SAN, NAS, solid state, RAID

Disaggregated systems try to unlock the NVMe conundrum

NVMe can unlock the true potential of flash, but storage controllers put a bottleneck back in the I/O path. We look at how suppliers are trying to solve the problem Continue Reading

Hyper-converged infrastructure 2018 technology and market survey

We look at the latest in hyper-converged infrastructure – server and storage hardware nodes that can be built into scale-out clusters – and the players in the market. Continue Reading

King’s College dumps legacy SAN for Nimble hybrid flash

Cambridge college triples storage capacity for VMware virtualised environment and adds Veeam backup. Nimble hybrid flash ensures rapid data access with Sata bulk storage behind Continue Reading

Load Dynamix is now WorkloadWisdom and adds more NAS support

Virtual Instruments enhances NAS testing and monitoring capabilities with SMB and 25GbE support in WorkloadWisdom but hybrid cloud monitoring will remain off limits for now Continue Reading

Rackspace upgrade to save $12m with Scality object storage

Cloud services giant Rackspace brings in Scality object storage in a move that slashes 4,000 boxes from its server count as it separates compute and storage Continue Reading

Cohesity adds file and object to hyper-converged hybrid cloud

Cohesity broadens out from hyper-converged backup and restore to offer file and object storage on its physical and virtual hyper-converged appliances and in the cloud Continue Reading

Hyper-converged infrastructure 2018 technology and market survey

We look at the latest in hyper-converged infrastructure – server and storage hardware nodes that can be built into scale-out clusters – and the players in the market Continue Reading

Siemens’ Datrium NVMe flash speeds customer software deployment

Siemens utility metering group deploys Datrium DVX in place of cumbersome LUN-based block storage and cuts customer software roll-outs to a few minutes and data restores to seconds Continue Reading

Dell EMC: Time for hyper-converged, but not for mission critical

Hyper-converged vs converged infrastructure: Dell EMC says hyper-converged isn’t ready for mission-critical applications, but may be by the end of the year Continue Reading

Qumulo file access hybrid cloud QF2 file system launches in Europe

QF2 brings Posix/Windows-compatible scale-out NAS file storage to hybrid cloud with access via on-premise hardware appliance or Amazon compute and storage in the cloud Continue Reading

Cloudian upgrade brings hybrid cloud file and object storage

Move to Cloudian Hyperstore 7 enables data storage operations across on-premise and Amazon, Google and Microsoft cloud environments with object and file access Continue Reading

Hyper-convergence and containers key storage-related deployments in 2018

Hyper-converged infrastructure and containers are key deployments planned by UK customers in 2018, with flash storage, virtual machine storage and disk backup also prominent Continue Reading

ITV goes on air with SpectraLogic LTFS tape backup and archive

2PB of SpectraLogic tape front-ended by Black Pearl LTFS object storage access creates integrated archive that lets broadcaster optimise use of existing Isilon clustered NAS Continue Reading

Cloud firm speeds customer analytics with Pure Storage arrays

Cloudhelix replaces Pernix Data storage with Pure Storage FlashArray products to provide “brute force” performance approach for unpredictable customer workloads Continue Reading

Private cloud storage 101: Key components and hardware options

Private cloud makes consumption of storage easier for the user and simplifies delivery for the IT department. We walk through the key components and the platform choices Continue Reading

Storage in containers: The answer to persistent storage needs?

With compute requirements often fragmented, short-lived and bursty, traditional storage architectures can struggle to cope – so is storage in containers the solution? Continue Reading

Cloud firm scales Cloudian object storage to 2.5PB for GDPR

Calligo expands Cloudian Hyperstore from three nodes to 30 at worldwide datacentres, with object storage deployed for file-level and metadata capabilities suited to GDPR Continue Reading

Top 10 storage and backup stories of 2017

In Computer Weekly’s top 10 storage stories of 2017, we tracked key trends such as the continued rise of hyper-converged infrastructure, the emergence of NVMe flash and object storage Continue Reading

Storage briefing: The evolution of software-defined storage

The evolution of software-defined storage, from simple software products to those that offer scale-out, hyper-converged, NVMe, public cloud and container functionality Continue Reading

Key choices in Docker container storage deployment

Containers often need persistent storage, but how do you achieve that? We look at the key options, including Docker volumes versus bind mounts, and Docker Volume Plugins Continue Reading

Panasas upgrades scale-out NAS to ASD-100 and ASH-100 nodes

New Panasas appliances upgrade CPU and RAM to double throughput while changing hardware architecture. Clustered NAS specialist says all-flash and tiers of flash are on the roadmap Continue Reading

Red Hat Ceph Storage 3 brings file, iSCSI and container storage

Latest version of open source OpenStack-targeted software-defined storage adds CephFS, ISCSI and storage that can be deployed in containers to save hardware Continue Reading

Legal services firm gets 54TB of NEC Hydrastor NAS as backup target

Quislex has cut backup windows by a third and will roll out 700TB of NEC Hydrastor to Hyderabad datacentre to provide a grid of deduplicated storage for backup and archive Continue Reading

Hyper-converged choices: DIY HCI software deployments

What are the advantages of do-it-yourself hyper-converged infrastructure deployment and who are the key suppliers of HCI software? We run the rule over the DIY hyper-converged market Continue Reading

Formula 1 goes digital

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how Formula 1 chief Ross Brawn hopes to make the sport more digital to enhance the fan experience of Grand Prix racing. We learn how virtual reality is being used to deliver healthcare services. And we examine the ethical concerns around artificial intelligence technology. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Charity swaps SAN for Hypergrid hyper-converged to save £1m

Tearfund saves £950,000 by deploying Hypergrid hyper-converged in place of HP servers and SAN, cutting costs on space, power, staff and hardware, and avoiding VMware Continue Reading

NVMe flash blocked by array architecture, says Kaminario CTO

Flash pioneer CTO says array controllers are built for a different era and must scale-out as clusters to provide the CPU power needed to allow NVMe to realise its potential Continue Reading

Tegile launches Intelliflash tiered all-flash arrays with NVMe

Hybrid flash turned all-flash maker Tegile adds tier of NVMe to SAS-connected flash with all drives encrypted and an all-NVMe array planned for later in 2017 Continue Reading

Tape here to stay, says Spectra Logic with LTO-8 2x capacity gain

LTO-8 tape to boost capacity by leveraging HDD head read technology TMR. Spectra gets in early with offer to customers, “buy LTO-7, get LTO-8 when it ships” Continue Reading

Nutanix makes hybrid cloud push with Calm and Xi Cloud

Hyper-converged pioneer to extend on-premise OS to the cloud with plans to span the datacentre and public cloud using Calm, plus forthcoming hybrid cloud services via Xi Cloud Continue Reading

News UK dumps tape for backup with Zadara cloud storage

News publishing corporation saves up to 40% on hardware and software costs by switching in-house hardware for a cloud-first policy, using Zadara cloud storage as a backup target Continue Reading

Datacentre decisions: Converged vs hyper-converged infrastructure

Converged and hyper-converged infrastructure are ready-tested ways to put compute and storage into the datacentre. But which should you choose for your deployment? Continue Reading

Red Hat launches open source hyper-converged infrastructure

Infrastructure bundles OS, hypervisor and storage software components from the open source distributor and is aimed at SMEs and remote office use cases Continue Reading

CW ASEAN: Hyper-convergence offers simple yet scalable storage

In this month’s CW ASEAN, we take a look at how TAL Apparel has reaped significant savings in storage and server resources by switching to hyper-converged systems, and we explore the key drivers for the development of hyper-converged systems and how they will transform the way applications are delivered. We also hear from a senior Veritas executive about why extracting more metadata to improve business processes and data management will become more important. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

CW ANZ: Flash arrays make a splash

In this month’s CW ANZ, we find out why a growing number of Australian enterprises are turning to all-flash storage technology to replace spinning disk storage systems, thanks to lower costs and reduced complexity. We also hear from a senior Veritas executive about why extracting more metadata to improve business processes and data management will become more important. And we take a look at how public cloud services have empowered Australian startups to scale up and go global from day one, and identify the key drivers for the development of hyper-converged systems and how they will transform the way applications are delivered. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

NVMe flash storage: What are the deployment options?

NVMe offers to unleash performance potential of flash storage that is held back by spinning disk-era SAS and SATA protocols. We run through the key NVMe deployment options Continue Reading

Racetrack Memory products in five years, says IBM fellow

Millennium Prize winner Stuart Parkin says flash and 2D methods of storage are fatally limited – Racetrack Memory offers 100x the capacity without flash’s wear issues Continue Reading

Dell EMC all-flash XtremIO X2 gains I/O boost via software upgrade

Dell EMC’s XtremIO X2 all-flash arrays got a performance jump from ungraded hardware, but the real performance boost comes from changes to the way I/O is dealt with Continue Reading

Nexsan Unity goes all-flash but leaves NVMe on the back-burner

Nexsan Unity arrays already have SAN, NAS and file sync and share, and now add all-flash and policy-based archiving, but there’s no NVMe on the roadmap for now Continue Reading

Understanding analytics and storage performance

Analytics workloads place specific demands on storage. We take a look at the workload profiles of analytics use cases and the storage platforms available to support them Continue Reading

Pivot3 launches Acuity hyper-converged with NVMe flash and QoS

Acuity operating environment merges features inherited from NexGen acquisition and adds NVMe Accelerator nodes with flash as cache in front of main storage Continue Reading

Cancer researcher gets Nodeum LTFS tape NAS

Belgium-based OncoDNA replaces IBM tape library with flash-powered Nodeum LTFS to provide file access to backup and archive tapes at approaching nearline timescales Continue Reading

Quantum upgrades to StorNext 6 with replication and app QoS

Quantum StorNext scale-out file system adds to cloud capability with granular replication that can operate one-to-one, one-to-many, plus provide storage QoS per application Continue Reading

How to tune storage performance for different workloads

We run the rule over what’s needed to get the best storage performance for databases, virtual servers and desktops, web and email servers and analytics use cases Continue Reading

Pure Storage launches FlashArray//X with NVMe drives

FlashArray//X has NVMe drives but end-to-end storage-to-host NVMe connectivity will have to wait for an NVMe-over-fabrics (NVMf) version planned for release later this year Continue Reading

Making the UK fit for 5G

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at the government’s new 5G strategy and assess whether it’s enough to stimulate development of next generation mobile networks. We meet some of the Silicon Valley startups hoping to revolutionise big data analytics. And we examine how to prevent the move to DevOps from harming work-life balance for IT professionals. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Red Hat adds Gluster metadata cache and container deployment

Scale out NAS parallel file system speeds operations with client-side caching, and allows container deployment and faster self-healing volumes Continue Reading

Storage performance 101: Server, array and fabric/network basics

We look at the key performance attributes of storage media in use today, and the choices and basic tuning steps you can take to get the most from your storage Continue Reading

HPE buys Nimble Storage to fill an all-flash and hybrid gap

Hardware giant buys Nimble Storage for $1.2bn and plugs a gap below its high-end flash retro-fitted 3PAR arrays with ground-up solid state-based hardware Continue Reading

Nodeum to add S3 connectivity to LTFS-powered tape archive

Belgium-based Linux-plus-LTFS startup adds S3 capability to allow customers to add cloud as a tier and data portability between on and off-premises archiving Continue Reading

Storage 101: Object storage vs block vs file

We recap the key attributes of file and block storage access and the pros and cons of object storage, a method that offers key benefits but also drawbacks compared with SAN and NAS Continue Reading

CW Nordics: Top IT priorities for Nordic CIOs in 2017

In this first issue of CW Nordics in 2017 we take a look what CIOs in the region are expecting in the year ahead. We asked a select group of CIOs and analysts in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden what IT projects are at the top their priority lists. Also read about the Nordic region as a hotspot for IT startups, with Sweden punching above its weight in financial technology. And find out how board executives at healthcare company Elekta are analysing workforce data to make better strategic decisions. Continue Reading

Storage 101: Queue depth, NVMe and the array controller

We look at queue depth and fan-out and fan-in ratios. With NVMe they could become a thing of the past, but for now there’s still a bottleneck at the storage array controller Continue Reading

NVMe: PCIe card vs U.2 and M.2

We talk NVMe form factor choices – add-in card vs U.2. vs M.2 – and their uses, for primary storage or cache, with Server StorageIO founder and analyst Greg Schulz Continue Reading

HPE buys hyper-converged pioneer Simplivity for $650m

Hardware giant pays out for hyper-converged market number two, and says it will keep existing Simplivity products, moving them all to its ProLiant servers by the end of 2017 Continue Reading

Nutanix, Simplivity and Pivot3 lead hyper-converged pack: Forrester

Forrester rates 12 hyper-converged infrastructure providers according to products, company strategy and market presence, with Nutanix, Simplivity and Pivot3 coming out on top-line Continue Reading

IBM refreshes all-flash DS8880 series with PCIe 3.0 enclosures

IBM adds an F to existing DS8884, DS8886 and DS8888 all-flash and hybrid arrays with addition of PCIe 3.0 disk connectivity, but stops short of NVMe capabilities Continue Reading

Violin memory: Reasons behind the demise of an all-flash pioneer

In these days when flash storage grabs so many headlines for the right reasons it’s quite a surprise that one of the pioneers in the space – Violin Memory – is about to hit bankruptcy hard, with an ... Continue Reading

Top 10 virtualisation and storage stories of 2016

Flash storage has held onto the headlines in 2016, but hyper-converged infrastructure, containerisation, software-defined storage and VMware’s plans for the hybrid cloud are rising themes Continue Reading

NVMe over fabrics vs Fibre Channel, Ethernet, Infiniband

NVMe over fabrics takes the built-for-flash advantages of the PCIe-based protocol, and allows NVMe to be sent via Fibre Channel, Ethernet and Infiniband networks Continue Reading

Top 10 ANZ enterprise IT stories of 2016

Here is a rundown of Computer Weekly’s most popular ANZ enterprise IT articles for 2016 Continue Reading

Storage briefing: NVMe vs SATA and SAS

NVMe brings blistering performance gains over existing HDD-era disk protocols, and is a straight swap-in for PCIe server-side flash with array and hyper-converged products on the way Continue Reading

Software-defined storage: The pros and cons, and what is available

Software-defined storage is a rapidly rising trend in the datacentre, but what are the advantages and disadvantages of building your own storage, and is it suitable for all organisations? Continue Reading

Broadcom buys Brocade but will sell off IP network business

Chipmaker will acquire Brocade for $5.9bn to broaden its storage business, and plans to sell off most of its acquisition’s networking business Continue Reading

VMware VSAN 6.5 supports containers and physical servers via iSCSI

VMware Virtual SAN now supports containers with persistent storage and allows physical server storage access to its shared pool of capacity via the iSCSI SAN protocol Continue Reading

CW ANZ: Harnessing the power of server/storage architecture

In this month’s CW ANZ, read about how a council in south-east Queensland swapped its compute and storage systems for cloud services. Redland City Council CIO Glynn Henderson explains why the organisation went for a hybrid cloud system. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

CW ASEAN: The power of all-flash arrays

In this month’s CW ASEAN, we take a look at how efficiencies from storage suppliers and enhanced benefits to total cost of ownership have made the commercial and technology value propositions for all-flash arrays the choice for primary workloads even more compelling to customers. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Enterprise NAS performance challenges and how to resolve them

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

Demand rises for low-cost flash storage across Australia

Flash storage gains popularity in Australia, as smaller organisations are attracted by lower prices and higher capacity Continue Reading

Is it NAS? Is it object storage? It’s both. It’s Avere’s C2N

Avere launches C2N hybrid NAS/object storage box that uses touted efficiencies of erasure coding to take aim at claimed drawbacks of clustered NAS rivals like Isilon Continue Reading

Docker storage: how to get persistent storage in Docker

Docker, by default, doesn’t come with persistent storage, which presents an issue to some workloads customers that want to run in containers – however, there are ways to achieve persistent storage Continue Reading

Hypergrid adds metered usage and networks to hyper-converged kit

Hyper-converged appliance maker will allow customers to pay for what they use in hardware that will now add networking Continue Reading

Italian bottle maker deploys 88TB of Syneto hyper-converged storage

Serioplast gets reliable disaster recovery as it replaces NetApp plus remote physical servers with Syneto hyper-converged infrastructure at factories across Europe, Africa and Asia Continue Reading

Australian council removes costly bottleneck with traditional storage architecture

Redland City Council chose to return to a traditional storage architecture when it was struggling to get rates notices out in good time Continue Reading

Insurance brokers count cost of lost business as SSP SaaS platform outage enters second week

SSP confirms to Computer Weekly it has no clear idea when all brokers will be able to continue doing business via its SaaS platform, two weeks on from Solihull datacentre power outage Continue Reading

Cloud firm Backbone relegates X-IO SAN with Atlantis tiered storage

London-based Backbone uses Atlantis USX as storage virtualisation layer on top of PCIe flash and X-IO and as a stepping stone to hyper-converged infrastructures Continue Reading

Rubrik backup appliance adds physical platforms to hybrid cloud

Flash-powered backup appliances add MS SQL and Linux physical server to VMware backup and hybrid cloud archive in Firefly release, with more physical and endpoint support promised Continue Reading

HPE boosts MSA and StoreVirtual with sub-$10,000 flash storage options

HPE launches new StoreVirtual 3200 entry-level array that can cost as little as $6,000, plus the SME-focused MSA 2042 array which has 800GB of flash embedded Continue Reading

Nimble adds to all-flash arrays with entry-level AF1000

Nimble made its debut in all-flash in February 2016, but now adds an entry-level array, the AF1000, plus upgrades to its hybrid flash array products that up performance and capacity Continue Reading

SAP Hana storage 101

If you're starting down the road towards SAP Hana in-memory analytics you'll need to understand its storage requirements. Here are some basics to get you started Continue Reading

Pure Storage drips out more of its all-flash analytics FlashBlade

Pure lets more customers use its flash-based analytics platform FlashBlade, before the product aimed at high-throughput unstructured data is made generally available later in 2016 Continue Reading

Nutanix adds storage for containers, physical servers and all-flash

Hyper-converged infrastructure maker Nutanix adds container support with persistent storage, offers block iSCSI storage for physical servers and allows all-flash across the product range Continue Reading

CW ANZ: June 2016

Read how scientists at a major Australian university are benefiting from the latest storage technology to help them get the most out of advanced IT already in place. More than 100 scientific teams share the sophisticated high-performance computer facilities at Monash University’s eResearch Centre in Melbourne, Australia. To help scientists get the best from the computing facilities, Monash built a state-of-the-art software-defined storage cluster using open source technologies and cost efficient hardware from Dell. Continue Reading

CW ASEAN: June 2016

In this issue we look at a software-defined approach to storage management that combines storage, compute, networking and virtualization technologies. We find out how popular these hyper-converged and converged storage systems are among organizations in Southeast Asia and consider why organizations would move production systems to these. Also read whether Asian CIOs are ready for Docker and container technology. Containers are all the rage among developers. They are well suited to DevOps best practices due to their portability, fast deployment times and standard units of operations. We look at whether Asian CIOs are ready to use this open source technology to build, test and run applications in their organizations. Continue Reading

It makes sense to go hyperscale/hyper-converged

Hyperscale computing and storage are the norm for web giants. Hyper-converged scenarios make it possible for small and medium-sized enterprises to gain the advantages of combined server/storage nodes Continue Reading

PCIe SSD: Cache vs storage tier

Adding PCIe flash is a popular way of speeding up application response times, with more rapid I/O guaranteed, but should PCIe SSD be added as cache or as a tier of storage? Continue Reading

Software-defined storage the power behind Monash University microscopes

Australian academic institute uses the technology to help it deal with huge – and still growing – storage demands Continue Reading

IBM all-flash family gets cloud and enterprise A9000 and A9000R

IBM announces two all-flash arrays – the modular A9000 and rack A9000R, aimed at service providers and enterprises – and the mainframe-connected DS8888 Continue Reading

HDS G series arrays get native NAS and cloud as a storage tier

VSP G series enterprise hybrid flash arrays see addition of native NAS functionality on a controller card plus cloud as a storage tier via Hitachi Content Platform Continue Reading

How IT in a portacabin supports £1bn London Bridge station overhaul

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how a temporary IT set-up based in a portacabin is supporting the UK’s largest critical infrastructure project – the £1bn redevelopment of London Bridge train station. Our latest buyer’s guide looks at converged infrastructure products. And we analyse research showing data protection topping the list of UK security priorities. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

CW@50: Storage – From punched cards to flash and the cloud

Since the launch of Computer Weekly in 1966, we have moved from a world of punched cards and paper tape to one where flash and the cloud have revolutionised data storage Continue Reading

SimpliVity adds Hyper-V support to hyper-converged products

Hyper-converged appliance maker adds Hyper-V support to VMware ESXi capabilities and upgrades OmniStack software to support workload optimisation on SimpliVity clusters Continue Reading

OSNexus unlocks Ceph object storage in QuantaStor v4

Software-defined storage maker OSNexus adds Ceph-based object storage to its QuantaStor product, adding it to block and file storage from ZFS, Gluster and Ceph Continue Reading

Unaligned I/O: A storage performance killer

As the stack piles higher – with virtual servers, their virtual disks and guest operating systems – the scope for unaligned or misaligned I/O to affect performance increases Continue Reading

NAS vs object: Which one for large volumes of unstructured data?

Both NAS and object storage offer highly scalable file storage for large volumes of unstructured data, but which is right for your environment? Continue Reading

Top 10 storage stories of 2015

The year 2015 in storage was dominated by the continued rise of flash and Dell’s purchase of EMC, but there were steady upticks in trends such as hyper-converged and software-defined storage Continue Reading

Top five things to know about flash and storage tiering

Automated storage tiering boosts storage efficiency and saves money, but why is tiering different from caching, why is it suited to use with flash and how do suppliers differ? Continue Reading

Snapshots: Hypervisor vs Array

Snapshots are a valuable part of the data protection toolkit, but where is it best to run them from – the hypervisor or the storage array? We look at the pros and cons Continue Reading

DDN revamp adds SFA14K plus hyper-converged and all-flash options

DataDirect Networks upgrades core HPC storage arrays to create SFA14K, and adds hyper-converged SFA14KE plus all-flash IME14K front end to smooth I/O bottlenecks Continue Reading

Object storage: Cloud vs in-house

Object storage is a rising star in data storage, especially for cloud and web use. But what are the pros and cons of cloud object storage or building in-house? Continue Reading