In Depth
In Depth
Software-defined storage
-
Storage technology explained: Replication vs snapshots and backup
Are replication and snapshots the same? Can you replace backup with replication or snapshots? We look into the key planks of data protection strategy, including in cloud storage Continue Reading
-
Storage suppliers’ market share and strategy 2023
We look at the top suppliers in data storage by market share and run the rule over their storage offer, strategies for hybrid cloud, containerisation and as-you-go purchasing Continue Reading
-
On-prem vs cloud storage: Four decisions about data location
Hybrid cloud is now a reality. But how to decide what data goes where? We highlight four key decision points to evaluate whether data should be stored on-premise or in the cloud Continue Reading
-
ERP’s storage requirements and options in the cloud
We look under the hood at ERP and its databases, the storage needed to support ERP’s I/O requirements, block, file and object storage and ERP in an era of hybrid cloud Continue Reading
-
Dell EMC: Storage giant shifts gear to cloud operating models
Storage profile: We look at Dell EMC, the result of the biggest tech acquisition ever, and find a company well set for ubiquitous cloud operating models and as-a-service Continue Reading
-
NetApp: NAS pioneer well set for the cloud revolution
In this storage profile, we look at NetApp, which built a reputation in file access storage but seems to be set fair to navigate a future of hybrid cloud, cloud-native and containerisation Continue Reading
-
IBM reorients to offset historic storage hardware decline
Storage profile: We look at IBM and the strategic shifts it has made towards the cloud, cloud-native and as-a-service offerings that aim to reverse a long-term decline in revenues Continue Reading
-
Huawei a big storage hitter despite international troubles
Huawei is a leading storage player with an enterprise product offer across file, block and object storage, and the cloud, despite controversy and trading difficulties Continue Reading
-
Software-defined storage: What’s available from key players
What’s available in software-defined storage from the big storage players, software-defined storage specialists, and SDS options focused on cloud, virtualisation and containers Continue Reading
-
Hitachi Vantara: Small part of a big corp and analytics focus
We look at Hitachi Vantara, its storage, its cloud offer, the workloads it targets, and its efforts in containerisation and consumption models of storage purchasing Continue Reading
-
Software-defined storage: What it is and variants available
SDS is available in numerous variants. It is usually cheaper, flexible to deploy and brings storage efficiencies, but there are pitfalls in complexity, management and performance Continue Reading
-
Container storage platforms: Big six approach starts to align
Container storage is a complex but vital task. We survey the big six storage makers and see methods are starting to align around management platforms Continue Reading
-
Green storage: Savings to be made but tricky to achieve
Storage upgrades can bring energy savings. New hardware, the cloud and as-a-service procurement models all cut costs, but can need careful tweaking to get right Continue Reading
-
Top 10 storage and backup customer stories of 2022
Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 storage and backup customer stories of 2022 Continue Reading
-
From capex to opex: Storage procurement options bloom
We look at the growing list of possibilities when it comes to paying for storage infrastructure, ranging from upfront purchases with upgrades to pure pay-as-you-go options Continue Reading
-
Cloud bursting: Six key steps in planning and decision-making
We explore the key stages in a cloud bursting project: assessing the data and workflows, variants in the mechanism, application suitability, having the right resources, and planning and testing Continue Reading
-
AIOps for storage: Potential huge benefits, but lots of lock-in
Applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to storage can help to predict bottlenecks, diagnose I/O issues and recommend upgrades, but suppliers’ products are largely limited to their own hardware Continue Reading
-
Huawei sets out its stall for a data-rich world
Businesses need to harness data effectively while keeping carbon emissions down. We see how Huawei is setting out to cope with the strains put on organisations, while mitigating the environmental impact Continue Reading
-
File, block and object: Storage fundamentals in the cloud era
We look at the three basic ways that storage accesses data – via file, block and object – as well as the ways in which the rise of the cloud and distributed systems have brought changes to them Continue Reading
-
Global file systems: Hybrid cloud and follow-the-sun access
We look at global distributed file systems that put enterprise data under a single file access namespace so that enterprises and branch offices can get to data from anywhere Continue Reading
-
Unified file and object storage: Three suppliers and their approaches
We look at unified file and object storage products from NetApp, Pure Storage and Scality, the differences, the workloads aimed at, and how unified they actually are Continue Reading
-
Storage suppliers put Kubernetes platforms centre stage
How to orchestrate the orchestrator? Storage suppliers’ Kubernetes management platforms aim to meet storage and data protection challenge in containerised application environments Continue Reading
-
How open source is shaping data storage management
Open source data storage offers a great deal of flexibility, but unlocking its benefits will require strong technical resources to meet requirements such as stability, high availability and security Continue Reading
-
Object storage: How research institute got 850TB for €150,000
French scientific research institute had its budgets cut and to meet the new cost constraints, it settled on Swarm software-defined object storage from DataCore Continue Reading
-
Five ways the hyper-converged infrastructure market is changing
We look at changes in the hyper-converged infrastructure market as suppliers go cool, go soft, disaggregate HCI nodes, provide as-a-service options and look to containers Continue Reading
-
APAC expert guide to storage management
In this expert guide to storage management in Asia-Pacific, we unpack the developments shaping storage management and key strategies to extract business value from data Continue Reading
-
Dell, NetApp and Pure: Healthy results on Covid easing
Dell’s still top of the storage supplier pile with midrange arrays doing well, but meanwhile NetApp and Pure are making gains on the rise of public cloud Continue Reading
-
Lakehouse concept aims to merge data lake and data warehouse
Data lakes are big, amorphous and difficult to access, while data warehouses are costly and aimed at structured data. The data lakehouse aims at analytics in an age of unstructured data Continue Reading
-
Cloud storage APIs: What are they and what can be done with them?
We look at the kinds of application programming interfaces (APIs) available to expose cloud storage to applications, from SME-targeted solutions to higher-end hooks Continue Reading
-
What digital transformation means for data storage
We survey the key planks of digital transformation and look at the storage technologies emerging to support it, such as NVMe and QLC flash, hyper-converged infrastructure and cloud storage Continue Reading
-
Container-native storage: A definition, and what to ask suppliers
We look at container-native storage – aka cloud-native storage – what defines it, and its benefits as a way of bringing persistent Kubernetes storage to containerised applications Continue Reading
-
Five reasons to look at hyper-converged infrastructure
HCI promises easy setup, purchasing flexibility, low procurement and operation costs, reliability and all in one box – but there are challenges too Continue Reading
-
Where now for storage? Hitachi, IBM and Pure Storage
Part II: Storage supplier strategy in the cloud era: Hitachi, IBM and Pure Storage. We snapshot the big six hardware makers, as they take things to the cloud and as-a-service models Continue Reading
-
Where now for storage? Dell EMC, NetApp and HPE
Part I: Storage supplier strategy in the cloud era: Dell EMC, NetApp and HPE. We snapshot the big six hardware makers, as they take things to the cloud and as-a-service models Continue Reading
-
Ski firm dumps ‘motley’ storage for DataCore software-defined
Eurogroup cuts power usage by 70% and rackspace from 84U to 7U as it consolidates multiple physical servers and storage protocols onto SANsymphony software-defined storage Continue Reading
-
APAC buyer’s guide to data management
In this buyer’s guide, we look at the challenges surrounding why enterprises are struggling to deal with data, the use of cloud data management platforms, artificial intelligence, and recommend some best practices Continue Reading
-
Five hyper-converged infrastructure use cases to watch
We look at workloads ripe for hyper-converged infrastructure deployment. These include virtual servers and desktops, SMEs/remote offices, Kubernetes, and analytics and machine learning Continue Reading
-
Unified file and object storage: The best of both worlds?
Unified file and object storage tackles growing volumes of unstructured data in a way that’s compatible with traditional and cloud-era applications, and friendlier to analytics Continue Reading
-
NVMe-over Fabrics: How NVMe-oF revolutionises shared storage
NVMe brought super-fast flash storage to the datacentre, but it needs NVMe-oF to allow it to bring the benefits of rapid access and low latency to SAN and NAS shared storage Continue Reading
-
A peek into the future of storage
Flash-based storage is here to stay and will continue to be enhanced, even as helium and DNA are being primed for use in the distant future Continue Reading
-
Storage analytics: How AI helps storage management
We look at storage analytics products that measure key metrics in storage hardware, single-vendor and multi-vendor tools, and how AI-based storage management and AIOps is emerging Continue Reading
-
Five on-premise and cloud options for network-attached storage
We look at five options for file access storage, from ‘traditional’ NAS in a standalone appliance to distributed hybrid cloud file storage and NAS cloud gateways Continue Reading
-
Cloud storage on-site hardware: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud
We look at the big three cloud vendors’ on-site offerings: AWS’s Outposts, Gateway and Snow hardware, Azure’s Stack and Arc appliances, and Google Cloud’s software-defined Anthos Continue Reading
-
Container storage 101: What is CSI and how does it work?
We look at the container storage interface, which provides an interface to persistent storage in the products of storage array makers, and how it relates to Kubernetes Continue Reading
-
Cache vs tier: What’s the difference between cache and storage?
We look at the key distinctions between cache and tiers of storage, and where the line has become blurred with fast flash, 3D Xpoint and storage class memory technologies Continue Reading
-
Rook 101: Building software-defined containerised storage in Kubernetes
Rook – think castles, not birds – uses the principles of containerisation and the methods used in Kubernetes to build storage that’s abstracted from the hardware it lives on Continue Reading
-
Kubernetes storage 101: Container storage basics
We look at the basics of creating storage and specifying it for applications in container storage using Kubernetes Persistent Volumes and Persistent Volume Claims Continue Reading
-
Caribbean island hospital rebuilds after hurricane with DataCore
Hurricane Irma tore the roof off a server room and flooded IT hardware, but that was an opportunity to rebuild redundant IT using DataCore’s SANsymphony software-defined storage Continue Reading
-
Spread of Kubernetes spurs backup and disaster recovery products
Growth of containerised applications brings with it the need to back up and provide disaster recovery. But what do you need to protect, and who provides the products? Continue Reading
-
Top 10 storage deployment stories of 2019
Here are ComputerWeekly’s top 10 storage deployment stories for 2019, which see quite a move away from traditional SAN and NAS to hyper-converged, software-defined storage and object storage Continue Reading
-
How to buy hyper-converged infrastructure
Simplicity, high availability, scalability and reduced cost are among the benefits of hyper-converged infrastructure. We survey the benefits, pitfalls and the key suppliers Continue Reading
-
Figeac Aero manages growth with DataCore software-defined storage
Global roll-out sees DataCore software-defined storage deployed on Huawei hardware to HQ and 14 worldwide sites as aero parts maker copes with acquisition and expansion Continue Reading
-
Storage and DevOps: What is required for agile development?
DevOps brings continuous and agile application. Storage has to fit in and make itself just as responsive to development that does away with the inertia of stifling hierarchies Continue Reading
-
How APAC firms can slay the storage management beast
The data deluge and compliance requirements are shaping how Asia-Pacific firms are approaching storage management issues in the age of cloud Continue Reading
-
Software-defined storage vs NAS/SAN: What are the options?
We look at the pros and cons of software-defined storage and weigh up when it’s a better option than buying NAS and SAN pre-built hardware shared storage arrays Continue Reading
-
Cloud-era backup appliances aim at hybrid content platform
While traditional backup apps evolve to meet the cloud via S3 and Azure, a new breed of backup appliances aims to build a single environment across cloud and on-premise Continue Reading
-
NVMe startups’ different routes to flash performance gains
NVMe offers huge flash performance benefits, but no one is quite sure how to overcome the challenges that brings and startups are trying several different approaches Continue Reading
-
Australia and New Zealand gear up for storage analytics
Despite the marketing wars, ANZ is ahead of the adoption curve for storage analytics, which promises to alleviate storage management woes Continue Reading
-
OpenStack storage update 2018: After Rocky
Snapshots and container storage support are among recently added functionality in the open source private cloud platform, but vendor driver support for OpenStack is not universal Continue Reading
-
Storage 101: Self-encrypting drives' benefits and limitations
Self-encrypting drives are a cost-effective way to ensure compliance in certain situations. We look at self-encrypting drives, what they’re good for and their limitations Continue Reading
-
A guide to choosing and using all-flash array storage
We take a look at the considerations when devising an all-flash array storage strategy, and what enterprises can do to get the most out of the technology Continue Reading
-
Container storage: Docker in flash, HCI and software-defined
We look at what flash array, hyper-converged infrastructure and software-defined storage makers are doing to provide persistent storage for container-based deployments Continue Reading
-
Containers and storage: Array suppliers’ container capabilities
We look at what the big five storage array makers – Dell EMC, Hitachi, HPE, IBM and NetApp – are doing to provide persistent storage for container-based deployments Continue Reading
-
Cloud NAS offers file access across on-site and in-cloud
We run the rule over cloud NAS products that allow customers to build single-namespace file systems, including between in-house datacentres and public cloud storage Continue Reading
-
Software-defined storage: Startups bring innovation to SDS
We survey the startup suppliers pioneering new approaches to software-defined storage, including block, file and object, and VM and container-oriented approaches Continue Reading
-
Object storage is inching into Australian enterprises
Even as Aussie firms such as Bauer Media and Redbubble are lapping up object storage, others are facing visibility and analytics issues with the technology Continue Reading
-
Who needs hybrid cloud object storage?
Hybrid cloud object storage products are an emerging category. But what use cases are driving their emergence? And which suppliers lead the way? Continue Reading
-
Hybrid cloud file and object pushes the frontiers of storage
A single environment across on-premise and cloud environments is possible with a new class of product that builds file systems and object stores with hybrid cloud Continue Reading
-
Disaggregated systems try to unlock the NVMe conundrum
NVMe can unlock the true potential of flash, but storage controllers put a bottleneck back in the I/O path. We look at how suppliers are trying to solve the problem Continue Reading
-
Hyper-converged infrastructure 2018 technology and market survey
We look at the latest in hyper-converged infrastructure – server and storage hardware nodes that can be built into scale-out clusters – and the players in the market Continue Reading
-
Net gain? Why networks matter when it comes to hyper-convergence
The rise of hyper-convergence is radically changing how enterprises manage their IT estates, but its effect on the network has yet to be fully realised Continue Reading
-
Private cloud storage 101: Key components and hardware options
Private cloud makes consumption of storage easier for the user and simplifies delivery for the IT department. We walk through the key components and the platform choices Continue Reading
-
Storage in containers: The answer to persistent storage needs?
With compute requirements often fragmented, short-lived and bursty, traditional storage architectures can struggle to cope – so is storage in containers the solution? Continue Reading
-
Storage briefing: The evolution of software-defined storage
The evolution of software-defined storage, from simple software products to those that offer scale-out, hyper-converged, NVMe, public cloud and container functionality Continue Reading
-
OpenStack vs hyper-converged: Open-source cloud in the datacentre
We look at how to deploy OpenStack on hyper-converged infrastructure and how HCI suppliers’ products can support deployment of the open-source cloud in the datacentre Continue Reading
-
Hyper-converged choices: DIY HCI software deployments
What are the advantages of do-it-yourself hyper-converged infrastructure deployment and who are the key suppliers of HCI software? We run the rule over the DIY hyper-converged market Continue Reading
-
Datacentre decisions: Converged vs hyper-converged infrastructure
Converged and hyper-converged infrastructure are ready-tested ways to put compute and storage into the datacentre. But which should you choose for your deployment? Continue Reading
-
Storage 101: Object storage vs block vs file
We recap the key attributes of file and block storage access and the pros and cons of object storage, a method that offers key benefits but also drawbacks compared with SAN and NAS Continue Reading
-
Software-defined storage: The pros and cons, and what is available
Software-defined storage is a rapidly rising trend in the datacentre, but what are the advantages and disadvantages of building your own storage, and is it suitable for all organisations? Continue Reading
-
Software-defined datacentres demystified
As datacentre managers increasingly rely on software and automation, what can a software-defined datacentre bring to the enterprise? Continue Reading