Opinion

Opinion

Storage

• The ICO is right to push back against government meddling

  Some criticisms of the ICO are justified, but the answer to that is not to give Whitehall more oversight over the data protection regulator, argues legal expert Edward Machin  Continue Reading

• Addressing the backup dilemma to ransomware recovery

  Everyone knows good backups are essential if one is to recover from a ransomware attack, but using them effectively poses challenges that IT teams need to know about  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Optimising privacy, post-GDPR

  Airbus CyberSecurity CTO Paddy Francis explores the impact of regulation on data protection, and how it has changed how one goes about optimising data privacy in the enterprise  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: A response to planned data protection changes

  The ISF’s Emma Bickerstaffe assesses how organisations might respond to proposed changes to the UK’s data protection regime  Continue Reading

• UK’s new data protection strategy risks costing business more than it gains

  The apparent business benefits of pursuing data adequacy agreements around the world may not be as enticing as they at first appear  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Managing data securely throughout its lifecycle

  Managing data in a secure manner is key to ensuring its integrity and therefore its value to the organisation, as well as reducing risk from breaches and misinformation  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Steps to a solid data privacy practice

  Petra Wenham of the BCS shares her expertise on building, or rebuilding, a solid business data privacy practice in a post-Covid-19 world  Continue Reading

• European ‘chat control’ plans in the name of ‘child safety’ threaten end-to-end encryption

  Proposals by European Commission to search for illegal material could mean the end of private messaging and emails  Continue Reading

• NHS Digital’s GP data-scraping plan must be publicised and delayed

  The UK government must launch a national awareness campaign and delay this month’s planned GP data slurp, say privacy consultants Ben Rapp and Sara Newman  Continue Reading

• What has a year of home working meant for the DPO?

  Byron Shirley of The Compliance Space explores how the role of the data protection officer has changed in the past 12 months  Continue Reading

• Why the London Data Charter could be a foundation stone in the city’s recovery

  London First’s director of connectivity and competitiveness, David Lutton, explains why data is at the core of the capital’s recovery plan  Continue Reading

• Brexit and risks to data privacy and governance

  EY privacy specialists assess the risks to data privacy, protection and governance on the table for businesses, with less than two months until Brexit  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Adapting defences to evolving ransomware and cyber crime

  The threat of identity theft via a data breach is heightened with the rise of attacks where ransomware threat actors both encrypt and ransom, and exfiltrate and leak their victims’ data. How does this evolution in cyber crime heighten risk for the ...  Continue Reading

• Lapsing ISO certifications: Myth versus risk

  Allowing ISO certifications to lapse presents businesses with serious risks when workarounds are possible  Continue Reading

• The privacy and compliance challenges organisations face in 2021

  Privacy and compliance teams have a lot on their plate as 2021 approaches. What are the key issues to consider?  Continue Reading

• What are the latest GDPR security breach enforcement trends?

  A cyber breach specialist from Fieldfisher runs the rule over the latest trends in cyber security, data protection and GDPR  Continue Reading

• A CIO’s journey through the Covid-19 crisis

  FDM’s IT chief takes us through the challenges of responding to the coronavirus pandemic, and the future opportunities that the changes introduced now present  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Securing containers needn’t be taxing

  Adopting containers promises great organisational efficiency advantages, but the fast-evolving technology can be problematic for security teams. What do CISOs need to know to safeguard containers?  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Container security starts with good DevOps practice

  Adopting containers promises great organisational efficiency advantages, but the fast-evolving technology can be problematic for security teams. What do CISOs need to know to safeguard containers?  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Container security is evolving, so must CISOs

  Adopting containers promises great organisational efficiency advantages, but the fast-evolving technology can be problematic for security teams. What do CISOs need to know to safeguard containers?  Continue Reading

• Four risks to data privacy and governance amid Covid-19

  EY privacy experts assess some of the novel risks to data privacy, protection and governance during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Why and how cyber criminals exploit world events

  In our globalised world, high-profile events such as Covid-19 have huge business impacts, some of which may be felt by CISOs. What responsibilities do security professionals have in such circumstances?  Continue Reading

• Coronavirus and privacy – finding the middle ground

  Data collection has a role to play in fighting the deadly Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, but governments need to be accountable for how it is used  Continue Reading

• Is the EU better equipped than the US to supervise the use of facial recognition?

  Clearview AI can be an indispensable tool to reinforce national security, but there are many risks associated with the use of facial recognition technology that the EU might be better equipped to deal with than the US  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Put information at the heart of security

  The belief that effective perimeter security is the best way to protect data is a fallacy that is being repeatedly exposed. We must recognise the need for a data-centric security model to protect data from both internal and external threats, but ...  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: In-depth protection is a matter of basic hygiene

  The belief that effective perimeter security is the best way to protect data is a fallacy that is being repeatedly exposed. We must recognise the need for a data-centric security model to protect data from both internal and external threats, but ...  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Base cloud security posture on your data footprint

  Misconfigured cloud environments are increasingly identified as the source of damaging data breaches and leaks, raising serious questions for enterprises. Where does responsibility for data security in the cloud lie, and how can security ...  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Secure the cloud when negotiating contracts

  Misconfigured cloud environments are increasingly identified as the source of damaging data breaches and leaks, raising serious questions for enterprises. Where does responsibility for data security in the cloud lie, and how can security ...  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: In the cloud, the buck stops with you

  Misconfigured cloud environments are increasingly identified as the source of damaging data breaches and leaks, raising serious questions for enterprises. Where does responsibility for data security in the cloud lie, and how can security ...  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Get basic security policy right, and the rest will follow

  Paying attention to basic aspects of cyber security such as policy and permission will give you a sold base to build from  Continue Reading

• Storage: How ‘tail latency’ impacts customer-facing applications

  Henry He of Virtual Instruments looks at tail latency, the small percentage of storage I/O that could be causing big and costly problems for business applications  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Is it true you can't manage what you don't measure?

  What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business?  Continue Reading

• Making the move to cloud work for you

  Getting the best out of a move to the cloud means getting the size right, turning off what you don’t need, smart purchasing and continuously decluttering your new environment  Continue Reading

• As data volumes grow, backup needs analytics, says StorageCraft CEO

  Backup appliance maker’s CEO says backup needs analytics so customers can prioritise restore of critical data in a world where volumes increase by 50% a year  Continue Reading

• Multi-cloud management: Making it work for the enterprise

  As the hype surrounding multi-cloud infrastructure continues to grow, what do enterprises need to do to make the model work for them?  Continue Reading

• HPE's Simplivity purchase keeps hyper-convergence in the spotlight

  Hyper-converged infrastructure is well and truly mainstream. 451 Research finds hyper-converged all set to become the number one platform for core datacentre workloads  Continue Reading

• Getting the balance right now the big data genie is out the bottle

  Big data is a fact of life, but getting the balance right when it comes to privacy is crucial to avoid litigation and fines  Continue Reading

• IT transformation brings storage transformation

  IT departments’ moves away from specialised skills to generalist skillsets are fuelling the rise of easy-to-use hyper-converged infrastructure and all-flash storage systems  Continue Reading

• Enterprise NAS performance challenges and how to resolve them

  NAS storage can be used for mission critical workloads but NFS-based storage comes with performance challenges. Jim Bahn of Virtual Instruments outlines the main ones  Continue Reading

• Infrastructure as code: What does it mean and why does it matter?

  The emergence of software-defined hardware has given rise to the phrase “infrastructure as code” to describe the way these environments are managed  Continue Reading

• Solid state storage in the datacentre: More than a flash in the pan

  As IT organisations transform their datacentres to meet the efficiency and agility demands of the digital enterprise, flash storage is increasingly viewed as a key element  Continue Reading

• Life on the edge: The benefits of using micro datacentres

  Enterprises are demanding faster access to applications and ever more processing power. Could edge datacentres fill the gap?  Continue Reading

• Why the IT dinosaurs should be planning for extinction

  The planned merger of two dinosaurs of the hardware world, Dell and EMC, offers a useful insight into how to manage corporate extinction  Continue Reading

• How changes to EU data protection law could affect UK business

  Prudent businesses are now preparing for the forthcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation  Continue Reading

• Microsoft SharePoint: Why are we still hearing so much about adoption issues?

  The SharePoint business system is too important to be left to IT; the whole business need to embrace it so it's more than just shelfware  Continue Reading

• Is your storage ready for the future?

  Research study looks at the challenge of building a storage infrastructure to meet the rapidly changing needs of business  Continue Reading

• Software-defined storage: a proxy for storage transformation

  Software-defined storage reflects important trends that affect storage, such as increasing separation between hardware and software  Continue Reading

• Server-side flash cache pros outweigh cons for many

  Server-side flash offers sub-millisecond latency that can be targeted at specific apps, which is why it has caught on fast for databases and VDI  Continue Reading

• Forget availability – it’s SAN performance that really matters

  Nicholas Dimotakis of Virtual Instruments argues against wasteful over-provisioning and vendor-specific monitoring tools. Overall SAN performance is key, he says  Continue Reading

• Cloud storage: A threat to entry-level/mid-range storage arrays?

  There are some big obstacles to cloud storage adoption at the moment, but these are likely to diminish over time. Will that spell the end for low- and mid-range array suppliers?  Continue Reading

• Scale-out set to eclipse scale-up for enterprise storage

  Analysing the advantages of scale-out storage and why loosely-coupled grids will make scale-up storage architecture a thing of the past  Continue Reading

• Hybrid flash hot, all-flash not, in 2014 storage M&As

  All-flash arrays are over-ripe for acquisition while hybrid flash makers are still ready for plucking.  Continue Reading

• Hybrid cloud storage: What data goes where?

  Hybrid cloud storage keeps some data on-site while the rest goes to the cloud. But what data should go where in a hybrid cloud setup?  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged products threaten standalone SAN and NAS

  Hyper-converged storage/compute, such as IBM’s modular xSeries, poses a threat to standalone SAN/NAS in the datacentre  Continue Reading

• Flash storage second wave to hit in 2014

  2013 saw flash storage hit the mainstream with suppliers racing to get a toe in the water. But, 2014 will see the second wave, with products competing to add advanced features  Continue Reading

• Big data storage – what went wrong?

  Big data storage seemed a prime opportunity for storage suppliers, but most users run DAS, shunning dedicated systems. Is that set to change?  Continue Reading

• You’ve got flash storage, so why isn’t everything faster?

  To get the most out of flash storage you need storage performance monitoring of the whole stack, from servers to LUNs  Continue Reading

• Cloud storage needs an audit process to stay compliant

  If you use a cloud service, where does your data reside, and do you know if you’re fully compliant with laws and regulations? A cloud compliance audit is what’s required  Continue Reading

• 451 survey finds enterprise flash storage adoption real, and growing

  Flash storage is an established and growing part of enterprise datacentres. A survey from 451 Research shows hybrid flash leads the way over PCIe flash and all-flash adoption  Continue Reading

• IT may not have to worry about mobile device backup

  Analyst Charles Brett offers some advice for IT departments on backing up data from mobile devices, tablets and smartphones,  Continue Reading

• Array-based or vSphere Replication for VMware SRM?

  What’s the best replication method for VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM)? GlassHouse Technologies’ Paul Grimwood runs the rule over array-based replication and vSphere Replication  Continue Reading

• Is it time to move from data protection to information management?

  Data can be the most valuable asset of a business, and most organisations take steps to protect it – but unfortunately with variable success  Continue Reading

• The best storage for VDI environments? RAM, of course

  RAM it in! VDI storage needs IOPS, but what’s the best way to get it? Not HDD or SSD, but RAM and caching software, says GlassHouse Technologies’ Jamie McGinty  Continue Reading

• Nirvanix failure – a blow to the cloud storage model?

  Cloud storage firm Nirvanix has given customers a deadline to retrieve their data. Are the reasons for its failure specific to Nirvanix or a real blow to cloud storage overall?  Continue Reading

• Cloud storage creeps up the enterprise agenda

  Research from 451 Group sees private cloud storage ranked second most common storage project and public cloud in fourth  Continue Reading

• Match disk type to VMs to boost VMware storage performance

  All too often storage is the bottleneck in VMware performance. That can be solved by matching underlying VMware storage to the needs of the application and workload  Continue Reading

• When to use flash SSD instead of SAS or SATA?

  When to use flash SSDs instead of SAS or SATA spinning disk is all down to application requirements, says David Boyle, senior consultant at GlassHouse Technologies (UK)  Continue Reading

• Four key questions in disaster recovery planning

  The answers to four key questions will tell you if your organisation’s disaster recovery planning is up to the job  Continue Reading

• The Death Of Cloud Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

  Revelations about the extent of US and UK government surveillance on the internet will not mean the death of cloud computing, but companies will change their approach.  Continue Reading

• The data fragmentation challenge

  Few organisations have policies to guide where data should and should not be stored. The result: data fragmentation  Continue Reading

• Is it time for object storage to shine?

  Object storage is a great fit for very large, unstructured datasets, and with big data and cloud use cases. So, what is holding up adoption of this promising technology?  Continue Reading

• Storage virtualisation: An old idea being revived?

  When storage virtualisation first emerged, some did their best to ensure it didn’t succeed. Now the EMC appears to be reviving it. What’s going on with ViPR?  Continue Reading

• The challenges of information governance in our increasingly litigious age

  Formulating the right enterprise-wide information governance policies is essential in heading off potential legal and compliance costs  Continue Reading

• Why companies are turning to application virtualisation

  More people are ‘getting’ the idea that you can virtualise selectively  Continue Reading

• How to manage big data and reap the benefits

  IT security group Isaca examines the benefits of managing big data and offers seven tips for staying in control  Continue Reading

• The I/O blender means enterprise flash is here to stay

  451 Group analyst Simon Robinson explains why enterprise flash is worthy of its hype and will consign HDDs to the background  Continue Reading

• Software-defined storage: The reality beneath the hype

  The rise of storage software and APIs on commodity hardware means there is something in the idea of software-defined storage.  Continue Reading

• SMEs open to public cloud – provided it is easy with local sales and support

  It is no surprise that small and medium-sized businesses are the most inclined to adopt and use public cloud to deliver the majority of their IT, but there are significant barriers to overcome  Continue Reading

• 2013: a year of software-defined storage, convergence and cloud

  Simon Robinson of 451 Research says storage optimisation is the watchword of 2013, with software-defined storage, convergence and cloud also key trends  Continue Reading

• Forrester: The impact of cloud on outsourcing contracts

  Although still in its early stages, the transition of outsourcing engagements toward cloud-based models has begun  Continue Reading

• Where does the ICO's new cloud guidance take you?

  It is not possible to follow the ICO's advice on cloud computing and still have a “cloud” solution  Continue Reading

• Storage arrays face two-pronged flash/cloud attack

  The storage array as we know it could soon be a thing of the past, as hot data heads to flash and cold data goes to the cloud, leaving a slimmer array for bulk data on HDDs.  Continue Reading

• How a flash array could have limited RBS damage

  The RBS banking system failure shows that its customer account database should be in a flash array to ensure there’s no major bottleneck in the way of rapid recovery.  Continue Reading

• Has EMC missed out on the hybrid flash array?

  EMC has announced a three-pronged entry into the world of the flash array, but why hasn’t the giant vendor adopted the hybrid flash array pioneered by some innovative startups?  Continue Reading

• Bigger drives mean the RAID rebuild must become a thing of the past

  With 20 TB drives possible by the end of the decade, RAID rebuilds would be unacceptably long. Subdrive and platter-level protection schemes need to be devised to replace them.  Continue Reading

• The storage startups’ war of the flea against big vendors

  Storage startups constantly wage war against the big storage vendors, which face attacks on many different fronts. But it’s all in the game and keeps the storage world turning.  Continue Reading

• Vendor consolidation, with help from cloud, shapes the storage market

  Vendor consolidation is shaping the storage industry, with large storage vendors dominating. Find out how cloud technology is likely to speed this concentration.  Continue Reading

• How big storage vendors can win the server-side flash wars

  With Fusion-io up against EMC’s Project Lightning, it’s becoming clear how the big array vendors can win the server-side flash wars in the battle to speed storage I/O.  Continue Reading

• Recession could spell the triumph of the cloud service provider

  Recessions provide the strongest possible impulse to cut costs. Will this mean the death of the in-house IT department and the triumph of the cloud service provider?  Continue Reading

• Shared storage model faces challenges from virtual servers

  Virtual servers are exerting pressure to change on the storage ecosystem, challenging even the fundamental model of shared storage.  Continue Reading

• TLC flash could relegate spinning disk to the background

  Solid-state drives are currently blocked in their quest for dominance by cost and wear limits, but could TLC flash overcome such challenges and deal a blow to spinning disk?  Continue Reading