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US Navy Bolsters Mega-SAN: Page 3 of 4

In an attempt to tighten up its disaster recovery, the NMCI project now relies heavily on the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework. ITIL, which is growing in popularity, is a set of best practices covering application management, security, and IT service delivery.

"There's a real need to control IT environment complexity and change, and this gives you a framework," explained Robinson, adding that ITIL can also help improve storage management.

To illustrate his point, Robinson explained how the NMCI project is using ITIL to plot its future storage needs. "We have had a lot of users calling up the helpdesk, saying that they are running out of storage," he said, explaining that staff within the organization's 25 "echelon commands" are currently deciding whether a distributed file share (DFS), centralized storage, or a more network-centric approach can solve this problem.

Officials will use the ITIL criteria to check how effectively the chosen solution works with the Navy and Marine Corps' existing infrastructures. "It's a framework that has been successful in the U.S. Army and at Procter & Gamble," said Robinson, adding that a technology can only be chosen when it has unanimous approval.

Although developed in the U.K, a number of other high-profile U.S. organizations have also deployed ITIL. These include General Motors (GM), which is currently in the midst of a $15 billion overhaul of its IT infrastructure, and the U.S. Pacific Air Force (PACAF) Directorate of Communications and Information, which is using ITIL as part of an effort to restructure its technology service desk.