With more and more storage devices and networks becoming interconnected-not to mention the rise of IP-based storage-security is becoming a topic of increasing concern.

"Traditionally, the way storage has been secured has been by isolating it-either physically, logically, or both," says Dennis Martin, an analyst with the Evaluator Group (www.evaluatorgroup.com). But with storage networks spanning longer distances, this type of isolation becomes impractical at some point.

According to a recent report by Phil Goodwin, program director with the META Group (www.metagroup.com), about 70 percent of enterprise storage will be fabric-attached by 2008. This trend, combined with the increasing integration of IP-based storage, will be accompanied by more opportunities for vulnerabilities and exploits on storage systems and networks. Technologies such as virtualization and storage pooling, along with the rise in the quantity of data stored offsite (such as in a storage service provider scenario), could open up additional security holes.

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