Unified storage refers to a single logical system that is capable of presenting both dedicated LUNs (SAN) as well as folders within a file system (NAS).It is an architecture unified not only across protocols and disks, but also in storage efficiency, processes, data management, and data protection. This level of unification is crucial if your data center is to respond to trends such as virtualization and consolidation.
Unified Storage meet requirements for application availability and performance with lower investment, and reliability. Deploy storage for all data types and easily grow to meet expanding requirements and service-level objectives for critical business applications.

A dynamic data center—built upon a shared, secure, networked storage infrastructure able to eliminate the “silos” of storage associated with various application tiers and with heterogeneous environments—can:

• Increase the flexibility of your IT.
• Boost your IT efficiency.
• Magnify data-center savings in power, cooling, and space utilization.