controllers are utilized to offload the I/O functions from existing servers, allowing servers to use their full power for processing. Off-line Storage - Storage kept for archival/recovery purposes. Typically, tape backup. Off Line storage allows recovery from system failures and, being portable, is able to be kept off-site, in safe locations. RCGNE will evaluate and analyze the following storage areas: • Existing System Services and Application Utilization • Existing Storage Capacity and Utilization • Application Throughput and Data Rate Requirements • Application and Service Uptime Requirements • Backup Procedures, Schedules, Rotations and Windows • Current System Availability and Uptime Requirements • Projected Storage Growth Enterprise-Wide and by Department   • Disaster Recovery and Site Redundancy Capabilities • Storage RAID Set Performance Tuning