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.
-
Feature
28 May 2025
AI and compliance: What are the risks?
We look at the areas of risk in artificial intelligence. Potential exposures abound, and include security and privacy issues, bias, accuracy and complete fabrication of results Continue Reading
-
Feature
23 May 2025
AI storage: NAS vs SAN vs object for training and inference
Artificial intelligence operations can place different demands on storage during training, inference, and so on. We look at NAS, SAN and object storage for AI and how to balance them for AI projects Continue Reading
-
News
05 Mar 2024
Keepit brings backup and restore to unprotected SaaS applications
SaaS backup specialist keeps data in its own cloud datacentres, protects cloud data across numerous platforms and aims to give customers the ability to rapidly add data sources Continue Reading
-
News
05 Mar 2024
Own targets SaaS backup and offers analytics insight
Targeting a growing market – SaaS applications that lack backup – Own offers backup, fine-grained restores and analytics on data stores that can bring business insight Continue Reading
-
Feature
01 Mar 2024
Pseudo-SLC flash storage: What is it, what’s it good for and what does it cost?
Pseudo-SLC takes MLC, TLC flash and changes data storage at cell level to get better endurance and performance, but it’s mostly aimed at edge applications and is costly Continue Reading
-
News
27 Feb 2024
Hycu uses AI to develop APIs for SaaS application backup
SaaS applications don’t usually come with built-in data protection, but Hycu plans to tackle that gap in the market with AI to generate the connectors needed to backup user data Continue Reading
-
News
26 Feb 2024
Storage and backup spend in 2024 targets risk and resilience
The TechTarget and ESG spending intentions survey finds big bias towards averting risk and building organisational resilience, but on-premise storage a significant planned outlay Continue Reading
-
News
22 Feb 2024
Nvidia CEO sees shift in datacentres to ‘AI generation factories’
Jensen Huang used the company’s fourth-quarter earnings to discuss the massive growth in accelerated datacentre computing experienced by Nvidia Continue Reading
-
News
21 Feb 2024
NasuniIQ brings visualisation of massive unstructured datasets
Global file system provider adds visualisation of massive distributed unstructured datasets to allow customers to analyse data usage and prepare clean training data for artificial intelligence Continue Reading
-
News
19 Feb 2024
Music agency halves space and energy costs with switch to Pure
SUISA handles billions of royalty payments, but had capacity and storage admin nightmares with its EMC hardware. It cued up Pure Storage for simple admin, space and cost savings Continue Reading
-
Podcast
14 Feb 2024
Podcast: What is the impact of AI on storage and compliance?
Start now looking at artificial intelligence compliance. That’s the advice of Mathieu Gorge of Vigitrust, who says AI governance is still immature but firms should recognise the limits and still act Continue Reading
-
Podcast
13 Feb 2024
Podcast: What are snapshots? Can they replace backup?
We talk to Shawn Meyers, field CTO at Tintri, who defines snapshots, why they are no substitute for backups, and the effect on recovery of snapshot granularity Continue Reading
-
News
13 Feb 2024
What will result from Cohesity’s Veritas acquisition?
The $7bn backup giant will leverage huge assets in enterprise customer base, compliance and governance intelligence, AI, R&D, and Kubernetes backup and storage Continue Reading
-
Feature
05 Feb 2024
Sea-Lion explained: Southeast Asia’s first large language model
The Sea-Lion large language model was built to cater to the language and cultural diversity of Southeast Asia, which is currently underserved by existing models that mostly originate from the West Continue Reading
-
News
31 Jan 2024
Singtel ropes in industry partners in datacentre push
Singtel inks partnerships with Nvidia, Gulf Energy, Medco and others in its efforts to grow its datacentre business and support AI adoption in Singapore and Southeast Asia Continue Reading
-
News
31 Jan 2024
Seagate uses HAMR to hit 30TB in Exos hard drives
HDD giant Seagate unveils 30TB Exos drives with higher areal density, aimed at hyperscaler customers, with products at 50TB promised for 2028 in its roadmap Continue Reading
-
News
30 Jan 2024
Quantum computing in 2024: What are the challenges?
Research shows that while there has been a big reduction in quantum computing investment, governments have been ploughing in funding Continue Reading
-
News
30 Jan 2024
We need backup! Pennsylvania police data loss shows why
Police evidence systems data was lost during ‘routine maintenance’, with human error blamed – the case clearly illustrates why data protection can’t be left to chance Continue Reading
-
News
30 Jan 2024
Inside India’s supercomputing journey
India is looking to shore up its supercomputing capabilities, but more needs to be done to realise its ambition of becoming a world leader in the field Continue Reading
-
Feature
29 Jan 2024
French TV giant sticks with Dell NAS for channel upgrade
TF1 has the biggest market share in French TV, but plans for more. It has upgraded from Isilon to PowerScale scale-out NAS and saved 42% in energy costs, halving rackspace use Continue Reading
-
Feature
25 Jan 2024
Cloud is not always the answer: Five reasons why
We look at why the cloud is not always the best choice, including for reasons of cost, application suitability, management, data protection and the needs of the business Continue Reading
-
News
24 Jan 2024
Cardiff University expands HPC cluster with Lenovo
Expansion of university’s Hawk high-performance computing cluster promises to double the performance of some applications Continue Reading
-
Podcast
23 Jan 2024
Podcast: Storage and compliance outlook for 2024
Interesting times ahead in 2024 as we talk to Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust, about updates to EU regs, PCI, NIST, post-Brexit divergence and 60 national elections across the globe Continue Reading
-
News
23 Jan 2024
NVM Express boosts computational storage standards
New command sets allow for computational storage with NVMe flash and includes frameworks to allow local memory usage in processing workloads on storage hardware Continue Reading
-
Feature
18 Jan 2024
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
-
Feature
17 Jan 2024
Cloud-to-cloud backup: What it is and why you (probably) need it
Basic cloud data protection is just not enough. Several loopholes leave business data vulnerable and that means additional cloud-to-cloud backup should be seriously considered Continue Reading
-
Blog Post
17 Jan 2024
Tape is back on the main menu
The news that another of the big players in global file systems, Hammerspace, has integrated tape access into its data orchestration software should remind us all that tape’s modern incarnations ... Continue Reading
-
News
16 Jan 2024
AMD bets on India, doubles down on AI
The chipmaker recently inaugurated its largest global design facility in Bangalore as part of a $400m investment in India to support its expanded portfolio and build artificial intelligence capabilities Continue Reading
-
News
11 Jan 2024
QLC made gains but storage innovation focus was on software in 2023
Storage hardware innovation has taken a back seat – QLC flash excepted – as the big storage suppliers build around software-based variants and optimisation on modular product sets Continue Reading
-
News
21 Dec 2023
Top 10 storage stories of 2023
In this 2023 review, we consider if flash will thrash disk, what the Toyota outage shows about capacity planning, how to achieve green storage, the backup and compliance risks of AI, the lowdown on DPUs, and more Continue Reading
-
News
21 Dec 2023
Top 10 storage supplier strategy stories of 2023
In 2023, we looked at the top storage suppliers, their market share and how they set themselves for a future of hybrid cloud, containerisation and consumption models of purchasing Continue Reading
-
Feature
21 Dec 2023
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
-
Feature
19 Dec 2023
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
-
Feature
18 Dec 2023
Pure Storage: Flash ‘startup’ that brings late entrant advantage
Storage profile: We look at Pure Storage, the youngest of the array makers, which comes to market with well-developed flash, hybrid cloud and consumption purchasing models Continue Reading
-
News
11 Dec 2023
Panasas set for Mach.2 throughput with multi-actuator HDDs
Scale-out NAS maker claims to be the first enterprise array maker to use multi-actuator HDDs designed for hyperscaler architectures and which double throughput Continue Reading
-
News
08 Dec 2023
AMD goes after Nvidia with AI accelerator and software library
AMD has signed up major hardware companies to support its latest initiative to build out datacentre AI optimisation Continue Reading
-
Feature
05 Dec 2023
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
-
Feature
30 Nov 2023
The all-flash datacentre: Mirage or imminent reality?
Some say disk is dead and we’re on the cusp of the all-flash datacentre. But when will flash capacity and cost hit a point where it is suited to more than just high-tier storage? Continue Reading
-
E-Zine
28 Nov 2023
Datacentres or green belt? Why the UK has to choose
In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine the minefield around datacentre planning permission across the UK, after government blocked a major development next to the M25 motorway. The metaverse is making inroads into the indus-trial world – is this the real future for the technology? And we analyse the trends changing the application software market. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
-
News
22 Nov 2023
Nebulon upgrades SPU to Medusa2 with Nvidia DPU hardware
Nebulon aims to replace HCI with its OS on an offload card that it claims reduces server resource use by 25%. Medusa2 uses Nvidia DPU hardware and its own cloud control plane Continue Reading
-
News
20 Nov 2023
Cubbit DS3 Composer brings DIY cloud to object storage pool
Cubbit customers can now build and configure S3-compatible clouds from unused capacity and offer MSP-grade services with high levels of resilience, security and data sovereignty Continue Reading
-
News
20 Nov 2023
IT not ready for AI, Pure Storage survey finds
Storage, compute and networking hardware won’t cope without upgrades, and that often means total IT infrastructure overhaul Continue Reading
-
Feature
15 Nov 2023
DPU 101: What are DPUs, what do they do, and who supplies them?
We look at data processing units, the latest in a line of hardware offload devices that emerged in the era of composable infrastructure. They come as hardware and even in the cloud Continue Reading
-
News
14 Nov 2023
Engineers slash RPO/RTO as they swap tape for Rubrik backup
Frankham Group ditches archaic tape backup and deploys Rubrik backup appliances and remote disaster recovery facility. Meanwhile, the engineering group assesses a move to the cloud Continue Reading
-
News
14 Nov 2023
4Tbps milestone as TikTok joins NAPAfrica
African internet exchange celebrates new high in network throughput as it welcomes into African peering community social network giant that is increasingly engaging with the world of enterprise and marketing Continue Reading
-
Definition
13 Nov 2023
x86-64
x86-64 (also called x86_64, x64, or amd64) is the 64-bit CPU architecture that is used in Intel and AMD processors. It is an extension to the 32-bit x86 (i386) architecture. Continue Reading
-
News
07 Nov 2023
VMware consolidates AI push at Explore in Barcelona
VMware’s vision is of ‘cloud smart’ enterprises that run on-premise, in multiclouds and in the ‘edge cloud’, with secure and compliant generative AI fuelling efficient business processes Continue Reading
-
News
26 Oct 2023
Google saves almost $3bn by running servers for six years
Extending the life of its datacentre servers and network equipment has led to significant savings over the past nine months for Google Continue Reading
-
News
24 Oct 2023
NetApp ‘unified storage’ adds new ASA block storage at Insight
Las Vegas event sees NetApp continue its evolution to hybrid cloud and data management player announce ASA C-series and Keystone and Kubernetes storage enhancements Continue Reading
-
News
23 Oct 2023
Dell updates PowerStore, PowerMax and PowerFlex storage
Dell storage upgrades include improved AIOps, lower energy usage, real-time HA failover, seamless hardware replacement, and enhancements to take advantage of DPU acceleration Continue Reading
-
News
20 Oct 2023
Belgian researchers raise speed limit in European datacentres
Researchers have developed a prototype of an optical receiver that will help datacentres process data at a much higher rate Continue Reading
-
Feature
20 Oct 2023
Five key questions about disaster recovery as a service
Disaster recovery as a service builds recovery data and systems into the cloud, accessible from anywhere. We look at the difference vs cloud backup, DRaaS use cases, the cost, and the firms that provide it Continue Reading
-
Feature
20 Oct 2023
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
-
News
19 Oct 2023
How AWS is building a tech stack for generative AI
Olivier Klein, chief technologist for Asia-Pacific and Japan at Amazon Web Services, dives deeper into the technology stack the company has built to ease GenAI adoption Continue Reading
-
News
19 Oct 2023
Scality gets a jump with VMware Cloud Director integration
S3-compliant object storage specialist will use new OSIS integration with VMware’s cloud management tool to target service providers that want to deliver regional cloud offers Continue Reading
-
News
16 Oct 2023
Flash prices drop towards spinning disk levels in 2023
Number-crunching data on 17,000-plus drive prices shows cost of flash drives per gigabyte fell by around 10% in past six months while hard disk drive per-gigabyte prices stood still Continue Reading
-
Feature
04 Oct 2023
Will computational storage meet data processing demands?
Computational storage promises performance for workloads that can benefit from dedicated oomph, but it’s not a cure-all. It may come at a cost, and with added application complexity Continue Reading
-
Feature
04 Oct 2023
Ransomware: All the ways you can protect storage and backup
We survey the key methods of ransomware protection, including immutable snapshots, anomaly detection, air-gapping, anomaly detection, and supplier monetary guarantees Continue Reading
-
News
02 Oct 2023
Versity targets Exabyte volumes in data archiving
Versity builds archiving for Exabyte data volumes on tape and in object storage. It has built its own S3 and transitioned to a GPL licence for supercomputing archives Continue Reading
-
Feature
28 Sep 2023
Cloud NAS, what is it good for?
We look at NAS file access storage, how it works, what it’s good for and the possibilities to access storage for files and unstructured data in the public cloud Continue Reading
-
Feature
26 Sep 2023
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
-
News
26 Sep 2023
Kubernetes storage: It’s object or nothing for MinIO
SAN and NAS are finished in the age of the cloud when it comes to cloud-native Kubernetes storage, according to container-focused object storage maker MinIO Continue Reading
-
Feature
20 Sep 2023
Toyota car plant outage shows database capacity planning is vital
How could database deletes and re-organisation take out car production for 36 hours at 14 plants? We drill down into the details of database capacity planning Continue Reading
-
News
20 Sep 2023
How Google is priming its infrastructure for the AI wave
The technology giant is integrating purpose-built hardware with an optimised software stack to meet the heightened computational demands of next-generation AI workloads Continue Reading
-
Podcast
12 Sep 2023
Podcast: ‘Data first’ a key principle of digital transformation
Chris Gorton of Syniti says organisations should put data first during digital transformation projects, and that means getting data quality, access rights and governance right Continue Reading
-
News
11 Sep 2023
Huawei launches OceanStor Pacific 9920 entry-level NAS
Huawei adds to its OceanStor Pacific NAS family, offering entry-level 9920 with up to 92TB per node which can be combined into clusters and also used as a SAN device Continue Reading
-
Feature
08 Sep 2023
SME disaster recovery: Five key points to consider
We look at key DR considerations for SMEs, including RPOs, RTOs, infrastructure needed for effective continuity and the right combination of cloud and in-house provision Continue Reading
-
Feature
07 Sep 2023
CXL in the datacentre: Boosting memory for hungry workloads
We look at CXL, how it revolutionises connectivity between memory components, potentially saves energy, and adds oomph to heavily memory-dependent workloads such as AI analytics Continue Reading
-
News
07 Sep 2023
Mainframe remains a positive force among IT leaders
BMC’s annual survey of mainframe users finds there is continued demand, but some are concerned over DevOps tooling Continue Reading
-
Feature
05 Sep 2023
HPE storage comes with full IT stack, hybrid cloud and as a service
Storage profile: We look at HPE, its Alletra storage refresh, and Greenlake and the ways the company is re-branding as a full-stack provider across on-prem and hybrid cloud Continue Reading
-
News
05 Sep 2023
Ryder Cup testbed to feature tech firsts in Rome
This year’s Ryder Cup will test out technology to improve how fans digitally consume the event while reducing the workload on IT teams Continue Reading
-
News
05 Sep 2023
VMware builds vSAN Max, consolidates multicloud and online deployment
VMware launches new iteration of vSAN Max with up to 8.6PB of independently scalable storage, NSX gets a “+” as it unifies networks and Ransomware Recovery ups efficiency Continue Reading
-
Definition
31 Aug 2023
I/O (input/output)
I/O (input/output), pronounced "eye-oh," describes any operation, program or device that transfers data to or from a computer. Continue Reading
-
News
24 Aug 2023
Accelerated datacentre computing propels record Nvidia revenue
GPU company Nvidia has seen record growth, driven by demand for AI acceleration in datacentres Continue Reading
-
News
21 Aug 2023
Simplyblock targets ‘complex’ Ceph with software-defined NVMe
German startup Simplyblock aims to deliver low-cost high-performance flash and NVMe-over-TCP storage for service provider customers, and has Ceph deployments in its sights Continue Reading
-
News
16 Aug 2023
ITAM influence on cyber risk becoming a factor in credit ratings
Credit agency S&P Global Ratings warns that organisations that pay inadequate attention to IT asset management as a factor in their cyber risk management processes may find their creditworthiness takes a dive Continue Reading
-
News
15 Aug 2023
Nutanix GPT-in-a-Box aims hyper-converged at AI/ML use cases
Nutanix targets a pre-configured bundle of AI/ML and GPT software with hyper-converged infrastructure and GPT to help organisations safely take advantage of learning networks Continue Reading
-
Feature
09 Aug 2023
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
-
Podcast
08 Aug 2023
Podcast: File synchronisation benefits and use cases
If you’ve got the bandwidth and you need to share files or even synchronise virtual desktops, file synchronisation is worth a look. That’s the view of Peer Software CEO Jimmy Tan Continue Reading
-
Podcast
08 Aug 2023
Podcast: HDDs have a long life ahead in certain workloads
Spinning disk hard drives are far from dead, and with data volumes set to explode, there are use cases that suit them well. That’s the view of Rainer Kaese of Toshiba in this podcast Continue Reading
-
News
07 Aug 2023
HPE’s Alletra MP marries storage to cloud and software-defined choices
HPE’s Alletra was launched in April with an architecture that ties in with GreenLake consumption purchasing, SaaS configuration and addition of software-defined storage services Continue Reading
-
News
02 Aug 2023
Cubbit offers cut-price cloud with DS3 distributed storage
Cubbit’s DS3 offers cloud at up to 20% the cost of the main providers via on-premise software that builds a cloud with other users and targets unstructured data use cases such as backup Continue Reading
-
News
01 Aug 2023
Vast Data Platform aims at storage everywhere for AI/ML workloads
Vast Data to offer storage with data lake and warehouse functionality built in natively, in anticipation of a huge surge in AI/ML workloads and a need for ever-larger data stores Continue Reading
-
News
24 Jul 2023
CunoFS brings Posix file access to S3 object storage capacity
Developed out of data compression tools for genomics, PetaGene gateways allow application servers Posix-based file access to the deep data stores of S3 object capacity Continue Reading
-
Podcast
24 Jul 2023
Podcast: Sizing data storage for AI/ML workloads
Artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads come with I/O profiles of different shapes and sizes. We talk to Curtis Anderson of Panasas about how best to procure and size storage for them Continue Reading
-
Feature
24 Jul 2023
Generative AI: Automating storage and backup management
We look at how generative artificial intelligence is being deployed to automate monitoring of repetitive tasks and report on enterprise storage and backup, but also the limits to its implementation Continue Reading
-
News
19 Jul 2023
CMA gives Broadcom/VMware deal provisional thumbs-up
The $61bn acquisition of VMware by Broadcom is not being seen as anti-competive and should not stifle firm’s ability to innovate Continue Reading
-
News
19 Jul 2023
Cloud service providers, OEMs, chip firms form Ultra Ethernet Consortium
Consortium formed to deliver on Ethernet-based open, interoperable, high-performance, full-communications stack architecture to meet the growing network demands of AI and high-performance computing at scale Continue Reading
-
News
19 Jul 2023
IT firms ramp up prices to drive post-pandemic revenue
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development puts inflation at 6.5%. Some areas of IT spending have experienced double-digit growth Continue Reading
-
Feature
29 Jun 2023
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
-
Feature
28 Jun 2023
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
-
News
27 Jun 2023
Johnson Controls opts for container-based app delivery with Portworx
Buildings management giant built a suite of customer-facing products using containers and opted for Pure Storage Portworx for hybrid cloud container management and data protection Continue Reading
-
Feature
23 Jun 2023
Generative AI: Data privacy, backup and compliance
We look at generative AI and the risks it poses to data privacy for the enterprise, implications for backup, and potentially dangerous impacts on compliance Continue Reading
-
Podcast
21 Jun 2023
Podcast: Cloud security, compliance and data classification
The rise of cloud has led to a proliferation of enterprise data and a rise in risk. We talk to Vigitrust CEO Mathieu Gorge about how to ensure compliance in a multicloud world Continue Reading
-
News
19 Jun 2023
Nakivo adds ransomware scanning and new restore options
Backup maker adds malware scanning with big names in security to immutable backup copy functionality. “Tape’s not dead” either, with restore from the venerable medium now possible Continue Reading
-
Feature
16 Jun 2023
Pure Storage: HDDs dead by 2028 and our flash will replace it
Pure Storage says spinning disk is doomed, and only it can provide a replacement. We look at the rationale behind its bold message, and the possible impacts of such a scenario Continue Reading
-
News
16 Jun 2023
Lenovo ups ante on AI infrastructure investments
Lenovo is investing $1bn over three years to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure offerings, including services to help organisations deploy and tap AI capabilities in a responsible manner Continue Reading
-
Podcast
14 Jun 2023
Podcast: Containers, Kubernetes, data protection and compliance
Containers offer benefits to application deployment, but they proliferate, so tracking them for compliance purposes can be a challenge. We talk to Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust Continue Reading
-
News
14 Jun 2023
Pure adds FlashArray//E for QLC capacity option in performance arrays
Flash storage specialist allows customers lower entry point to less costly quad-level cell flash in file and block access FlashArray//E as part of move towards all-flash in the datacentre Continue Reading
-
Podcast
08 Jun 2023
Podcast: Storage, backup, AI and data classification at RSA 2023
Much discussion at RSA 2023 about artificial intelligence, the risks to data protection, storage and compliance, plus risk and data classification, especially its impacts on access and data management Continue Reading
-
Feature
06 Jun 2023
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
-
News
06 Jun 2023
ESA uses NetApp as-a-service for space data ‘hot’ archive
The European Space Agency collects data from millions of miles away. It must get storage right when there’s no chance of a u-turn to take more photos or re-record data Continue Reading