Intended for information technology professionals, system architects, and executives in charge of information systems, this volume discusses the rationale behind implementing cloud computing and virtual storage systems and presents a clear overview of existing and emerging technologies that have the potential to meet business data storage needs. Beginning with a discussion of business needs assessment and network storage fundamentals, the work covers such topics as infrastructure resources management, data security, data protection, cost-effective growth strategies, storage capacity optimization, commercial cloud solution packages and practical cloud system planning and implementation. The volume includes numerous illustrations, a glossary of acronyms and terms and a collection of online resources for further reading. Schulz is an independent IT consultant. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)