Opinion

Opinion

• AI, storage, infrastructure in focus at KubeCon Europe 2024

  Takeaways at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2024 included the continued prevalence of AI in infrastructure and the increasing value of Kubernetes storage management.  Continue Reading

• Is hyperscale NAS the future of storage in the AI era?

  Storage for AI workloads will require high capacity and performance. Some vendors have started to tackle this issue, for example with global file system technology.  Continue Reading

• Will 2024 herald an on-premises infrastructure renaissance?

  The storage market and buyer feelings have changed considerably in just a few years. Enterprises often see more benefits to on-premises infrastructure than the cloud.  Continue Reading

• Start preparing now for the 50 TB-plus HDD era

  With Seagate's launch of its higher-capacity HDDs, organizations will find several benefits and must also navigate a few challenges. Impacts include cost and data management.  Continue Reading

• Amazon and NetApp's new data storage options optimized for AI

  Amazon's new data storage offerings, Amazon S3 Express One Zone and Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP, better support data-intensive applications, including generative AI.  Continue Reading

• NetApp aims to boost all-flash consolidation with ASA C-Series

  NetApp's ability to deliver multi-cloud capabilities with Google and other cloud providers rather than as a storage-as-software deployment might accelerate multi-cloud operations.  Continue Reading

• Storage as a service value continues to increase

  Explore how storage as a service can be a cheaper option for enterprises and how one vendor will potentially increase the value with updates to its platform.  Continue Reading

• Multi-cloud data storage becomes a 'must-have'

  Enterprises typically have data spread across multiple locations, including multiple clouds. Vendors in turn should look to provide hybrid, multi-cloud and on-premises storage.  Continue Reading

• 4 reasons cloud data repatriation is happening in storage

  When the advantages of cloud storage aren't fully realized, repatriation becomes a consideration. Find out where the cloud isn't delivering on its promises.  Continue Reading

• Lenovo's latest heavy on flash, security for enterprise storage

  Lenovo's concentration on QLC flash, hybrid cloud and ransomware protection in its latest hardware and software offerings should aid enterprise buyers.  Continue Reading

• IBM FlashSystem 5045 aids access to storage cyber resilience

  As ransomware and other cyber attacks persist, enterprises should prioritize cyber resilience. IBM's FlashSystem 5045 improves accessibility for that protection.  Continue Reading

• Pure flash storage evolves, puts HDD investments in question

  Innovations in flash storage driving down cost might make it more difficult to justify investments in hard disk drives moving forward, Pure Storage CEO and others claim.  Continue Reading

• Nutanix lays out vision for multi-cloud PaaS

  Organizations face challenges with complexity across IT infrastructure. Nutanix aims to simplify with a PaaS platform that extends across many locations.  Continue Reading

• HPE GreenLake updates reflect on-premises cloud IT evolution

  On-premises as-a-service products improve simplicity and speed. Updates to the HPE GreenLake platform, including in block storage and data protection, build on those benefits.  Continue Reading

• Why QLC flash changes the hybrid cloud equation

  In the debates of hard drives vs. flash and on vs. off premises, the answer is often not just one over the other. However, surging QLC flash technology offers many benefits.  Continue Reading

• AWS re:Invent storage updates aim to maximize data value

  Among the multitude of announcements at AWS re:Invent 2022, storage was a focus for the cloud vendor. Amazon EFS specifically had several enhancements.  Continue Reading

• NetApp BlueXP and the journey to an 'evolved cloud'

  With BlueXP and Astra, NetApp has a plan for data and application management across cloud locations. The vendor seeks to help customers reach what it calls an 'evolved cloud.'  Continue Reading

• Understand the Intel Optane shutdown

  Intel's upcoming shutdown of Optane follows multibillion-dollar losses. However, some technology benefits came out of the IT giant's effort to improve storage performance.  Continue Reading

• Pure Storage's focus shines at Pure Accelerate 2022

  At Pure Accelerate 2022, Pure Storage displayed its continued investment in R&D, coupled with new product releases. The vendor should continue to make a splash in flash.  Continue Reading

• Cut down on containerized environment complexity

  Containerized environments were supposed to speed up IT operations. However, too much of a good thing brings complexity challenges for organizations to overcome.  Continue Reading

• 20 years of 'Storage' magazine's Products of the Year

  Our best products competition is built on a premise that discourages vendors from sitting on their product's laurels while encouraging technology innovation.  Continue Reading

• Data storage and security make a mission-critical mix

  At a time of heightened cyberthreats, IT administrators should look to improve their data storage security. There are numerous proactive ways to prepare for the next attack.  Continue Reading

• Why QLC flash adoption now benefits the enterprise

  While enterprises must overcome some obstacles with QLC, there is a solid case for its use. 3D NAND has played a big part in enabling QLC use within the enterprise.  Continue Reading

• Storage for edge computing is the next frontier for IoT

  IoT edge devices are getting smarter and will need local storage for machine learning and other AI operations. Is the industry ready for the challenge of storage for edge computing?  Continue Reading

• Five essential steps to build a cloud-native strategy

  Container storage has taken off, thanks to its performance and portability. Make the most of the technology with a comprehensive cloud-native strategy.  Continue Reading

• Next-generation PCIe key to composable infrastructure progress

  High-performance computing and AI environments are just two strong uses for composable architecture. Explore benefits and drawbacks of PCIe in composable systems.  Continue Reading

• These 5 IT buzzwords for 2021 reflect data storage priorities

  As a mature IT discipline, the pace of change in storage has slowed, but there is still plenty of buzz about underlying technologies you'll need to know about in 2021.  Continue Reading

• Cost-effective snapshot management tips and strategies

  Snapshots may be an optimal way to copy and protect data, but they can lead to some unexpected consequences. Find out what those are and how to avoid them.  Continue Reading

• Pay-per-use pricing model can boost digital initiatives

  Consumption IT shifts the burden of infrastructure support to vendors and expenditures from Capex to Opex. Can pay-per-use pricing keep pace with your digital business roadmap?  Continue Reading

• 3D XPoint vs. NAND flash: Why there's room for both

  While there are key differences between 3D XPoint and NAND flash -- in terms of performance, cost and uses -- the two technologies will likely coexist for years.  Continue Reading

• Lines blur between structured and unstructured data storage

  Open source tools like Presto persist low-cost unstructured object data stores while still making information accessible through structured data access tools such as SQL.  Continue Reading

• With release of vSphere 7, VMware takes NVMe-oF mainstream

  VMware's support of NVMe-oF means organizations might be able to significantly improve the performance of their application environments without changing any data center hardware.  Continue Reading

• Project Apex brings Dell into battle to control IT services

  If you were looking for new products at Dell Tech World 2020, you went to the wrong place. It's all about Dell's Project Apex initiative for selling infrastructure as a service.  Continue Reading

• Storage optimization strategies for time-series data stores

  Storing time-series data should depend on how the data is used and its age. Discover tips for saving data for comparative analysis, machine learning and other purposes.  Continue Reading

• Hybrid cloud ecosystem enables digital transformation

  The digital economy has led to a dramatic increase in not just cloud adoption but on-premises data and workloads. Hybrid clouds seamlessly move applications and data between them.  Continue Reading

• SMR, HAMR and other HDD technologies you can build on

  Hard disk drives could make a comeback in 2020, as new technologies such as SMR, HAMR, MAMR and dual actuators provide more capacity and speed for secondary storage.  Continue Reading

• Time to rethink IT for containerized workloads

  Employing IT tools that span on- and off-premises hybrid environments is a first step toward optimizing infrastructure design and management for container-based environments.  Continue Reading

• Why the future of AI storage may have to exclude flash

  Discover why large, high-node count and hard disk-only scale-out storage architectures address the ever-growing capacity demands and challenges of AI architectures and workloads.  Continue Reading

• Forget emerging tech, consumption-based pricing booms in 2020

  Cloud storage's appeal is based less on tech or total cost than on the value that comes from Opex pay-as-you-go pricing. Now you can get that cost model for on-premises storage.  Continue Reading

• HDD vs. SSD storage in the age of flash

  HDDs continue to play a key role in the data center, even as SSD capacities increase and prices fall. See how HDDs and SSDs stack up in terms of price, capacity and use cases.  Continue Reading

• Are PMEM and storage class memory worth the price?

  Look beyond price/performance to find out if SCM and persistent memory modules are right for your business. Faster response time and earlier time to market are important, too.  Continue Reading

• Why application intelligence is the linchpin of modern data centers

  AI-based application intelligence tools help IT cope with growing scale and complexity by automatically detecting workloads, analyzing requirements and making recommendations.  Continue Reading

• Will replication help spur adoption of VMware vVols?

  Virtual Volumes -- now known as vVols -- have gained Storage Resource Management support for array-based replication, plugging a gap that hindered adoption.  Continue Reading

• Cloud repatriation is a symptom of a wider cloud storage trend

  People are rethinking their cloud storage strategies, adjusting for hidden costs, application needs and compatibility issues in a world of public, private and hybrid options.  Continue Reading

• Why cloud block storage deployments are on the rise

  Move over object and file storage; use of block storage in the public cloud is increasing as more businesses prepare to move or have already redeployed workloads to the cloud.  Continue Reading

• Support for production-level hybrid cloud use cases on the rise

  A recent Taneja Group survey reveals that hybrid cloud and multi-cloud are the preferred cloud storage architectures for a variety of enterprise storage use cases.  Continue Reading

• Understanding the NVMe performance problem

  Storage software is a primary performance concern when using NVMe. Discover three workarounds vendors use to fix the problem that exists between NVMe flash and storage software.  Continue Reading

• Cloud trends of 2019 include repatriation, hybrid and multi-cloud

  The rise of the hybrid cloud and the repatriation of public cloud workloads on site to private clouds are driving the broader cloud trends of 2019 toward multi-cloud.  Continue Reading

• Your move to the cloud should be a walk, not a run

  Don't become a cautionary tale when moving to the cloud. Take the time to look at your long-term costs, staffing issues and how future needs will be met.  Continue Reading

• AI for storage management gets real

  AI for storage is popping up everywhere, though much of what we're seeing is the automation of routine tasks. Discover what vendors are doing to use AI more creatively.  Continue Reading

• Hybrid cloud-first strategy solves public cloud, on-premises riddle

  Cloud-first isn't right for every enterprise or workload, nor is on-site first. A hybrid cloud melds the best of the public cloud and local data center for an optimal IT solution.  Continue Reading

• Top 5 enterprise storage trends of 2018

  Dave Raffo won't pretend to know what 2019 will bring to the world of enterprise data storage, but he does know what he learned while following the data storage industry in 2018.  Continue Reading

• Cloud repatriation and the trend away from all things cloud

  Companies are starting to backtrack when it comes to their enthusiasm for public clouds. More and more are bringing workloads and storage resources back in-house.  Continue Reading

• Public cloud workload success requires IT leadership

  IT must change with the times and adapt to the reality that others within the organization can now procure and provision cloud resources without their input.  Continue Reading

• Automated data management is a crucial part of IT's future

  Automating data management will play an important role in helping us cope with the coming zettabyte apocalypse, a time when the amount of data generated will overwhelm storage resources.  Continue Reading

• Predictive storage analytics can watch your storage for you

  Don't ask if your next storage array or software will have predictive analytics. Ask what those analytics can do for your specific systems and applications.  Continue Reading

• Maximize cloud storage benefits with cloud-native data

  A cloud storage strategy must acknowledge that storage is but one part of cloud use and involves storage and compute, as well as data that's accessible to all cloud resources.  Continue Reading

• StorOne storage is set to disrupt the software-defined market

  StorOne's TRU Storage technology raises the bar for software-defined storage by gathering together universal pools of storage across disparate hardware that any workload can use.  Continue Reading

• Yes, a true private cloud can now be built

  Forget everything you've heard about private cloud storage and start over with a true set of building blocks designed to let you create a public cloud-like infrastructure.  Continue Reading

• With NVMe-oF, who needs rack-scale PCIe?

  NVMe over networks is winning out as the best way to offer shared, flash-based storage systems, with Dell EMC, NetApp, Pure Storage, Western Digital and startups in the game.  Continue Reading

• NVMe over FC is happening, and it's time to prepare

  The extent to which the recently published FC-NVMe standard lowers performance latencies in Fibre Channel SANs will be interesting to watch in the coming months.  Continue Reading

• Why Intel Optane SSDs have 'failed'

  Why haven't SSDs built on 3D XPoint taken off yet? Don't blame the technology; blame the marketing behind Intel Optane. New Optane NVDIMMs could fare better.  Continue Reading

• Catch the next wave of digital IT transformation: Learning tech

  IT learning technologies, such as machine learning and AI workloads, are gaining traction and could be the next wave of IT investment that drives competitive advantages.  Continue Reading

• Understanding data storage and its import eludes younger IT folks

  Jon Toigo has a lot to say about the consistent disparagement and disregard many young people in the IT industry show toward data storage technology and management.  Continue Reading

• Storage conferences aren't what they used to be

  If you're an IT pro looking for a good storage user conference these days, you'll probably have to go through one or more of your storage vendors to find one.  Continue Reading

• Clarifying what cloud and virtualized data storage really mean

  Cloud storage doesn't always mean the public cloud. Virtualization and virtualized data storage aren't always about virtual servers and desktops. Find out what's really going on.  Continue Reading

• IoT initiatives and other emerging workloads force data center change

  Internet of things projects and other new technology, such as analytics and machine learning, are tied to software-defined storage and public cloud use, changing the face of IT.  Continue Reading

• NVMe technology is but a first step toward bigger things

  NVMe is an inevitable move forward for flash technology that begins the transition to storage-class memory and will lead to even more significant storage advances.  Continue Reading

• How to get the full benefits from NVMe flash storage

  Consolidate and increase the density of your organization's workloads in a flash storage system to take full advantage of NVMe's parallelism and reduced latency.  Continue Reading

• A multi-cloud strategy provides more options and headaches

  The days of the cloud as a single, homogenous entity are long gone. Going forward, you'll likely have a multi-cloud storage strategy and work with multiple service providers.  Continue Reading

• The end of Moore's law for SSD performance

  SSDs are seeing diminishing returns as Moore's law ends and quantum effects set in. Multilayers and more bits per cell are temporary fixes, but both have drawbacks.  Continue Reading

• The danger of ageism in the tech industry and ignoring the past

  Monolithic storage rules the day in spite of the advent of software-defined storage, because vendors and enterprises ignore data storage history and discount experience.  Continue Reading

• Is demand for data storage or supply driving increased storage?

  Figuring out whether we're storing more data than ever because we're producing more data or because constantly evolving storage technology lets us store more of it isn't easy.  Continue Reading

• Embrace IT digital transformation and the new tech landscape

  The digital economy is increasingly defining business, and IT's relationship to business and the bottom line is becoming tied together more tightly.  Continue Reading

• Ceph vs. Swift: Two object storage systems for different needs

  Some cloud object storage experts think that Ceph is better than Swift, but that isn't true. The fact is that both options can work, but your workload needs matter.  Continue Reading

• Violin Systems and StorOne lead way to shared storage

  Two companies head toward a future of shared enterprise storage resources, moving away from siloed software-defined and hyper-converged approaches.  Continue Reading

• Market for software-defined systems due for a correction

  Software-defined storage seems to relegate hardware to the sidelines, but that may change as hardware-centric offerings become attractive alternatives to software-on-COTS options.  Continue Reading

• Time for a flash storage system refresh: What's next?

  The second wave of flash storage systems in the enterprise must be about optimizing flash performance and density, not just IOPS, and being faster than its hard disk predecessor.  Continue Reading

• Future of data storage technology: Transformational trends for 2018

  Risk-averse enterprises finally accepted the cloud in 2017, and we didn't even notice. Expect the same for these data storage technology trends in the new year.  Continue Reading

• IT infrastructure automation boosts digital initiatives

  Embracing automation through concepts like composable infrastructure cuts back on the use of manual IT tasks, which inhibit the success of digital business.  Continue Reading

• NVMe flash storage doesn't mean tape and disk are dying

  The advent of NVMe, software-defined storage and other newer storage technologies doesn't mean we'll be looking at all-silicon-based storage any time soon.  Continue Reading

• SDS, HCI and CDP are key to dream enterprise storage system

  Easy to implement and manage may be the buzzwords of the day for enterprise data storage systems, but too often daily experiences of IT professionals belie that rosy scenario.  Continue Reading

• NVMe-oF and storage class memory set to disrupt storage

  NVM Express over Fabrics and storage class memory may disrupt traditional storage over the next half decade in much the same way NAND flash did over the last five years.  Continue Reading

• Four rules to craft an enterprise data archiving strategy

  Follow these four rules to redesign your data archiving system in a way that ramps it up gradually, keeps data flowing from primary storage to the archive and makes everyone happy.  Continue Reading

• Is Caringo leading the next wave in object-level storage?

  Caringo facilitates and simplifies cross-platform data movement by bridging its proprietary object storage system to Microsoft Azure object storage service.  Continue Reading

• Peering into the future of enterprise storage for 2018

  Rich Castagna takes a crack at the annual rite of prognostication with a bold look -- unfettered by truth, reality and sanity -- at data storage trends in the coming year.  Continue Reading

• Explosion in unstructured data storage drives modernization

  Increasing amounts of unstructured data are a key part of modern secondary storage environments with their distributed file systems and a scale-out object storage design.  Continue Reading

• Are you ready for NVMe storage and the future of flash?

  Three factors to consider beyond technical capabilities before designing and investing money and resources in a low-latency NVMe flash storage network.  Continue Reading

• Navigating cloud-based data storage requires some caution

  Cloud services are economical and easy to use -- if you know the ropes. Approach cloud computing issues with caution; you just might run into familiar on-premises storage problems.  Continue Reading

• Secondary data storage: A massively scalable transformation

  Capitalize on flash with interactive, online secondary data storage architectures that make a lot more data available for business while maximizing flash investment.  Continue Reading

• A long hot summer for the enterprise storage market

  Use of magnetic tape in enterprise storage is set to break out, even as the cloud market slows and software-defined storage and hyper-converged infrastructure stumble.  Continue Reading

• Your enterprise data management strategy needs a superhero

  Data management products are the Superman, not the Batman, of storage. They have built-in superpowers that provide the innate power needed to manage data.  Continue Reading

• The power and benefits of encouraging IT disruption

  IT can't remain a reactive cost center and cheerful help desk, but must become a competitive, cutthroat service provider and powerful champion of emerging disruptive technology.  Continue Reading

• Forget all-flash arrays, aim for flash-optimized storage first

  Look for simple, cost-effective products that are optimized for flash and meet your needs rather than focusing on the all-flash array storage that vendors are pushing.  Continue Reading

• Software-defined storage products don't negate hardware's importance

  Software-defined storage, positioned as the cure-all for vendor lock-in, suggests that hardware may not be as important to IT infrastructure as it once was.  Continue Reading

• Making the case for an all-flash data center

  Companies should ditch hard disk drives and outfit their data centers entirely with flash storage; vendors have solved old solid-state problems, such as wear time and cost.  Continue Reading

• Object storage use cases coming to a data service near you

  Object storage, unlike traditional file and block storage, is well-suited to manage vast amounts of unstructured data.  Continue Reading

• IT infrastructure transformation: Backbone of the digital revolution

  Maximizing the value of incoming and outgoing data as a core business strategy demands transforming your IT infrastructure into a more agile and flexible entity.  Continue Reading

• ECX 2.6 includes intelligent data management

  Catalogic Software's approach to snapshot creation and management delivers pragmatic features to DevOps and more with the release of ECX 2.6.  Continue Reading

• Wanna laugh? Data protection techniques give ransomware the boot

  Done right, data protection such as cloud-based disaster recovery is the best countermeasure organizations have against insidious ransomware attacks.  Continue Reading