Software Defining Your Storage

There is a lot of talk in the technology industry of “software defining”, the idea that elements of our technology stack, traditionally based on a hardware appliance can be abstracted from it and made available as a software-only appliance that can be installed on any hardware.  But why? Wouldn’t you rather your key assets were… Read more »

The Renaissance of Data ONTAP

The genesis of NetApp, initially known as Network Appliance is ONTAP or Data ONTAP.  NetApp developed the ONTAP “storage operating system” to run on their original filer platforms.  It’s amazing to think the underlying technology from 1992 still drives the majority of their storage platforms today.  How has ONTAP managed to survive so long and… Read more »

The need for self-describing secondary data

As primary data becomes ever more portable, we need to ensure that our backups have the same levels of flexibility to be moved, stored and used wherever we need them.  Why is this important, and what features should we look out for? Data Protection in a Multi-Cloud World The Need for APIs in Storage and… Read more »

Can the WekaIO Matrix file system be faster than DAS?

There’s a standard adage in the storage industry.  If you want lower latency and better performance, then move storage closer to the processor.  Typically, this means implementing DAS – Direct Attached Storage – and eliminating a shared network.  So how can WekaIO Matrix, a distributed scale-out file system claim to be better than DAS yet… Read more »

Pure Storage ObjectEngine for Flash-based Backup

Back in August 2018, Pure Storage announced the acquisition of StorReduce, a start-up company with a nifty data de-duplication engine.  That technology has been put to good use and now appears in ObjectEngine, a backup-to-flash data protection solution. StorReduce As previously highlighted, I looked at StorReduce in 2015 and was quite positive about the technology. … Read more »

VAST Data launches with new scale-out storage platform

“Build it and they will come” they say, or at least, something similar.  So, Vast Data has built a new scale-out storage platform and hopes that customers will flock to adopt it.  It’s 2019 – do we need another scale-out storage architecture? Amelioration I’m sure when we reflect on products that have gone before, we… Read more »

Pure Storage announces NVMe-oF support for FlashArray

Pure Storage recently announced support for NVMe over Fabrics on FlashArray.  The technology is implemented by an upgrade to Purity (the platform O/S) and installation of RDMA-capable Ethernet NICs.  Pure has chosen to go with Ethernet as the first NVMe fabric offering, while other vendors have chosen the Fibre Channel route.  How has this choice… Read more »

Exploiting secondary data with NDAS from NetApp

Occasionally a technology leaps out at you, not for the current capabilities, but for potential future value.  That’s a feeling I had when I heard about NDAS or NetApp Data Availability Services.  At first glance, NDAS looks like nothing more than a simple backup-to-cloud tool, but dig into how the data is managed and you… Read more »

Podcast #3 – Chris & Matt review the SFD18 presenters

Here’s a little extra podcast Matt Leib and I recorded this afternoon in preparation for Storage Field Day 18.  You can tell this wasn’t recorded in a studio, but actually Matt’s hotel room!  Matt preps coffee in his mini-Nespresso device while we discuss each of the presenting vendors. The discussion is ad-hoc, off the cuff… Read more »

The Need for APIs in Storage and Data Protection

The idea of programmatically managing infrastructure provides capabilities to scale, manage and control technology much more effectively than can be achieved through manual methods.  But the use of APIs means so much more than simply providing an interface that can be automated.  APIs introduce greater efficiency and accountability into storage platforms.  We look at how… Read more »

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Latest

  • Building a modern data platform – Control

    This is a guest post by Paul Stringfellow from Gardner Systems and was originally posted at “Building a modern data platform – Control” where you can also find Paul’s “Tech Interviews” podcast. In the first parts (here and here) of this series we have looked at ensuring the building blocks of our platform are right… Read more »

  • AWS and VMware Partner to Bring RDS for the Enterprise

    At VMworld 2018, Amazon Web Services and VMware jointly announced a preview of AWS RDS, called RDS on VMware.  The Relational Database Service will in the future be able to run on-premises using VMware vSphere. VMworld 2018 – Divergent VMware VMware on Azure?  Great! Or Maybe Not Enterprise-Class Public Cloud How does this position the… Read more »

  • Enterprise-Class Public Cloud

    Never throw away a good idea, they say (or at least I do).  The same applies to blogs that haven’t yet crystallised into a worthwhile topic.  Generally, I put them on the back-burner until a number of paths align.  After seeing the Oracle Cloud team present at Cloud Field Day 3 in April this year… Read more »

  • Building a modern data platform – Availability

    This is a guest post by Paul Stringfellow from Gardner Systems and was originally posted at “Building a modern data platform – Availability” where you can also find Paul’s “Tech Interviews” podcast. In part one we discussed the importance of getting our storage platform right, in part two we look at availability. The idea that availability is a crucial… Read more »

  • Pure Storage – Seeding the NVMe Market

    I’m only just digesting the news from Pure Accelerate 2018, including some of the product updates we saw.  One aspect of the announcements was the positioning of FlashArray with NVMe.  Certainly a hot topic for the moment, as vendors jostle for position in the end-to-end NVMe stakes.  What might not be obvious is that FlashArray… Read more »

  • Building a modern data platform – The Storage

    This is a guest post by Paul Stringfellow from Gardner Systems and was originally posted at “Building a modern data platform – The Storage” where you can also find Paul’s “Tech Interviews” podcast. It probably isn’t a surprise to anyone who has read my blogs previously to find out that when it comes to the… Read more »

  • VMworld 2018 – Divergent VMware

    Nobody likes to be wrong, least of all me, and it’s with fascination that I look at the news coming out of VMworld 2018 this week.  I’m comparing the news to my thoughts on VMware’s future two years ago in my Peak VMware post.  Did we reach peak VMware or did we actually reach peak… Read more »

  • QLC NAND – how real is it and what can we expect from the technology?

    Interested in learning more about NVMe?  Download our free 21-page white paper report (no registration required) here   NVMe in the Data Centre Update: This post was originally published on 11 August 2017.  It has since been updated to reflect the advances in QLC technology in the market. Since NAND flash storage was first introduced into… Read more »

  • Automating HCI Data Protection

    I recently wrote a number of posts covering HYCU, a data protection software solution from HYCU Inc.  During the testing I was curious to understand how easy it would be to automate the build of a dedicated backup environment.  Here’s what I found. HYCU Recap HYCU is a software product that was written specifically for… Read more »