Data centre hardware
Data centre strategy is an increasingly important focus for IT managers, as enterprises look to cut costs and improve energy efficiency. We examine key data centre hardware trends such as virtualisation, consolidation and systems management to help identify the products that are right for your needs.
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News
14 Mar 2025
Microsoft, DE-CIX plot MAPS for SaaS enterprise connectivity
Noting that 82% of enterprises underestimate the lagging effect of packet loss on the performance of SaaS applications, global internet exchange operator and IT behemoth partner to optimise cloud connectivity Continue Reading
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News
13 Mar 2025
YouFibre takes 400G connectivity option at Manchester internet exchange
Independent full-fibre broadband provider becomes first ISP to take a 400G port at the London Internet Exchange’s regional interconnection hub in Manchester Continue Reading
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News
11 Mar 2025
Pure aims at AI beyond the enterprise with FlashBlade//Exa
FlashBlade//Exa targets use cases between the enterprise and hyperscalers with a disaggregated architecture and its DFM flash modules to be available separately for the first time Continue Reading
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News
05 Mar 2025
French oceanographers clock up 23 years on Atempo backup software
Oceanogaphic research institute keeps Atempo backup software for near a quarter century with no plans to replace it for protection of critical data helping map the world’s oceans Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Mar 2025
Dell still tops the pile as it deepens enterprise storage offer
The US giant is top dog in revenue and market share as its storage array range – still largely EMC-derived – deepens its cloud, containers and as-a-service options Continue Reading
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News
04 Mar 2025
Jio, AMD, Cisco and Nokia to build telecom AI platform
India’s Jio Platforms, AMD, Cisco and Nokia have teamed up to develop an Open Telecom AI Platform aimed at improving the efficiency and security of telco networks through artificial intelligence and automation Continue Reading
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News
04 Mar 2025
Flash drive prices bump along, as SAS HDDs gain mystery bounce
Flash drive prices drop again, but slowly, as they bump along after highs in late 2023. Meanwhile, spinning disk HDD prices experience a rare flutter, with SAS cost per gigabyte rising 18% Continue Reading
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Podcast
03 Mar 2025
Podcast: S4Capital’s Martin Sorrell on AI and the enterprise
We talk to Sir Martin Sorrell of S4Capital about the use of artificial intelligence in advertising and marketing and how enterprises can take advantage of the productivity it offers Continue Reading
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Feature
26 Feb 2025
VMware vSAN Max: What you need to know
We look at VMware vSAN Max storage: its best use cases, how to deploy it and on what hardware, the alternatives, and considerations in light of VMware’s Broadcom takeover Continue Reading
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Podcast
26 Feb 2025
Podcast: How to ensure data quality for AI
We talk to Cody David of Syniti about how to ensure data quality in datasets for AI, why a ‘data-first’ attitude is key, and the quick wins an organisation can gain in data quality Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Feb 2025
An action plan for net zero compatible with budget constraints
Economic pressures mean we should think innovatively about emissions reduction, industry players tell Computer Weekly Continue Reading
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News
20 Feb 2025
Microsoft overcomes quantum barrier with new particle
It has taken 20 years of development, but researchers now have a device that can scale to millions of qubits without errors rising exponentially Continue Reading
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News
18 Feb 2025
DeepSeek-R1: Budgeting challenges for on-premise deployments
The availability of the DeepSeek-R1 large language model shows it’s possible to deploy artificial intelligence on modest hardware. But that’s only half the story Continue Reading
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News
18 Feb 2025
MSP cuts costs with Scality pay-as-you-go anti-ransomware storage
Autodata gets Scality as-a-service for on-site immutable storage via Artesca, to allow customers to rapidly recover from ransomware and at the same cost per terabyte no matter the volume Continue Reading
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News
11 Feb 2025
AI Action Summit: European AI investment ramps up
A number of private companies and European governments have announced large-scale investments in artificial intelligence during the two-day AI Action Summit in Paris Continue Reading
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News
11 Feb 2025
New componentry extends NetApp ASA and E-series block storage
One-time king of the filers adds anti-ransomware to its more recent block storage families, while also adding in an extra FAS array, all on the back of upgraded components Continue Reading
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News
04 Feb 2025
DE-CIX upgrades New York’s largest internet exchange backbone
DE-CIX upgrades one of the US’s largest internet exchange backbones as staying resilient and offering scale become priorities Continue Reading
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News
30 Jan 2025
First international AI safety report published
A global cohort of nearly 100 artificial intelligence experts publish first international AI safety report ahead of the third AI summit, outlining an array of challenges posed by the technology that will be used to inform upcoming discussions Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Jan 2025
Where IT comes from: Behind the scenes at Pure Storage’s European R&D centre
We look inside Pure Storage’s Prague research and development centre, where multi-year projects parallel real lifecycles of deployed hardware and the complexities that arise over time Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Jan 2025
Where IT comes from: Pure Storage’s lean Czech assembly
We look behind the scenes at Pure Storage’s Czechia assembly plant, where change is baked into processes to ensure products are built right and always improving Continue Reading
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News
28 Jan 2025
Has Pure got the first of its ‘HDD is doomed’ ducks in a row?
Pure Storage predicted the end of spinning disk by 2028. Will its agreements with flash makers Micron and Kioxia, and an unnamed hyperscaler, be the first nails in the coffin for HDD? Continue Reading
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News
28 Jan 2025
Datafy promises to slash massive EBS overprovisioning costs
AWS Elastic Block Storage is often over-provisioned. Datafy virtualises EBS volumes to allow customers to scale capacity up and down, and says it will not charge customers if it doesn’t cut their costs Continue Reading
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Tip
27 Jan 2025
Explore 7 future potential quantum computing uses
Quantum computing development can benefit data centers. Potential quantum computing uses include improving supply chains, financial modeling, and AI and machine learning optimization. Continue Reading
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Feature
27 Jan 2025
VMware backup: Key decision points if you migrate away from VMware
VMware’s pricing changes have spurred some organisations to move to new virtualisation environments, but they’ll need backing up. We look at the key points to consider Continue Reading
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News
17 Jan 2025
Enterprises need to make better choices to reduce GenAI emissions
Capgemini says the high environmental costs of generative artificial intelligence systems mean organisations need to develop roadmaps to make their use more sustainable Continue Reading
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Feature
17 Jan 2025
A guide to DORA compliance
We look at the new EU regulation for cyber resiliency, the role of IT asset management in auditing and third-party risks Continue Reading
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News
16 Jan 2025
Global IT spending to soar in 2025
S&P Global Ratings expects a 9% surge in global IT spending for 2025, fuelled by demand for AI and cloud technologies, despite potential trade headwinds and a slowing global economy Continue Reading
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News
16 Jan 2025
DDN seeks AI leadership as it bags $300m investment
DDN aims to take high-performance computing expertise and become a leader in storage for artificial intelligence. It builds on years in the HPC space, and now has £300m from Blackstone, a fund with an AI focus Continue Reading
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Feature
15 Jan 2025
Backup technology explained: The fundamentals of enterprise backup
We look at backup and its role in enterprise data protection, including what to backup and how often, RPO and RTO, full and incremental, and if backups can be replaced by snapshots Continue Reading
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Opinion
14 Jan 2025
Labour's AI Action Plan - a gift to the far right
Critical computing expert Dan McQuillan argues that, on top of the clear social and environmental harms associated with the technology, Labour's vapid fixation on AI-led growth in lieu of real change will further enable the far right. Instead, he proposes an alternative strategy of 'decomputing'. Continue Reading
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Feature
13 Jan 2025
Third-party storage: Key storage supplier offers in big three clouds
We look at storage supplier offerings available in the big three public clouds, their pros and cons, and key use cases Continue Reading
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News
13 Jan 2025
UK government unveils AI-fuelled industrial strategy
Labour plans to implement the 50 recommendations set out by entrepreneur Matt Clifford to boost the use of AI in the UK Continue Reading
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News
27 Dec 2024
Top 10 ANZ stories of 2024
The 2024 tech landscape in Australia and New Zealand was dotted with developments spanning cloud migrations and AI adoption to heightened data security and real-time data streaming Continue Reading
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Feature
19 Dec 2024
Top 10 AI and storage stories of 2024
In this 2024 review, we look at the impact of AI on data storage, what’s needed to support AI during training and inference, and storage suppliers’ responses to the rise of AI Continue Reading
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News
18 Dec 2024
Top 10 Kubernetes and storage stories of 2024
In this 2024 review, Computer Weekly looks at Kubernetes’ evolution from stateless application runtime to enterprise-ready environment for cloud-native with persistent storage and data protection Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Dec 2024
Google Cloud Platform: Key storage options in the Google Cloud
We survey the key cloud storage offers available from GCP, which include Cloud Storage, Persistent Disk and Filestore, with a range of service levels and app-specific options Continue Reading
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News
11 Dec 2024
IaaS firm uses Pure Storage as a service for ‘virtual datacentres’
Espresso Gridpoint moved from largely NetApp to Pure Storage FlashBlade file and object for its ‘virtual datacentres’ business model that offers VMware, Hyper-V and ProxMox VMs Continue Reading
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Podcast
06 Dec 2024
Podcast: Storage and AI training, inference, and agentic AI
We talk to Hitachi Vantara CTO for AI Jason Hardy about training, inference and agentic AI, and how competing workloads bring context switching that storage for AI has to handle Continue Reading
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Feature
03 Dec 2024
AIOps and storage management: What it is and who provides it
We look at AI-powered tools to manage storage and data protection that can help to detect infrastructure issues and help to optimise performance and even cloud costs Continue Reading
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News
03 Dec 2024
VMware ‘shock’ spawned lock-in rebellion, says NetApp
NetApp makes predictions for 2025 that include lower tolerance for lock-in due to VMware changes, a shift to DRaaS, AI disillusionment and big spending on energy infrastructure Continue Reading
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News
01 Dec 2024
How SkyLab is democratising hybrid cloud management
SkyLab is challenging the cloud status quo with its orchestration platform, which allows telcos and enterprises to seamlessly manage workloads across multiple cloud providers Continue Reading
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Podcast
29 Nov 2024
Podcast: Areal density, AI design and the 50TB hard drive
We talk to Seagate about hard disk drives, the use of artificial intelligence to design them with higher areal density, more terabytes per platter, and capacities up to 50TB, especially with HAMR recording Continue Reading
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News
29 Nov 2024
Atos readies ‘adaptive and intimate’ Invictus Games IT service
IT services company will ship 50 of its staff from Europe to Canada to work onsite at the tournament in February 2025 Continue Reading
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Feature
29 Nov 2024
Cloud data lakes: Where do they fit and what are their benefits?
We look at cloud data lakes, what they are, where they fit in the data management lifecycle, their benefits and the key providers in the hyperscaler clouds Continue Reading
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News
25 Nov 2024
Gambling cloud provider bets on Nutanix and cools on VMware
Continent 8 consolidates infrastructure for cloud services and backs Nutanix as it gains influence over product roadmap and cools on VMware amid customer dissatisfaction over licence changes Continue Reading
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Feature
19 Nov 2024
Storage technology explained: Ransomware and storage and backup
We look at ransomware attacks, and the importance of good backup practice as well as immutable snapshots, air-gapping, network segmentation, AI anomaly detection and supplier warranties Continue Reading
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Feature
17 Nov 2024
Storage technology explained: Flash vs HDD
In this guide, we examine the differences between flash storage and HDD, the rise of NVMe and much denser formats such as QLC, and whether or not flash will vanquish HDD in the all-flash datacentre Continue Reading
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News
15 Nov 2024
CBRE: Spare datacentre capacity levels to hit all-time low across Europe by end of 2024
Real estate consultancy CBRE has lifted the lid on how growing demand for datacentre capacity, coupled with shortages of land and power in Europe, are having a downbeat impact on vacancy rates Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Nov 2024
Storage technology explained: What is S3 and what is it good for?
We look at S3, AWS’s object storage protocol that originated in its cloud services and has now spread as near enough a standard and to third-party on-premise deployments Continue Reading
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News
13 Nov 2024
European eArchiving project aims at eternal archive with smart metadata
The European Commission’s eArchiving project has got to version 2.0 and aims at open formats and sector-specific metadata to allow organisations to exploit data for decades to come Continue Reading
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News
13 Nov 2024
Server manufacturers ramp-up edge AI efforts
There has been a spate of developments in the server space, as manufacturers focus on supporting inference workloads at the edge Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Nov 2024
AWS storage: Key storage options in the Amazon cloud
We survey the key cloud storage options available from AWS, which include S3 object storage and its options, block storage in EBS and a range of file storage choices Continue Reading
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News
11 Nov 2024
NetApp boosts AFF, StorageGrid and E-series hardware with 60TB drives
Bigger drives, new CPUs and controller hardware add to upgrades to NetApp arrays that started in September, while the supplier undergoes transition to data management as a key focus Continue Reading
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Feature
08 Nov 2024
Storage explained: Consumption models of storage procurement
We look at consumption models of storage purchasing and how cloud operating models have made them mainstream and supplanted the traditional three-year lift-and-shift datacentre refresh Continue Reading
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News
05 Nov 2024
Nakivo aims at VMware refugees tempted by Proxmox
Version 11 of Nakivo has added Microsoft 365 cloud-to-cloud backups, support for Proxmox virtualisation backups – following Veeam – and NAS file data backups to cloud targets Continue Reading
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News
04 Nov 2024
How AI is impacting global connectivity
Jürgen Hatheier, international CTO of Ciena, discusses the role of connectivity in the age of artificial intelligence and how the company is helping service providers navigate this transformative period Continue Reading
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Feature
30 Oct 2024
Data classification: What, why and who provides it
You need to know where your data is, what it is, its governance requirements and relationship to the rest of your data. We look at data classification and how AI can help Continue Reading
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News
30 Oct 2024
Scality Ring XP to offer object storage at scale with rapid access
Lightweight S3 API trades storage features for microsecond access. Scality pairs it with all-NVMe flash in Ring XP, aimed at AI use cases for small object data in PB-scale datasets Continue Reading
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News
28 Oct 2024
Western Digital boosts HDD capacity with 32TB shingled drives
An 11th platter gives extra capacity, while shingled (overlapped) writes – best suited to sequential recording use cases – allow for greater density and big gains in thoughput Continue Reading
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News
24 Oct 2024
Nvidia deepens investment in India’s AI ecosystem
Nvidia is expanding its presence in India through new partnerships focused on building AI infrastructure, developing Indian language models and training AI professionals Continue Reading
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News
23 Oct 2024
Interview: Why Java is the future of cloud applications
The CEO of Azul speaks to Computer Weekly about Java’s performance and its ability to run on different server chips in the datacentre Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Oct 2024
Detect ransomware in storage to act before it spreads
Anomaly detection and immutable copies can be frontline tools against ransomware – we look at the role storage can play against the latest techniques employed by ransomware gangs Continue Reading
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News
21 Oct 2024
Synology takes aim at enterprise customers and flash storage
Best known as an SME and consumer brand, Synology claims multiple enterprise customers especially in backup and storage of infrequently accessed data, but has plans for flash, too Continue Reading
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Feature
17 Oct 2024
What are tensor processing units and what is their role in AI?
We look at Google’s TPUs – tensor processing units – and ask what makes them different to CPUs, GPUs and DPUs, as well as how you can take advantage of them in AI processing Continue Reading
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News
16 Oct 2024
Half of business IT deemed outdated
Combining survey data with its own monitoring service, Kyndryl has estimated that half of the world’s most critical infrastructure is not resilient Continue Reading
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News
15 Oct 2024
Google launches Parallelstore file storage at cloud AI training
Originally driven by Intel’s now-defunct Optane storage class memory, Parallelstore offers massive parallel file storage targeted at artificial intelligence training use cases on Google Cloud Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Oct 2024
Global file systems: A single view of on-premise and cloud data
Global file systems aggregate data into a single hybrid cloud from multiple locations using object storage with access that satisfies traditional application needs, like file locking Continue Reading
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News
08 Oct 2024
Foxconn and Nvidia to build Taiwan’s fastest supercomputer
The supercomputer, powered by Nvidia’s Blackwell architecture, will drive breakthroughs in cancer research, large language models and smart city initiatives Continue Reading
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News
30 Sep 2024
Google invests $1bn in Thailand’s cloud future
The five-year investment will bolster Thailand’s digital economy, create more than 10,000 jobs each year and support the country’s cloud-first policy Continue Reading
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News
26 Sep 2024
Semiconductor market scaleups to benefit from multimillion-pound investment from Innovate UK
National innovation agency Innovate UK is offering 16 semiconductor scaleups access to millions of pounds of funding to support their continued growth Continue Reading
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News
25 Sep 2024
NetApp E-series: Not part of the big message, but here to stay, says CEO
We asked NetApp about its high-performance computing-focused E-series block storage arrays and found inconsistent messaging but ultimately a commitment from CEO George Kurian to retain it Continue Reading
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News
25 Sep 2024
Post Office IT procurement mess saw £35m spent on air conditioner, says board member
Post Office IT procurement mistakes have wasted millions of pounds of taxpayers money, non-executive board member tells public inquiry Continue Reading
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News
24 Sep 2024
Pure punts raft of unifying features in FlashBlade file and object
Features are aimed at Pure’s file and object architecture with functionality based on software that aids management at system level Continue Reading
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News
24 Sep 2024
NetApp maintains push to data management for AI
From data storage to intelligent data infrastructure – that’s the plan from NetApp, which has announced data curation for artificial intelligence as well as additions to its ASA and FAS storage arrays Continue Reading
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23 Sep 2024
Driving IT sustainability in datacentres
Europe’s datacentre operators need to get their power report cards to comply with the European Commission’s drive to greener EU datacentres Continue Reading
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E-Zine
23 Sep 2024
Powering Britain’s economy – datacentres gain in status
In this week’s Computer Weekly, the UK government has finally classified datacentres as critical national infrastructure – we ask, what took it so long? We assess the impact of the EU’s new energy efficiency rules on datacentre operators. And we discuss the power of information and diversity with the chief data officer at Legal & General. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Sep 2024
Driving IT sustainability in datacentres
Europe’s datacentre operators need to get their power report cards to comply with the European Commission’s drive to greener EU datacentres Continue Reading
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News
17 Sep 2024
Toshiba follows the pack with launch of 24TB and 28TB HDDs
Several months behind Seagate and Western Digital, Toshiba achieves the maximum possible in commercial HDDs and benefits from a speed boost over its rivals Continue Reading
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News
13 Sep 2024
Municipal makeover: Indian cities embrace cutting-edge tech
From AI-powered stray dog management to blockchain-secured building permission certificates, municipal corporations across India are ditching outdated processes for digital tools Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Sep 2024
Kubernetes disaster recovery: Five key questions
We look at disaster recovery for Kubernetes environments, the key challenges to deployment of K8s DR, the risks we aim to mitigate, how to build a plan and the key infrastructure requirements Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Sep 2024
Storage technology explained: Vector databases at the core of AI
We look at the use of vector data in AI and how vector databases work, plus vector embedding, the challenges for storage of vector data and the key suppliers of vector database products Continue Reading
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Feature
04 Sep 2024
Cloud repatriation: How to do it successfully
The keys to reverse migration success include workload selection, how to prepare your on-premise infrastructure and future-proofing the decision to come back in-house Continue Reading
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Feature
03 Sep 2024
Key-value flash targets more efficient data storage
We look at key-value storage, which promises much greater I/O efficiency and longer flash drive lifespans, but may be constrained by limited use cases and lukewarm productisation efforts Continue Reading
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News
03 Sep 2024
Flash prices drop as drive production increases but demand lags
Flash prices were high in the early part of this year as a result of manufacturer production squeezes but have since dropped because demand has been slack, with flash now costing just under 10 cents per gigabyte Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Sep 2024
Storage technology explained: Kubernetes, containers and persistent storage
In this guide, we look at the market-leading container platform Kubernetes, how it works, the challenges with persistent storage and backup, and how they have been overcome Continue Reading
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Definition
29 Aug 2024
What is a transistor?
A transistor is a miniature semiconductor that regulates or controls current or voltage flow in addition to amplifying and generating these electrical signals and acting as a switch/gate for them. Continue Reading
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News
28 Aug 2024
Cambridge Enterprise saves big with Keepit SaaS backup
University innovation body avoids hardware spend and saves management time as it switches from tape to cloud-to-cloud backup, instant recovery and decades-long retention from Keepit Continue Reading
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News
27 Aug 2024
AI innovation key to UK business, but obstacles threaten progress
AI is seen by IT leaders as essential, but it requires innovation, skills and infrastructure – all of which are under pressure from day-to-day firefighting, energy costs and cyber threats Continue Reading
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News
21 Aug 2024
QiStor flashes key-value storage software for hardware acceleration
US-based startup will develop storage software allied with FPGA chips to allow data storage to bypass spinning disk era block addressing to speed performance and cut energy use Continue Reading
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Podcast
21 Aug 2024
Podcast: Ransomware and what data storage can do about it
We talk to NetApp’s Chris McKean about ransomware attacks and the role of data storage in protecting against them Continue Reading
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News
15 Aug 2024
ASEAN organisations lack mature AI strategy
IBM-commissioned study reveals that while ASEAN organisations are engaging with AI, only 4% have reached a transformative level of AI maturity Continue Reading
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Definition
13 Aug 2024
What is hardware as a service (HaaS)?
Hardware as a service (HaaS) is a procurement model that's similar to leasing or licensing. Hardware that belongs to a managed service provider (MSP) is installed at a customer's site and a service level agreement (SLA) defines the responsibilities of both parties. Continue Reading
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Podcast
13 Aug 2024
Podcast: Storage functionality in Kubernetes 1.31
We talk to Sergey Pronin of Percona about new storage functionality in Kubernetes 1.31, including volume attribute class and changes to persistent volumes, as well as other long-term fixes Continue Reading
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News
13 Aug 2024
Oracle Exadata Exascale: Big architecture shift for small workloads
Exascale is multitenant architecture for Oracle Database that promises performance equal to dedicated infrastructure and savings compared with existing products, with AI workloads in mind Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Aug 2024
AI interview: Thomas Dekeyser, researcher and film director
On the politics of ‘techno-refusal’, and the lessons that can be learned from a clandestine group of French IT workers who spent the early 1980s sabotaging technological infrastructure Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Aug 2024
Deep dive into quantum-resistant cryptography for email security
Quantum computers have the potential to crack many of the encryption methods we currently rely on to keep our digital communications safe. Quantum-resistant cryptography may be the answer Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Aug 2024
Kubernetes and storage in the enterprise: What the analysts say
We talk to analysts about Kubernetes adoption in the enterprise, how mature it is, deployment challenges and key obstacles to enterprises that want to go cloud-native with containers Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Aug 2024
Kubernetes at 10: CRDs at core of extensible, modular storage in K8s
We talk to VMware engineer Xing Yang, who saw Kubernetes storage evolve from the early days where its modular, extensible origins translated to Operators for storage and backup Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Jul 2024
Kubernetes at 10: The long road to mastery of persistent storage
Jan Safranek of Red Hat saw containers emerge as an exciting new way of deploying applications, but it took several additions to make it the mature enterprise platform it is today Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Jul 2024
Hybrid multicloud storage: Pros, cons and key workloads
We look at hybrid multicloud storage, making the best of on-premise and multiple cloud application locations, its key benefits, some pitfalls and the technologies to build it with Continue Reading
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Podcast
23 Jul 2024
Podcast: Sustainable data storage and how to achieve it
We talk to NetApp’s Grant Caley about data storage energy needs and how they can be reduced by use of QLC flash, efficient datacentre hardware and putting data on the right media Continue Reading
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News
22 Jul 2024
CrowdStrike chaos shows risks of concentrated ‘big IT’
The concentration of so much mission-critical technology in the hands of a few large suppliers makes incidents like the Microsoft-CrowdStrike outage all the more dangerous Continue Reading