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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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
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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
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News
25 May 2023
BASF ramps up petaflops with new Quriosity HPE-build hardware
The AMD-powered 3 petaflops supercomputer will offer BASF the ability to run more complex simulations of chemical processes Continue Reading
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News
24 May 2023
Almost all ransomware attacks target backups, says Veeam
Some 93% of ransomware attacks go for backups and most succeed, with 60% of those attacked paying the ransom, according to a Veeam survey Continue Reading
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News
23 May 2023
Cohesity Turing aims AI tools at backup and ransomware
Backup supplier continues to enrich its ecosystem with more artificial intelligence for backup and ransomware, with chat-like reporting functions and new security partners in its alliance Continue Reading
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News
23 May 2023
Aston Martin gets F1 pole position with NetApp storage
AMF1 race team tracks hundreds of car sensor metrics for raceday and post-event analysis that has seen it surge forward in recent Formula One rankings with NetApp NVMe storage Continue Reading
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Definition
17 May 2023
commodity hardware
Commodity hardware in computing is computers or components that are readily available, inexpensive and easily interchangeable with other commodity hardware. Almost all PCs use commodity hardware. Continue Reading
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News
17 May 2023
CTO interview: Europe benefits from energy gains in AMD chips
AMD’s chief technology officer explains how the latest chip technology can help European organisations solve the energy puzzle facing IT departments Continue Reading
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News
16 May 2023
NetApp to promise ransomware warranty payout
NetApp will recover data hit by ransomware or pay a warranty, and has added entry-level SAN arrays and full access to all NetApp software across its hardware families Continue Reading
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News
16 May 2023
Scality pushes anti-ransomware features in Artesca object storage
Object storage specialist announces v2.0 of Artesca, with a heavy focus on functionality that can protect against ransomware such as object locking, sharding, backup to object etc Continue Reading
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Feature
12 May 2023
PLC flash: The next generation or a mirage?
PLC could be productised within two years, but chip makers might not think it worth the effort. Will managing multiple voltages be more hassle than adding layers to existing flash? Continue Reading
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News
10 May 2023
Nebulon aims Tripline at ransomware detection in storage
Tripline claims ransomware detection from samples every 30 seconds and works in conjunction with snapshots to deliver recovery from an attack in four minutes Continue Reading
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News
09 May 2023
OVHcloud aims to bring Glacier-like cloud archive to Europe
OVHcloud makes Cold Archive GA with deep archive storage cheaper than AWS’s offer and all based on IBM 3592 tape hardware spread across four sites with Atempo backup Continue Reading
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News
08 May 2023
How lab grown neurons could power the future of AI
Melbourne-based Cortical Labs’ lab grown neurons could speed up AI training in a more energy efficient way and its work has caught the eye of hyperscalers and Amazon’s CTO Continue Reading
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Feature
03 May 2023
Data classification tools: What they do and who makes them
Data classification is necessary for all organisations for reasons that range from simply putting data on the most cost-efficient media to ensuring legal and regulatory compliance Continue Reading
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Feature
03 May 2023
Quantum computing: What are the data storage challenges?
Quantum computing will be able to process massive amounts of data at extraordinary speeds, but challenges exist in data storage. How will today’s storage systems keep pace? Continue Reading
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News
02 May 2023
Seagate launches 22TB IronWolf straight into QNAP NAS partnership
Seagate’s 22TB IronWolf Pro HDD equals Western Digital for capacity. Of the big drive makers, only Toshiba now lags behind. QNAP NAS to offer petabyte capacities with new Seagate drive Continue Reading
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Podcast
02 May 2023
Podcast: No more hard disks in five years, says Pure
We talk to Shawn Rosemarin of Pure Storage, who argues there will be no more hard drive sales in five years because energy costs and capacity needs can only be fulfilled by flash Continue Reading
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News
25 Apr 2023
Veritas shows off software SAN for Kubernetes at KubeCON 2023
Veritas InfoScale aims to provide high-performance block access storage despite limitations such as a maximum node count of 16 per cluster Continue Reading
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Podcast
25 Apr 2023
Podcast: Ransomware, data protection and compliance
Ransomware is a huge and ever-present threat, but there are ways to avoid it and to mitigate its effects. We get key practical steps from Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust Continue Reading
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News
18 Apr 2023
IT Priorities 2023: Cloud and disaster recovery top storage and backup plans
Cloud storage still the biggest project planned in data storage in 2023, with disaster recovery the most important area in data protection cited by TechTarget/Computer Weekly survey respondents Continue Reading
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Definition
12 Apr 2023
mainframe (big iron)
A mainframe (also known as 'big iron') is a high-performance computer used for large-scale computing purposes that require greater availability and security than a smaller-scale machine can offer... (Continued) Continue Reading
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News
04 Apr 2023
HPE launches GreenLake for File and Block, and unified arrays
HPE upgrades its storage-as-a-service offer with Greenlake for File and for Block, configurable via the cloud but deployable on-prem. Meanwhile it shows new Alletra MP arrays Continue Reading
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Podcast
29 Mar 2023
Podcast: Cloud storage, data protection and compliance
The lure of cloud storage hides its drawback, namely that you can lose control of it from a compliance perspective. We talk to Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust, about how to tame it Continue Reading
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News
28 Mar 2023
IBM Storage launched with backup appliance plan
Prosaically named brand will replace Spectrum products, while IBM rationalises offer for AI/ML, hybrid cloud and malware, which it sees as the backdrop to contemporary IT Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Mar 2023
HDD specs: Assess SATA vs SAS, sustained data rates and block size
In part two of a two-part series, we look at sustained data rates in hard disk drive specs, SATA versus SAS, drive security, and how HDD makers pack density into products by shingling Continue Reading
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News
22 Mar 2023
Why Veeam thinks ransomware warranty payouts are unlikely
Veeam Data Platform v12 offers a financial guarantee to customers that can’t restore after ransomware attacks, but the backup supplier is convinced it won’t be making many payouts Continue Reading
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Feature
21 Mar 2023
HDD specs: Assess MTTF, AFR and UER to get the drives you need
In part one of a two-part series, we look at key hard disk drive specs, including mean time to failure, annual failure rate and unrecoverable error rate, and how they relate to each other Continue Reading
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Feature
17 Mar 2023
Vast Data’s ‘Act 2’ builds data management layer on QLC flash
Vast Data offers QLC flash bulk storage with a rapid cache I/O layer. Now, it has embarked on offering big data, analytics and application access to highly available data stores Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Mar 2023
QLC edges into mainstream, but what are its advantages?
QLC flash offers high density but has lifecycle limitations. But what does it really cost compared with TLC and MLC, and how are suppliers implementing it and getting around durability issues? Continue Reading
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News
13 Mar 2023
Liverpool Football Club signs Wasabi in on-premise-to-cloud storage transition
Liverpool Football Club has transitioned from lead-footed on-premise infrastructure to Wasabi cloud storage that’s well-suited to its video production and distribution requirements Continue Reading
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News
09 Mar 2023
Velero wants to become the Kubernetes backup standard
Open source Velero offers modular data protection and disaster recovery functionality via API for Kubernetes container clusters in an effort to become the standard in the field Continue Reading
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Podcast
06 Mar 2023
Podcast: 2023 compliance and storage outlook
Geopolitical instability casts its shadow as organisations must think about cyber attacks, data location and what to do if things change quickly. We talk to Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust Continue Reading
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News
06 Mar 2023
How to get mainframe modernisation right
Around a third of mainframe modernisation efforts fail, but that doesn’t need to be the case if organisations can harness the best of mainframe and distributed architectures, according to Rocket Software Continue Reading
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News
05 Mar 2023
FlashBlade//E to open up new opportunities in Australia
Pure Storage’s FlashBlade//E will enable the storage supplier to target medical imaging and remote backup workloads and attract new customers in Australia Continue Reading
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Definition
02 Mar 2023
pizza box server
The term 'pizza box server' refers to the shape of a computer server enclosed in a rectangular and horizontally- arranged chassis and often installed in a rack with similar servers. Continue Reading
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Feature
01 Mar 2023
Backup testing: The why, what, when and how
We look at backup testing – why you should do it, what you should do, when you should do it, and how, with a view to the ways in which it will be made easier by forthcoming developments in backup software Continue Reading
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News
28 Feb 2023
Pure Storage aims FlashBlade//E at unstructured data capacity
But not the ones that need super high performance. FlashBlade//E will target use cases that need large amounts of QLC flash without the most-demands for rapid access Continue Reading
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Feature
27 Feb 2023
Unstructured data and the storage it needs
We look at unstructured and semi-structured data and find increasing amounts of production workloads that have their own storage hardware – file and object – needs, including flash Continue Reading
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News
27 Feb 2023
How Dell is future-proofing its business
Dell Technologies is building a more resilient supply chain, investing in growth areas like edge and multicloud, and responding to shifts in consumption models to position itself for long-term growth Continue Reading
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News
20 Feb 2023
Veeam bundles backup products into Veeam Data Platform
Backup and data protection specialist Veeam upgrades and rebrands, with a focus on the challenges of ransomware and rapid recovery, and a claimed 500 new functions Continue Reading
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News
14 Feb 2023
Dell tells suppliers to diversify fab and backend facilities
Dell calls for chip suppliers to diversify their fabrication and backend facilities by the end of 2024 to improve its supply chain resilience Continue Reading
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News
13 Feb 2023
Hycu aims at universal SaaS backup with R-Cloud
Hycu’s R-Cloud aims to provide an API-driven backup product for any software-as-a-service application for enterprise customers, based on a simple low-code development environment Continue Reading
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News
08 Feb 2023
Rakuten targets big edge deployments with Symworld Cloud
Japanese giant Rakuten bought Kubernetes management platform Robin.io and put it in 50,000-plus telco antennas. Now it aims Symworld Cloud at enterprise edge deployments Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Feb 2023
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
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News
07 Feb 2023
NetApp adds QLC C-series, new A-series and subscription upgrades
NetApp C-series QLC-based array family offers flash speed with capacity, while Advance adds subscription upgrades to owned hardware, as well as a new entry-level A-series array Continue Reading
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Feature
06 Feb 2023
Backup maintenance: Make sure backups can deliver
Deploying backup but overlooking the need to make sure it works is a common error. We look at the why and how of backup maintenance to help ensure you can recover from your backups Continue Reading
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News
30 Jan 2023
Tiger’s hybrid cloud storage targets medical imaging
Tiger Bridge targets vertical sectors that find it hard to migrate to the cloud by allowing data storage in the cloud while using files locally as if stored on-premise Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Jan 2023
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
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Feature
24 Jan 2023
IT’s shift to the cloud: Veeam’s data protection report in detail
With half of servers in the cloud, most backup and nearly all disaster recovery cloud-centric, the shift to the cloud is significant – but container backup is one area that is yet to settle down Continue Reading
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Definition
24 Jan 2023
logical equivalence
Logical equivalence is the condition of equality that exists between two statements or sentences in propositional logic or Boolean algebra. Continue Reading
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News
23 Jan 2023
NGX: Turkish arrays to challenge US mainstream storage vendors
Ankara-based NGX offers block, file and unified storage with use of cache and RAM to speed access. Software-defined storage, cloud and NVMe-over-fabrics are also coming Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Jan 2023
Cloud egress costs: What they are and how to dodge them
We look at how cloud providers charge to move data from their cloud, including to other providers and between storage in the same cloud, and what you can do to mitigate “bill shock” Continue Reading
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News
20 Jan 2023
DataCore software-defined storage helps car firm avoid breakdowns
Bontaz used to face regular IT outages that took too long to recover from. Then it got DataCore software-defined storage and the ability to rapidly recover from downtime Continue Reading
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News
20 Jan 2023
Veeam survey finds ransomware blocks digital transformation
Annual report shows secular trend to the cloud and increased use of containers, but prevalence of ransomware attacks means digital transformation is hindered Continue Reading
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News
20 Jan 2023
Atempo plots course to containerised backup with S3 storage
Containerised modularised backup services will allow integration with third-party systems and backup storage unified onto S3 object storage for cost and analytics purposes Continue Reading
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News
03 Jan 2023
Batam datacentre to capture spillover demand from Singapore
NeutraDC’s new datacentre facility in Batam will enable it to meet the spillover demand for datacentre services from neighbouring markets Continue Reading
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News
20 Dec 2022
Top 10 emerging storage trends stories of 2022
There’s a seismic shift to the cloud. In its wake, object storage, unstructured data, analytics, unified file and object, and consumption models of procurement have all been boosted Continue Reading
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Feature
19 Dec 2022
Storage hardware shortage causes and how to mitigate them
We look at the IT supply chain shortages that have hit data storage equipment, their causes and what organisations can do to work more smartly to mitigate them Continue Reading
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Blog Post
14 Dec 2022
To maximise potential, mainframers must reach out and engage
The team here at Freeform Dynamics has always had immense respect for the mainframe community, without whom big chunks of most developed economies would grind to a halt. That said, we sometimes ... Continue Reading
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News
07 Dec 2022
Survey: Most want green IT but many won’t get it soon
IT – and storage in particular – consume huge amounts of energy but sustainability targets are proving to be elusive, according to a survey commissioned by Pure Storage Continue Reading
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News
05 Dec 2022
Cohesity doubles down on cyber-defence failings via backup
Datahawk service and Data Security Alliance bring clean data restores, ransomware artefact detection, data vaulting and data audit for a clearer understanding of attack impact Continue Reading
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News
04 Dec 2022
How Bosch is driving Industry 4.0 in India
Bosch India is leveraging advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to detect manufacturing defects and plans to tap quantum computing for material simulation Continue Reading
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News
30 Nov 2022
HPE’s earnings reveal a shift back to less pricey servers
HPE has been focused on higher-end servers due to supply chain issues, but as these ease and memory costs fall, it is set to readjust pricing Continue Reading
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Feature
30 Nov 2022
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
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News
28 Nov 2022
Panzura partners with AWS on ransomware counter-measures
Panzura might have slipped beneath the waves, but it’s come back reinvigorated, and now boasts integration with AWS with ransomware protection and Outposts hardware Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Nov 2022
Indefinite storage: What it is and why you might need it
Indefinite storage addresses the issue that archived data may need to be kept well beyond the lifespan of the technology it was written for Continue Reading
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E-Zine
24 Nov 2022
CW Nordics: Icelandic datacentres point way to greener IT
Iceland may soon become even more attractive to firms wanting to minimise their carbon footprint while using high-performance computing services. Read more about it in this issue. Also find out how a robo investment company, Nord Investments, is harnessing open banking to make thing easier for its clients. Continue Reading
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News
22 Nov 2022
Pure aims at near bare metal I/O with Portworx PX-Fast
PX-Fast is driven by customer need for scale and high performance in containerised environments and sees reworking of Portworx data architecture to slash storage access time Continue Reading
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Feature
22 Nov 2022
Cloud storage: Key storage specifications
We look at the key specs in cloud storage, including availability – such as five nines – bandwidth, IOPS and latency, capacity and tiering functionality, egress charges and security Continue Reading
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News
21 Nov 2022
Genome lab puts Vast Data’s rapid I/O to work on patient data
French government-backed SeqOIA ditched its Lustre-based storage after it reached performance limits and files got corrupted. That got fixed by a Vast Data QLC flash-based array Continue Reading
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Feature
18 Nov 2022
How to get structure from unstructured data
We look at how to gain structure from unstructured data, via AI/ML analytics to create new records, selecting object data via SQL and storing unstructured files in NoSQL formats Continue Reading
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News
17 Nov 2022
Scality Ring 9 brings Storage Accelerator enhanced flash tiers
Scality upgrade to Ring 9 of its object (and file) storage software sees enhancements to tiering, the introduction of Prometheus-based monitoring and hooks into VMware vCloud Director Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Nov 2022
The next decade in enterprise backup
Backup set to adapt to deliver more security, ransomware protection and flash-speed restores, and deal with the complexity of multi-, hybrid cloud and container-based operations Continue Reading
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News
03 Nov 2022
Russia risks shortage of PCs and software
Russian consumers and businesses could face a shortage of IT equipment including PCs and software Continue Reading
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News
01 Nov 2022
NetApp launches BlueXP as single console across on-prem and cloud
BlueXP gives customers monitoring and control over all NetApp storage on-site and in multiple clouds. Meanwhile, its Ontap OS has added S3 object storage access Continue Reading
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News
01 Nov 2022
Huawei pushes OceanStor’s Arm chip benefits at Paris love-in
Chinese giant trumpets green benefits on its Arm processor hardware with OceanStor Dorado V6 range, which offers huge capacities and performance at the high end Continue Reading
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News
31 Oct 2022
SoftIron’s HyperCloud to ease private cloud deployments
SoftIron claims its technology stack fully automates the provisioning of storage, compute, networking and infrastructure services, providing a fully functioning, multi-tenant cloud Continue Reading
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News
28 Oct 2022
Singapore’s met service to get new supercomputer
The Meteorological Service Singapore is getting a new Cray supercomputer to improve weather forecasting and tropical climate research Continue Reading
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Feature
21 Oct 2022
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
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News
19 Oct 2022
Gartner: Hero CIOs are needed again to save businesses
During the pandemic, IT enabled businesses to remain operational. As the economic crisis worsens, business executives are once again reaching out to CIOs Continue Reading
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News
17 Oct 2022
GRAID puts RAID on a GPU for cut-price disk protection and rebuilds
US startup puts its software on Nvidia graphics cards to offload RAID processing and throughput of 110GBps throughput across up to 32 NVMe solid-state drives Continue Reading
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Feature
13 Oct 2022
Is object storage good for databases?
We look at object storage vs block access SAN storage and ask if object storage can be used for database workloads, or is it just good for bulk storage of analytics datasets? Continue Reading
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News
13 Oct 2022
Bowled out: NVMe flash pioneer Pavilion Data ceases business
Last of the pioneer NVMe flash storage array makers, Pavilion made multiprotocol highs-speed boxes – but it seems to have run out of sources of investment and gone out of business Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Oct 2022
Cloud bursting: What is it, what workloads, what technologies?
We look at cloud bursting, its benefits and how to deploy it, as well as the limitations in terms of suitable workloads, the technologies needed and the skills to make it happen Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Oct 2022
Air gaps for backup and how they help against ransomware
The air gap is a basic of backups and storage. We look at what’s meant by an air gap, the rise of the logical air gap, and its place in the fight against ransomware Continue Reading
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Feature
04 Oct 2022
NFS vs SMB vs CIFS: File storage protocols defined
We take a close look at NFS and SMB – the key file storage access protocols – and weigh up their pros, cons and suitability to differing datacentre environments Continue Reading
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News
03 Oct 2022
StorPool takes its software-defined storage to the AWS cloud
Software-defined storage and block access specialist to offer its product on high-performance AWS bare metal and memory-intensive compute, while claiming improved latency Continue Reading
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Definition
03 Oct 2022
adiabatic cooling
Adiabatic cooling is the process of reducing heat through a change in air pressure caused by volume expansion. Continue Reading
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Feature
03 Oct 2022
Edge storage: What it is and the technologies it uses
Storage is moving from the datacentre to the edge. We define edge storage, look at the characteristics of edge computing that shape it and the technologies it requires Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Sep 2022
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
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News
26 Sep 2022
PoINT to offer on-site S3 object storage archive on disk and tape
Archival Gateway can cluster up to 256 tape readers to provide S3 object storage clusters capable of storing 50 billion objects per bucket, and giving throughput of 230GBps Continue Reading
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News
22 Sep 2022
Dr Martens goes feetfirst into cloud-to-cloud backup
Iconic bootmaker laces up for a strategy to move all applications to the cloud, beginning with cloud-to-cloud backup for Microsoft 365 apps plus on-site VMware operations Continue Reading
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News
15 Sep 2022
Airtel to deploy edge computing platform
Bharti Airtel will deploy its multi-access edge compute platform across India to support edge computing applications in manufacturing and other industries, as India gears up for 5G Continue Reading
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News
07 Sep 2022
VMware’s vSAN 8 gets a rebuild for the solid-state storage era
At VMware Explore 2022, we interview VMware’s John Gilmartin about the new, faster vSAN, plans to use DPUs, the vSAN+ cloud offering, and VMware Ransomware Recovery Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Sep 2022
Cloud bursting: What it is and what it’s good for
We look at cloud bursting, which allows organisations to meet demand by bursting compute and storage to the cloud Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Sep 2022
Unstructured vs semi-structured data: Order from chaos
We look at alternatives to relational databases that have emerged to help bring some structure to unstructured data and gain valuable insight by making it semi-structured Continue Reading
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Podcast
01 Sep 2022
Podcast: Storage the key bottleneck for AI processing
We talk to Panasas about the need for storage that can cope with delivering high volumes of small files for artificial intelligence with the throughput and latency needed to service costly GPUs Continue Reading
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News
31 Aug 2022
HPE supply chain issues drive up server prices
HPE’s latest quarterly results show the company is trying to combat its order backlog by encouraging customers to buy next-gen servers Continue Reading
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News
30 Aug 2022
NetApp storage goes GA for VMware Cloud on AWS
Move will bring up to 50% decrease in TCO for customers running VMware apps in the Amazon cloud, says NetApp. No date yet for extension of the service across other public clouds Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Aug 2022
Cloud storage TCO: Key pitfalls and how to avoid them
Cloud’s flexibility is part of the attraction, but it can also lead to costs that spiral. We look at key elements in cloud TCO and how to intelligently make use of the cloud Continue Reading
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News
24 Aug 2022
Alibaba Cloud unveils RISC-V chip development platform
The Wujian 600 chip development platform will help developers build systems-on-chip to support edge applications such as home robots, medical imaging and video conferencing Continue Reading