Storage fabric, switches and networks

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

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

By

• Bill Bennett

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

Cisco recalls Ethernet switches over fault risk

A potential fault on a number of IE-5000 switches could give users a nasty shock, says supplier Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

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

By

• Bryan Betts, Freeform Dynamics

Hewlett Packard Enterprise: think of us as a startup

As Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP Inc finally part ways, UK managing director Andy Isherwood shares some insight on what the future holds for the newly minted enterprise business Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Will digital government remain on course?

In this week's Computer Weekly, the UK government's digital chief has announced his shock departure, but what will it mean for the future of digital public services? Dell went back to a private company two years ago – has it proved to be a successful move? And our latest buyer's guide looks at big data appliances. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Wellcome Trust builds 1,728-core grid for DNA analysis

The Wellcome Trust Centre has deployed a high-performance computing cluster based on Fujitsu servers Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Interview: The IT powering animated movie-making

Video special effects require similar processing to oil and gas, but lack the budget, says head of technology at Illumination Mac Guff, Bruno Mahe Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

EMC buys out Cisco’s stakes in VCE as year-on-year revenue jumps 9%

Storage giant EMC has reported a 9% increase year on year for the third quarter of 2014, thanks to revenue rises across its divisions Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

The challenges facing HP as it splits in two

HP is splitting its business in two - but it is a reaction to the changing way that businesses and consumers buy IT Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Facebook shares lessons learnt from deploying Raid in HDFS clusters

Facebook deployed Raid in large HDFS clusters to increase capacity and reduce data replication, but it faced many challenges Continue Reading

How big data brings big donations for charities

In this week’s Computer Weekly, hear how big data is helping charities to improve their fundraising by better targeting potential donors. We find out how the UK’s biggest newspaper publisher is moving its IT to the cloud. And we examine the options for datacentre cooling technologies to cut your energy costs. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Erasure coding vs Raid as a data protection method

Erasure coding is mooted as a potential successor to Raid and backup software Continue Reading

By

• Manek Dubash

Converged stacks: What they are and the benefits they bring

We survey the converged stacks market: Servers, storage and networking in pre-configured product bundles for specific virtualisation and application use cases. Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

UK IT spending to outpace rest of Europe in 2014

Computer Weekly research reveals the IT spending priorities for UK and European organisations in 2014. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Business-defined storage will help reconnect businesses with IT, says Forrester

Business-defined storage and datacentres will make IT more business-centric, according to Forrester Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Emulex ExpressLane and CrossLink boost HBAs for flash and Hadoop

Storage card maker Emulex has added QoS prioritisation for flash storage and leveraged RDMA via Fibre Channel to increase server performance in clustered operations such as Hadoop 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

Lotus F1 Team invests in converged datacentre to support race strategy

Lotus F1 Team is about to go live with a converged datacentre infrastructure as it begins the development of a championship-winning car for 2015 Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Fibre Channel vs FCoE. Fibre Channel rules. For now

Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and converged network adapters (CNA) offer storage and networking on one infrastructure, but what are the pros and cons of moving to FCoE? Continue Reading

By

• Andy Wragg, GlassHouse Technologies (UK)

iSCSI switch selection and configuration

iSCSI switch selection means looking out for the type of features that matter to iSCSI SAN traffic. We run the rule over the iSCSI switch market to see what’s available Continue Reading

By

• Martin Taylor

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

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

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

iSCSI security: Networking and security options available

iSCSI security options include physical and virtual IP/Ethernet networking methods as well as built-in storage and switch device security features. Read about them here. Continue Reading

By

• Martin Taylor

10 GbE: iSCSI bandwidth increase improves protocol’s position against FC

With a boost to iSCSI bandwidth with 10 Gigabit Ethernet, products that support the protocol offer features to rival Fibre Channel SANs, including scalability and hypervisor integration. Continue Reading

By

• Martin Taylor

Server SSD guide to form factors and implementations

Server SSD offers immense gains in IOPS and throughput. We look at how it works, form factors available and its advantages and pitfalls, and we survey key vendors in the market. Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

HPC storage requirements: Massive IOPS and parallel file systems

We survey the key vendors in HPC storage, where huge amounts of IOPS, clustering, parallel file systems and custom silicon provide storage for massive number crunching operations. Continue Reading

By

• Manek Dubash

Unified storage goes mainstream

Unified storage has gone mainstream, with full protocol support from the top five vendors. We survey the options available, including single platforms and NAS gateways. Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

The best place for SSD in a virtual machine environment

Using SSD in a virtual machine environment is the ideal choice to speed response times to I/O demands, but where should you install it within the server and storage infrastructure? Continue Reading

Midrange SAN vendors boost solid-state and drive options

With desktop and server virtualisation driving the market, midrange SAN vendors boost solid-state and spinning-disk options to bring enterprise-like performance. Continue Reading

By

• Lindsay Clark

DDN HPC storage calculates risk

Storage roundup: DDN HPC storage calculates risk; BBC Wales gets Object Matrix NAS; Arkivium to use IBM tape; CommVault expands global support from Reading; and more news. Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

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

Fibre Channel over IP: What it is and what it’s used for

Fibre Channel over IP bundles Fibre Channel frames into IP packets and can be a cost-sensitive solution to link remote fabrics where no dark fibre exists between sites. Continue Reading

By

• Marc Parsons, GlassHouse Technologies (UK)

Enterprise MLC: How flash vendors are boosting MLC write endurance

Enterprise MLC: Flash vendors are boosting MLC write endurance to level read/write wear, improve error correction and combat flash’s inherent tendency to write amplification. Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

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

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

Fibre Channel SAN zoning: Pros and cons of WWN zoning and port zoning

Learn the difference between World Wide Name zoning (WWN zoning) and port zoning, as well as the pros and cons of each on a Fibre Channel storage-area network (Fibre Channel SAN). Continue Reading

By

• Steve Pinder, GlassHouse Technologies

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