Storage Infrastructure Services

What do storage infrastructure services include?

Storage infrastructure services cover the physical side of enterprise storage: installing, expanding, moving and retiring the hardware. These are some of the most physically demanding and operationally sensitive systems in any data center. A fully populated disk shelf can weigh several hundred pounds, Fibre Channel fabrics need meticulous cabling, and a single mishandled array can mean costly downtime. We work with the full spectrum of enterprise platforms: Dell EMC PowerStore and PowerScale, NetApp AFF and FAS, Pure Storage FlashArray and FlashBlade, HPE Alletra and Nimble, and IBM FlashSystem. Our work covers new installations, shelf and controller expansions, relocations, and full system decommissions with physical drive destruction. For SAN environments, we rack, cable and label Brocade and Cisco MDS switches. Every engagement ends with updated rack elevations and cable schedules, so your storage team has an accurate physical record of what is installed where. For moves of complete systems, see storage array relocation.

How do you relocate a storage array safely?

You relocate a storage array by following the manufacturer’s transport procedure, recording every physical position, and controlling shock, vibration and temperature from rack to rack. Before the move, your storage team protects and verifies the data and shuts the array down in the vendor’s order. Our technicians then photograph and label every cable, record each drive’s slot position, and remove drives or shelves where the OEM requires it so the chassis travels within its weight and handling limits. Components are packed in foam-lined cases or custom crates and moved on air-ride vehicles, climate-controlled where needed. At the destination, equipment is acclimatized before power-on, re-installed to the same slot positions and cable map, and powered on in the documented order, often with an OEM field engineer on site. Your storage team then checks the array’s health and data. Our guide to storage array relocation planning covers sequencing and vendor coordination in more detail.

What does DataTech handle, and what does your storage team handle?

DataTech handles the hardware. Your storage team handles the data and the configuration. We are a physical logistics and installation company: we do not host, store, encrypt or administer customer data, and we have no access to your systems. The split matters most with storage, because the same hardware holds everything your business depends on, and the people who know its configuration should stay in control of it.

DataTech Logistics (physical)	Your storage team or software vendor
Labeling, de-installing and re-installing arrays and shelves	Copying and protecting data before the move
Recording drive slot positions and cable maps	Replication, snapshots and restores
Crating, transport and 24/7 physical surveillance in transit	Encrypting media before it leaves
Racking and cabling Fibre Channel switches	Zoning, multipath and host path checks
Tape media inventory and sealed transport	Catalogs and retention policies
Power-on in the documented order	Array health and data checks

How are SAN fabrics and HCI clusters moved?

SAN fabrics and HCI clusters move in groups planned around redundancy, so one side of the fabric or a quorum of nodes keeps running while the rest is in transit. For a Fibre Channel fabric, we record every switch port, host connection and inter-switch link, label both ends, relocate the switches, and re-cable them to the same map. Your SAN administrators save and verify zone sets, then confirm host paths and multipath behavior once the hardware is back. For hyperconverged clusters from Nutanix, VMware vSAN or VxRail, and Cisco HyperFlex, we move nodes in the order and grouping your team specifies, keep each node’s disks with it, and re-cable to the original port positions. Decisions about cluster state, workload placement and when a node can leave are your team’s. See SAN fabric migration and hyperconverged infrastructure relocation for the physical scope of each.

How are tape libraries and backup hardware relocated?

Tape libraries are relocated by locking the robotics, removing and inventorying the media, and moving the frame and cartridges separately under custody. Library robotics are secured using the manufacturer’s transport procedure, because an unsecured accessor or gripper can be damaged by normal road vibration. Cartridges are removed, recorded by slot and barcode, packed in protective cases, and sealed for transport, so every tape is accounted for at both ends. Libraries from Quantum and IBM, purpose-built appliances, media servers and object storage gateways get the same structured de-installation, crating and documentation. At the destination, frames are re-installed, robotics unlocked, media returned to their recorded slots, and power restored. Catalogs, retention settings and reconnecting the library to its software are your IT team’s or software vendor’s work. See tape library relocation and backup hardware relocation.

How are drives and data-bearing media protected?

Drives and data-bearing media are protected by sealed packaging, serial-level custody records and physical security in transit. Each drive or cartridge is listed by serial number, packed in a sealed case with tamper-evident seals, and signed over at every handoff. Shipments can travel in dedicated vehicles with a physical security escort and 24/7 physical surveillance in transit. Sensitive drives should travel as client-encrypted media: your IT team encrypts them, and we record your attestation that they are encrypted. See secure drive transport and chain-of-custody for data-bearing media. When drives are retired, we provide physical drive destruction by shredding or degaussing, aligned with the destroy methods in NIST SP 800-88, with certificates of destruction. Software wiping and cryptographic erasure, where you want drives reused, are performed by a licensed contractor. For storage networking terminology, the SNIA primer is a useful neutral reference.