SAN, NAS, solid state, RAID

Flash storage alternative MRAM takes another step forward

MRAM, a likely successor to flash storage, takes a step toward easier manufacture and longer life with new structures theorised by scientists in Singapore Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Top 10 storage stories of 2013

Users tackle virtualisation and growth of data and suppliers battle over flash storage and software-defined storage, while big data and hyperscale emerge into the mainstream Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

SMB 3.0 brings enterprise-class storage to Hyper-V deployments

SMB 3.0 is Microsoft’s replacement for the “chatty” CIFS file access storage protocol that offers enterprise-class storage to Hyper-V deployments Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

School gets Nimble hybrid flash and Barracuda hybrid cloud backup

Berkshire private college has revamped data protection with Nimble hybrid flash storage and Barracuda hybrid cloud backup Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Wellcome Trust maps big data genetics with DDN HPC storage

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute has invested in DDN SFA10K HPC storage to support petabytes of big data generated by genetic mapping and research into diseases such as malaria Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Big data storage: Hadoop storage basics

Hadoop changes the game for enterprise storage. We look at how Hadoop crunches big data, its key storage requirements and survey the vendors Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

Quantum upgrades big data storage to StorNext 5

Quantum’s StorNext big data tiered architecture operating software gets a boost to five billion files and a claimed 10x performance jump via multi-threaded CPU ops Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

When to use flash SSD instead of SAS or SATA?

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

By

• David Boyle, senior consultant, GlassHouse Technologies (UK)

LUN storage management for vSphere and Hyper-V

LUN storage partitioning has been transformed with the advent of virtualisation. Find out how it differs between VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V implementations Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

What’s wrong with flash storage: And what will come after?

Flash storage has taken the enterprise by storm, but its days are numbered due to an unfavourable combination of technological obstacles and manufacturing economics Continue Reading

By

• Manek Dubash

Virtualisation and the LUN: Storage configuration for VMs

Virtualisation and the LUN: Storage admins used to match LUNs to physical servers, but that’s all changed. Find out how in this guide to the basics of VM storage Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

Inadequate datacentre infrastructure is a barrier to big data analytics

Inadequate datacentre infrastructure and siloed work practices are preventing UK enterprises from benefiting from big data analytics, shows study Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

Users’ top datacentre pain points

Storage, network bandwidth, cost and scalability are among the biggest datacentre concerns, say users at Dell Enterprise Forum US Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

VMware storage: SAN configuration basics

For VMware storage basics start here – the fundamentals of configuring SAN storage for VMware, such as VMFS, VMDKs, connectivity options and VMware storage features Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

SSD RAID essentials: What you need to know about flash and Raid

With the advent of flash and high-capacity HDDs, what do today’s storage professionals need to know about Raid and its new variants? Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

Storage Through the Looking Glass

This analyst report aims to help you take a much needed step away from the technical detail of storage to create some strategic perspective. Continue Reading

World’s fastest supercomputer gets 40PB of DDN storage

The US Oak Ridge lab builds home-grown HPC NAS for 40PB DataDirect Networks with 1TBps of throughput as a SAN to back-end Spider II file system on Titan supercomputer Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Real-life disaster recovery boost at video firm with HDS clustered NAS

Special effects video firm The Mill boosts HDS/BlueArc clustered NAS capacity to cope with HD movies and build disaster recovery site at London’s Docklands Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Big data storage: Defining big data and the type of storage it needs

Big data storage: What is big data, what compute/storage system configurations are used for big data analytics, and what type of storage infrastructure does it require? Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

DDN launches hScaler Hadoop appliance for enterprises

HPC and clustered NAS supplier Data Direct Networks aims at enterprise customers with Hadoop appliance comprising its SFA12K storage and commodity compute components Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Whiptail tops the class with flash array plus SAN two-tier strategy

School slashes virtual desktop login times with two-tier Whiptail flash array plus budget Huawei SAN Continue Reading

EMC seals deal with Chinese server giant Lenovo for desktop NAS

Storage giant EMC completes joint venture that will see it provide desktop NAS and SME rackmount storage hardware to Lenovo Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Top 10 storage stories of 2012

Top storage stories from 2012 reflect the rapid pace of virtualisation, big data, the proliferation of mobile devices and new twists on storage technologies such as tape and RAID Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Deduplication and single instance storage cut primary data storage costs

Data deduplication and single instance storage can cut costs in primary data environments, but implementations vary between suppliers. Continue Reading

By

• Manek Dubash

Whiptail promises four million IOPS all-flash array performance

All-flash array maker Whiptail has upgraded its Racerunner operating system so Invicta arrays can scale to four million IOPS and 360TB of capacity Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

DataDirect Networks takes aim at clustered NAS with SFA7700

DataDirect Networks (DDN) makes a play for clustered NAS customers with big data needs on its journey from HPC to scale-out supplier Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

CERN turns on new NetApp ONTAP clustered NAS capability

CERN turns on NetApp Data ONTAP 8.1.1 clustered NAS functionality for easy scaling and maintenance on its 2PB LHC data storage cluster Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Tune Raid performance to get the most from your HDDs

Tune Raid performance at the storage controller to match application I/O demands to optimal hard drive (HDD) performance Continue Reading

By

• Martin Taylor

The pros and cons of NAS as VM storage

Virtual server and desktop environments demand the use of shared storage for maximum efficiency. What are the key advantages of NAS as VM storage? Continue Reading

The benefits of an open source file system for storage

An open source file system can bring huge scalability, parallel file system capability and advanced features compared to those bundled with commercial operating systems. Continue Reading

By

• Manek Dubash

The key capabilities of SAN as virtual machine storage

Virtual server and desktop environments demand the use of shared storage for maximum efficiency, but what are the key advantages of SAN as virtual machine storage? Continue Reading

SSD RAID array: What it is and how to use it

An SSD RAID array offers the performance and data protection advantages RAID does with spinning disk, but what levels should you use and can you mix flash and HDDs in the same RAID group? Continue Reading

SSD for laptops and desktop computers: What type and how to install it

Adding SSD to laptop and desktop computers: What form factor, MLC or SLC, SATA or AHCI, and what are the key stages of installation? We answer your questions in this podcast. Continue Reading

The reasons for missing hard drive space on storage arrays

If you installed disk and didn’t get the capacity you expected, the missing hard drive space can be a result of operating system calculations, formatting, RAID and use of hot spares. Continue Reading

By

• Spencer Huckstepp, Bell Microsystems Ltd

Adding an old hard drive to RAID sets on servers

When adding an old hard drive to RAID sets on servers, it’s important to account for factors such as the number of drive bays in the host. See how to configure the drives to the appropriate RAID format for the workload. Continue Reading

By

• Steve Pinder, GlassHouse Technologies

Virtual machine storage and block vs file

Virtual machine storage requires greater performance, capacity and resiliency than with physical servers and requires a careful choice between block and file access. Continue Reading

Free SAN sizing template and useful guidelines

With the explosion in data volumes, optimal SAN design and SAN sizing is key. Use these practical SAN sizing tips and SAN sizing template to get there. Continue Reading

By

• Anuj Sharma

How to choose a NAS

Choosing a NAS might be complex but there are a few things you can do to simplify the choice Continue Reading

By

• Anthony Caruana

ATA over Ethernet offers SAN storage on a budget

ATA over Ethernet offers SAN storage on a budget, at 20% of the cost of Fibre Channel and half that of iSCSI SANs. But, does being a one-vendor protocol mean it’s a non-starter? Continue Reading

By

• Manek Dubash

Key steps for a successful SAN migration

For a successful SAN migration, it’s key to understand your current environment and the future state of the SAN, as well as to carry out a testing phase against each platform and migration strategy. Continue Reading

By

• Marc Brooks

Bad sectors – Storage news from Dell, Zerowait and Waikato District Health Board

Dell plans to bring its vStart pre-packaged infrastructure stacks to Australia later this year, while ZeroWait has scored an Australian customer for its SimplStor product. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

SAN migration strategy, preparation and execution

Learn what preparation goes into a SAN migration, how to handle the execution of the migration as well as the most difficult challenges, such as recabling in a fabric replacement. Continue Reading

Choosing a RAID level depends on capacity needs and data criticality

In this Ask the Expert, Steve Pinder talks about which RAID level to choose, depending on the criticality of your data or the capacity required. Continue Reading

By

• Steve Pinder, GlassHouse Technologies

Planning a NAS migration project

NAS migration requires careful planning around the needs of your organization. In this Ask the Expert, find out which approach to use for an effective migration. Continue Reading

By

• Ronny Front, NetApp

RAID 5 explained: Sharing a 10 MB file among 5 drives

Find out how RAID 5 handles sharing data shares data in a 10 MB file among five drives, including how striping and parity data figure into the equation. Continue Reading

By

• Steve Pinder, GlassHouse Technologies

Clustered NAS vs traditional NAS solutions

Clustered NAS offers file visibility across petabytes of storage and is hugely scalable with the ability to increase throughput, IOPS or disk space by adding extra nodes. Continue Reading

By

• Martin Glassborow, BSkyB

Object-based storage promises scalability and flexibility for static, unstructured data needs

Object storage gets rid of traditional file system hierarchies and puts in place a flat access structure that provides a good basis for hugely scalable unstructured data access. Continue Reading

By

• Martin Taylor

How to set up a Dell EqualLogic configuration in a VMware environment

Find out what the key steps are for setting up a Dell EqualLogic configuration for an iSCSI SAN in a VMware virtual server environment. Continue Reading

By

• James Carty, Cisco Systems

SAN troubleshooting: What are the key steps and best practices when troubleshooting a SAN?

Learn which tools you need to perform SAN troubleshooting, which metrics point to a sign of trouble, and why granular and regular data collection is important. Continue Reading

By

• Allaster Finke

How does the RAID 5 calculation work?

Learn how to determine how much capacity you'll have in a RAID 5 drive configuration. Continue Reading

By

• Steve Pinder, GlassHouse Technologies

MLC vs SLC: Which flash SSD is right for you?

Which flash SSD you choose depends on the performance you need and the price you want to pay, but the differences are not as great as you may think Continue Reading

By

• Manek Dubash

EMC won’t sell one VNX product in Australia

EMC has officially launched its new VNX and VNXe products, but will leave one of the new products out of its local range and sell a Clariion system instead. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

What does the parity bit do in RAID?

Find out how the use of a parity bit protects RAID groups and how it's used as a method for error detection. Continue Reading

By

• Steve Pinder, GlassHouse Technologies

ISCSI replacing Fibre Channel as dominant storage network technology

ISCSI is well on its way to replacing Fibre Channel as the de facto technology for SANs. Continue Reading

By

• Jo Maitland, TechTarget

ISCSI storage gets performance makeover

Vendors, including Ibrix, Mellanox, Alacritech and EqualLogic, are offering juiced-up new iSCSI configurations, while 3PAR, CipherMax and NeoScale boost data security products. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

RAID 5 recovery: What is the maximum number of physical drives in a RAID 5 configuration?

Adding drives to a RAID 5 set increases your ROI and the likelihood of simultaneous drive failures, and lengthens RAID rebuild times. So what should be your physical drive limit? Continue Reading

By

• David Boyd

Do all drives in a RAID 10 array need to be the same specification?

We tell you the one requirement when matching drive specs in a RAID 10 array. But will mixing drives of various performance levels compromise your RAID level? Continue Reading

By

• Steve Pinder, GlassHouse Technologies

RAID 10 vs RAID 50: What is the best way to configure a storage array with 16 1 TB drives?

Learn the characteristics of RAID 10 and RAID 50, as well as which RAID level is appropriate for your applications. I/O and protection needs contribute to your RAID choice. Continue Reading

By

• Allaster Finke

Small storage devices a hit at big hotel

Riverbed working to optimise iSCSI performance over wide area networks, to boost storage systems’ performance in cloud computing rigs. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood, Contributor

How to evaluate and purchase a SAN

The Royal Horticultural Society's network manager Martin Taylor guides users through the process of evaluating and purchasing a SAN. Continue Reading

By

• Martin Taylor

Hard disk drive specifications guide: What to look for when buying disk storage

Seek times, latency, data transfer rates, error correction codes and cache are important hard disk drive specifications. Learn the key features of hard disks drives so you can specify the right one for your data centre. Continue Reading

By

• Bilal Mehdi

RAID 10 vs. RAID 1: Mirrored drives matter

While RAID 10 and RAID 1 are both mirroring technologies that utilise half the available drives for data, a crucial difference is the number of drives they can use in a RAID group. Continue Reading

By

• Steve Pinder, GlassHouse Technologies

RAID 10: How many disk drives should you use?

The minimum number of drives required for RAID 10 is four. RAID 10 should not be confused with RAID 0+1, which involves creating two RAID 0 stripe sets and then mirroring them. Continue Reading

By

• Steve Pinder, GlassHouse Technologies

Which RAID level has the best price-to-performance comparison?

Configuring disk in RAID arrays brings a variety of benefits, most notably data protection and I/O performance. But which RAID level wins in terms of price vs. performance? Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

BlueArc challenges NetApp in the enterprise with Mercury 50, Mercury 100 network-attached storage (N

With NetApp distracted by Data Domain and late delivering Ontap with clustered NAS capabilities, BlueArc targets the enterprise NAS market with Mercury 50, Mercury 100 NAS systems. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

What is a LUN and why do we need storage LUNs?

 Continue Reading

By

• Allaster Finke

RAID 5 configuration: How to calculate disk space for data storage and parity storage

Find out how to calculate the disk space available for data storage and how much disk space is utilised for parity storage in a RAID 5 configuration. Continue Reading

By

• Allaster Finke

NAS Backup: What are my options?

 Continue Reading

By

• Brian Sakovitch, Symantec

LUN storage and its role in SAN management

Explore logical unit number (LUN) storage and its role in SAN management. Learn how to create a LUN, how to share a LUN, and find out about LUN provisioning and LUN masking. Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Thin provisioning FAQ

Tony Lock, programme director at analyst group Freeform Dynamics, answers common questions on thin provisioning. Continue Reading

How to evaluate and purchase a SAN

The Royal Horticultural Society's network manager Martin Taylor guides users through the process of evaluating and purchasing a SAN. Continue Reading

By

• Martin Taylor

Clariion array update blurs line between EMC platforms

A bigger, faster Clariion with advanced features, which first appeared in the Symmetrix line, has industry observers wondering about the increasing overlap between EMC systems. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Pivot3 consolidates physical servers onto storage arrays

Pivot3's IP SAN offers Serverless Computing, which eliminates the need for application servers by running them as guests on its storage arrays. Continue Reading

By

• Dave Raffo

NAS virtualization explained

NAS virtualization can refer to the ability to virtualise multiple NAS heads into a single virtualised file system or the ability to spawn multiple virtual file servers within a physical file server. Either way, performing NAS virtualisation via a virtualised file system gives a storage administrator greater flexibility in responding to the needs of the enterprise. Continue Reading

iSCSI SANs getting enterprise boost by shared storage, virtual servers

Enterprises are increasingly considering iSCSI SANs for departmental applications, server workloads that aren't bandwidth-intensive, and virtual servers. In fact, the connection between shared storage and virtualised servers is changing the iSCSI SAN game. Continue Reading

Optimising iSCSI SANs with the right Ethernet switch

iSCI SANS are now within the reach of many small businesses. Here's how to make sure the SAN works best, by optimising the supporting network. Continue Reading

By

• Jerome Wendt

EMC gives Centera a software refresh

EMC has tweaked the software for its Centera archiving system with an emphasis on handling more pieces of data rather than sheer bulk of information stored. Continue Reading

By

• Dave Raffo

NAS product specifications

NAS is so easy to install and manage that NAS sprawl is a common problem. This is why NAS is often a prime candidate for consolidation initiatives. Learn how to purchase NAS appliances with an eye toward NAS storage consolidation. Continue Reading

VMware, LeftHand offer iSCSI SAN as virtual machine

Channel partners will bundle LeftHand's virtual SAN appliance with VMware licenses for an ESX infrastructure that can run on one piece of physical hardware. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

HP exec: Storage blades may replace disk arrays in data center

An HP storage executive predicts that storage blades -- storage devices using the form factor and plug-and-play philosophy of blade servers - may replace disk arrays in the next 18 months Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood, Editor, TechTarget ANZ

Learn all about LUNs

A LUN is the unique address for a SCSI device or a virtual hard disk partition in a RAID configuration. This handbook tells how to manage and partition LUNs. Continue Reading

How to integrate iSCSI and Fibre Channel, and make it work

Learn about eight best practices for integrating iSCSI into a Fibre Channel SAN, as well as best deployment practices for iSCSI. Continue Reading

By

• Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor

LeftHand adds hardware to iSCSI SANs

LeftHand makes its iSCSI SAN software available on two prepackaged appliances; sources indicate the hardware comes from Dell. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

NetApp releases $3K iSCSI SAN

NetApp is continuing a push down-market with the release of the S300, the latest SMB iSCSI SAN in its StoreVault line. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Virtual appliance lets users convert DAS to iSCSI SAN

NetApp is continuing a push down-market with the release of the S300, the latest SMB iSCSI SAN in its StoreVault line. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Download NAS Upgrades Buying Guide: Chapter 2 -- NAS management software

You asked for it, so here it is -- a printable version of our NAS Buying Guide. Continue Reading

Storage Basics Part 3: Getting the most out of iSCSI

The Storage Basics series continues, with a look at how to get the most out of iSCSI. Continue Reading

By

• Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor

Storage Basics Part 2: What is iSCSI?

Day two of our storage basics special explains iSCSI. Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Bigelow, Contributor

New iSCSI SAN/NAS box touts better performance

Agami's new low-end iSCSI SAN/NAS box is pricier than other scaled-down offerings, but has a few more high-end features Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Users make iSCSI SANs with USB keys

Users say that Open-E's iSCSI SAN software, which is delivered on a USB stick, is more affordable than prepackaged systems and has more support than free iSCSI target products. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

LeftHand refreshes iSCSI SAN software

Version 7.0 of LeftHand's iSCSI SAN software contains dozens of new features, including support for four-way replication and brushed-up thin provisioning. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

EMC upgrades hardware range, goes green - UPDATE

EMC has upgraded its five main hardware lines, introduced power-saving technology and hinted at enhancements to its data de-duplication tools. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood with Beth Pariseau

Sun reveals open appliances

EMC has upgraded its five main hardware lines, introduced power-saving technology and hinted at enhancements to its data de-duplication tools. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood with Beth Pariseau

Temp agency moves hundreds of terabytes to iSCSI SAN

Adecco replaces 120 TB of Fibre Channel storage with an iSCSI SAN from LeftHand, including storage for large production databases; Exanet adds search; NetApp unleashes Topio. Continue Reading

LUN management at the heart of SAN configuration

Disk drives are the foundation of modern data storage, but operating systems cannot use physical storage directly. The physical drive must be translated into a logical space that an operating system sees as a linear address space comprised of fixed-size blocks. Storage networks must also partition their physical disks into logical entities so that host servers can access storage area network (SAN) storage, and each logical portion is called a logical unit number (LUN). This article explains essential LUN concepts and the role of LUNs in SAN technology. Continue Reading

By

• Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor

ISCSI TCP/IP TOE card specifications

One means of improving iSCSI traffic performance is to include TOE (TCI/IP Offload Engine) capability on the Ethernet card itself. An iSCSI TOE allows the network adapter to process iSCSI traffic (often all Ethernet LAN traffic) locally -- relieving those burdensome processing tasks from the host server or other computers connected to the LAN. To implement this capability, iSCSI servers must be upgraded with Ethernet NICs that include a TOE chip onboard. Although the selection of iSCSI TOE cards is generally limited to just a few manufacturers, it's important to consider the available ports, host interface, and other card characteristics before making a purchase. The product snapshots in this segment highlight key specifications for a cross-section of popular iSCSI TOE cards. Continue Reading

ISCSI for beginners

iSCSI is an Internet Protocol (IP)-based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities. Learns the basics in this fast guide. Continue Reading

By

• TechTarget Storage Editorial Staff

NAS appliance purchase considerations

NAS appliances are frequently touted for bringing convenience and simplicity to network storage. Appliances include their own dedicated disks for storage and RAID, and most NAS appliances can be upgraded with more or larger disks for additional storage space. However, NAS appliances do pose some disadvantages. Consequently, the choice of NAS appliance requires careful evaluation. Now that you've reviewed the essential issues involved in any NAS product, this guide focuses on specific considerations for dedicated NAS appliances. You'll also find a series of specifications to help make on-the-spot product comparisons between vendors. Continue Reading

NAS gateway purchase considerations

NAS gateways overcome the inherent limitations of scale and flexibility by utilizing externally connected storage as external standalone disk arrays. NAS storage capacity is typically expanded by simply adding more disks to the appliance, but this only allows users to scale up to the capacity limit of the appliance. It's also common for a NAS gateway to share storage through a storage area network (SAN), allowing users to consolidate their NAS data on SAN storage and realize the benefits of high performance and redundancy. Now that you've reviewed the essential issues involved in any NAS product, this Buying Guide focuses on specific considerations for NAS gateway products. Continue Reading

NAS gateway specifications

A NAS gateway offers file-based accesses to external storage on a disk array -- or a SAN, where users can take advantage of superior performance and reliability while maintaining a level of simplicity. Since storage is moved off of the NAS device, interoperability and connectivity are crucial issues, and virtualization is increasingly important for superior scaling and utilization of the storage resources. The product snapshots in this chapter highlight key specifications for a cross section of major NAS gateway products. Continue Reading