In Depth

In Depth

Data protection, backup and archiving

• Is a virtual backup appliance right for your environment?

  A virtual backup appliance is easily deployed and offers latency reduction, scalability, integration and costs savings. But is one right for your environment?  Continue Reading

• Block vs file for Hyper-V and VMware storage: Which is better?

  Is block- or file-based storage better for Hyper-V and VMware virtual server environments? The answer depends on the precise needs of your virtual server environment.  Continue Reading

• Dedupe technology: A natural partner to backup

  See how three UK IT organisations are saving money and storage capacity with data deduplication for backup.  Continue Reading

• Backup appliance: Backup software and hardware in one box

  A backup appliance provides the backup app, processing power and disk to give all you need for SMB or branch office backup pre-packaged into one easy-to-manage box.  Continue Reading

• VMware backup solutions evolve to make use of VMware APIs

  VMware backup solutions have evolved to do virtual machine backup via VMware APIs and include support for data deduplication, snapshots, granular recovery and cloud as a target.  Continue Reading

• Midrange data backup solutions surveyed

  Upgrades in 2010 to midrange data backup solutions included data deduplication, unified archiving, enhanced virtualisation support and centralised management.  Continue Reading

• Enterprise backup: Software product upgrades in 2010 surveyed

  Enterprise backup software product upgrades in 2010 included advancements in source data deduplication, unified recovery management, virtual server support and automated agent management.  Continue Reading

• Remote replication: Comparing data replication methods

  Learn how remote replication fits into a disaster recovery plan, as well as the various data replication methods available, such as host-based, array-based and network-based replication.  Continue Reading

• How virtual machine backup differs from traditional backup

  Virtual machine backup can be accomplished with traditional backup tools but can be better effected with snapshots and dedicated virtual server backup products.  Continue Reading

• Chris Mellor on data storage management

  Chris Mellor provides UK data storage professionals with the insight on data storage management and data management software. Find out his thoughts on solid-state drives, FCoE, virtualisation, data deduplication and more.  Continue Reading

• Backup alternatives like replication, CDP and snapshots can banish backup headaches

  Backup alternatives such as replication, CDP and snapshots can banish the pain of the traditional backup window. Find out how they work in this podcast interview with Ian Lock of GlassHouse Technologies (UK).  Continue Reading

• Key questions to ask a cloud disaster recovery provider

  Cloud disaster recovery offers data protection without the need to invest in in-house infrastructure. This podcast sets out the vital questions you need to ask a cloud DR provider.  Continue Reading

• The essentials of an effective laptop backup strategy

  Laptop backup is a pain. Or it was. Now encrypted removable drive products and laptop backup software allow you to tame previously untameable portable devices.  Continue Reading

• PCI DSS compliance: What it is and how it impacts storage professionals

  Learn about the key demands of PCI DSS compliance and its impact on storage, including what data must be retained, what must not and the ways data must be stored.  Continue Reading

• Sungard Financial cuts backup costs by 10x with Data Domain dedupe during disaster recovery upgrade

  Sungard Financial cuts backup costs with Data Domain DD690 deduplication appliances and Symantec NetBackup consolidation as part of a disaster recovery upgrade.  Continue Reading

• Open source backup software gives mainstream backup a run for its money

  Open source backup software offers most features found in mainstream backup products and is an option for any size of business that's happy to do some tweaking and maintenance.  Continue Reading

• Tape encryption lightens backup loads

  Tape encryption leaves processing-heavy encryption tasks until the backup processed has finished and can be the best choice when system scalability is required.  Continue Reading

• Data storage security: What it is and the key components of a storage security strategy

  Data storage security covers everything from legal compliance through preparation for e-discovery requests to access control and physical security of storage. Find out the key elements of a storage security strategy.  Continue Reading

• WAN optimization and disaster recovery

  WAN optimization offers a perfect fit with disaster recovery by squeezing more bandwidth from links between primary and secondary data centres.  Continue Reading

• Tape vs disk backup: Pros and cons of tape backup and disk-based backup

  Tape is an established backup target, but disk prices are falling. Factors to consider when switching from tape to disk-based backup are performance and the overall DR strategy.  Continue Reading

• Data backup software: A guide to new data backup features

  Data backup software doesn't just do backup anymore. Now features include data deduplication, continuous data protection, data protection management and synthetic backups.  Continue Reading

• Data backup software products: What features are most important?

  When purchasing data backup software products you need to consider your company's needs, support from backup product vendors and if you need a backup reporting add-on.  Continue Reading

• Backup software products evolve as backup process grows in complexity

  Backup software products are evolving to meet user needs stemming from ever-increasing data stores, and greater complexity in virtualised server environments.  Continue Reading

• Data storage compliance in the UK

  Learn how to comply with data storage compliance regulations such as the Data Protection Act 1998. We also tell you how to enforce data retention and access policies, and prepare for e-discovery requests.  Continue Reading

• The best cloud storage pioneers depended on trust

  The cloud storage market has some startling innovations, such as Nasuni's virtual filer, and cloud archive is a good use case, but time is needed to develop trust in cloud storage.  Continue Reading

• Encryption key management is vital to securing enterprise data storage

  Encryption key management tools enable IT organizations to lock down data on storage media, but difficulties in managing third-party keys and interoperability concerns mean they're in use by only a small percent of UK companies.  Continue Reading

• Reliance Capital's DRM and DLP team up for data protection

  Skillfully sculpted document rights management (DRM) and data loss prevention (DLP) implementations help Reliance Capital battle growing data loss risks.  Continue Reading

• Explaining RAID levels and RAID data protection

  We've compiled our RAID content to help storage pros determine where to implement RAID, decide which levels address their particular needs and how to increase RAID data protection.  Continue Reading

• Making the most of your storage resources: Improving storage utilisation

  Learn about data storage utilisation and ways to improve storage utilisation rates using good design, good policies and good capacity management processes.  Continue Reading

• UK data storage management case studies

  Keep up-to-date with our latest UK case studies on data storage management, data backup and recovery, storage infrastructure management and more.  Continue Reading

• Podcast: Backing up a virtual server environment

  Learn about backing up a virtual server environment, some of the biggest issues that arise in backing up virtual machines (VMs), and what users can do to make VM backup easier.  Continue Reading

• Data backup and recovery quiz

  How much do you know about data backup and recovery? Try our data backup and recovery quiz to find out what you know about the various backup tools available for data protection.  Continue Reading