Storage management and strategy

CIO interview: Amitabh Apte, global director of digital integration, Mars

The consumer goods giant’s global director of integration talks about developing an API strategy, consistency and increasing customer focus Continue Reading

What is storage-class memory and what is it used for?

HPE has announced the availability of storage-class memory in its products and other array makers are expect to follow. So what does SCM do for analytics-centred workloads? Continue Reading

Data protection, backup and replication in the age of the cloud

A data protection and backup strategy has to take account of the expansion of the sphere of IT, from the datacentre to the public cloud to devices and locations at the edge Continue Reading

How to build SME storage using public cloud storage

Small companies can often take advantage of public cloud storage offerings to supplement or replace on-premise infrastructure. We look at key options in file, block and object storage Continue Reading

How to implement a multicloud storage strategy

We look at how to build a multicloud storage strategy and benefits such as performance, availability and features, as well as potential limitations such as data mobility. Continue Reading

Data volumes set to hit 175ZB with a tectonic shift to the cloud

There will be more data in the public cloud than enterprise datacentres or consumer devices by 2025 as data shifts location, according to a study by IDC and Seagate Continue Reading

Storage 101: Unstructured data and its storage needs

Unstructured data exists in huge volumes, but often it is semi-structured with metadata. We lift the lid on unstructured data and key approaches to its storage Continue Reading

Survey: Data very fragmented, and that’s a worry for most

Cohesity-sponsored survey finds most organisations store multiple copies of secondary data and worry about the cost and the effect on their competitiveness Continue Reading

How the Science Museum is moving to the digital age

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how London’s Science Museum is dealing with legacy IT to move into the age of digital and data. We examine Nationwide Building Society’s move to cloud and DevOps to transform its operations. And we look at how technologies such as machine learning and blockchain are helping to automate global supply chains. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Fortunes of storage vary in big five led by Dell EMC and NetApp

The big five take 50% of the enterprise storage market, with Dell EMC and HPE dominating. But some struggle with successive quarters of shrinkage while others see storage shine Continue Reading

Nutanix extends its Beam to private cloud deployments

Hyper-converged infrastructure maker Nutanix pushes its Beam cloud monitoring and management platform into customers’ datacentres, but only for Nutanix deployments, for now Continue Reading

As data volumes grow, backup needs analytics, says StorageCraft CEO

Backup appliance maker’s CEO says backup needs analytics so customers can prioritise restore of critical data in a world where volumes increase by 50% a year Continue Reading

Internet of things challenges in storage and data

The internet of things (IoT) brings challenges, with a host of new edge devices and data. We look at edge and core processing, compliance and information lifecycle management in IoT Continue Reading

Hammerspace launches with hybrid cloud-era NAS virtualisation

Startup Hammerspace launches from five-year stealth to make NAS files available anywhere, on-prem and in cloud, with technology that splits metadata and payload for lightweight virtualisation Continue Reading

App-based self-service healthcare

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine the long-awaited mobile app from the NHS, which has started public trials, and ask what it means for a digital health service. We hear from early experimenters of blockchain to find out what it will take for the technology to be enterprise-ready. And we analyse the impact of mergers and acquisitions on corporate networks. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

How to implement a multicloud storage strategy

We look at how to build a multicloud storage strategy and benefits such as performance, availability and features, as well as potential limitations such as data mobility Continue Reading

GDPR compliance and storage in digital transformation projects

Key considerations when transforming physical data into digital, the impacts on compliance and how to ensure access, encryption to data and safe disposal of physical assets Continue Reading

Flash storage in the cloud from the big cloud providers

We survey the big three cloud providers – AWS, Azure and Google – and find a range of mostly block storage flash storage options with performance choices available Continue Reading

CW Europe: Costs stack up for Dutch government IT projects

In this issue of CW Europe, we look at analysis by a Dutch newspaper which discovered that government-controlled IT projects in the Netherlands go over budget by 40%, on average. We also find out how Berlin’s Digital Career Institute is building web skills among refugees and the unemployed across Germany. Download the issue now. Continue Reading

Printing, document capture and compliance risk in the GDPR era

Printers, scanners and mobile devices that capture data from documents all store data in some way or other. How can you be sure to be compliant with GDPR with regard to that data? Continue Reading

How the big five storage array makers tier data to the cloud

We look at the big five storage array makers' efforts to connect on-premise hardware with cloud storage and find automated tiering, on-ramps, and backup and archive capability Continue Reading

Enterprise demand drives hike in storage sales, says IDC

Healthy jump in all-flash and SAN/NAS sales is being driven by enterprise storage modernisation, but also by component price rises. Dell EMC and NetApp top the supplier sales charts Continue Reading

Taming the data beast with software-defined storage

Australian enterprises are turning to software-defined storage to improve data management and speed up testing and development Continue Reading

Storage 101: Self-encrypting drives' benefits and limitations

Self-encrypting drives are a cost-effective way to ensure compliance in certain situations. We look at self-encrypting drives, what they’re good for and their limitations Continue Reading

A guide to choosing and using all-flash array storage

We take a look at the considerations when devising an all-flash array storage strategy, and what enterprises can do to get the most out of the technology Continue Reading

Match cache and storage tiers to app needs with new storage media

How to match cache and storage tier needs to the dizzying array of solid state media now available, including flash, QLC/TLC, NVMe, storage-class memory, NVMDimm and MRAM Continue Reading

HPE pins hopes on intelligent edge as hybrid strategy flattens

HPE sees hybrid as the future of enterprise IT, but revenue has been affected by currency fluctuations and its intelligent edge business is growing quickly Continue Reading

Quest goes software-only with QoreStor. Next stop, the cloud

Quest makes backup product software-defined with QoreStor, with dedupe functionality that can be added to other backup products, and plans cloud backup with native storage next Continue Reading

Hybrid cloud a key milestone on the road to cloud storage

The cloud seems to lend itself to use as a storage location. There are lots of bumps in the road, however, and hybrid cloud should be a key medium-term aim for organisations Continue Reading

How container technology is evolving

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as adoption of containers grows rapidly, we look at the choices and potential benefits of the technology. We examine the efforts being made to secure internet of things devices and ask if legislation is needed. And we assess how the government’s latest Brexit plans will affect the UK tech sector. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Tackling the digital identity problem

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as UK government attempts to create a digital identity standard flounder, we examine progress on establishing the online ID system the digital economy needs. Barclays Bank talks about its move to DevOps and public cloud with Amazon Web Services. And we find out how using AI and chatbots could help improve IT service management. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Cloud HCI survey: Cloud functionality in hyper-converged infrastructure

We look at how you can use hyper-converged infrastructure to build private clouds and link up with public cloud services to develop hybrid and multi-cloud working Continue Reading

Future-proofing Gatwick Airport’s networks

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we go behind the scenes at London Gatwick Airport and talk to its CIO about a critical network upgrade to support passenger growth. Our latest buyer’s guide examines automation and intelligent systems management. And we assess and compare the latest technologies for boosting storage performance. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Cloud storage: Amazon vs Azure vs Google vs IBM Softlayer

Computer Weekly looks at the biggest four cloud storage providers, how they stand in the market, the products they offer, and which offers the widest range of products and features Continue Reading

CW ANZ: Object storage hits a sweet spot

Enterprises in Australia are only getting started on object storage, which does away with the traditional file directories, making it easier to access and move data in a heterogeneous IT environment. In this issue of CW ANZ, we look at how Australian companies are dipping their toes into object storage, the challenges they are facing and the state of the market. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

NHS trust dumps creaking EMC SAN for Nutanix hyper-converged

Derbyshire-based NHS trust had reached end-of-life with Dell servers and EMC SAN, so it took the plunge with Nutanix hyper-converged to reap space, power and reliability gains Continue Reading

GDPR and backup: A potential minefield easily avoided

The right to be forgotten will be impossible in backups and snapshots, but systems can be built that automate for compliance, says Andy Barratt of security consultancy Coalfire Continue Reading

Cloud NAS offers file access across on-site and in-cloud

We run the rule over cloud NAS products that allow customers to build single-namespace file systems, including between in-house datacentres and public cloud storage Continue Reading

England and Wales Cricket Board to improve players’ medical data

Cricketers’ medical images will be stored securely in an independent clinical archive, enabling clinicians to access medical data and make treatment decisions more quickly Continue Reading

Compliance in the cloud: Avoiding the cloud compliance trap

When you hand over data to a cloud provider, you don’t hand over responsibility for legal and regulatory compliance. Beware of falling into a cloud compliance trap Continue Reading

Object storage is inching into Australian enterprises

Even as Aussie firms such as Bauer Media and Redbubble are lapping up object storage, others are facing visibility and analytics issues with the technology Continue Reading

ASEAN seeks to tame data deluge with object storage

Led by Singapore and Thailand, the object storage market in Southeast Asia is expected to grow at a double-digit rate in the next few years Continue Reading

Podcast: How the internet of things affects storage and compliance

We look at the impact on storage and compliance of the rise of IoT, with tips from Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust, on how to manage endpoints in an internet of things environment Continue Reading

Podcast: RSA abuzz over data orchestration and blockchain

At RSA 2018 in San Francisco, blockchain and cloud/data orchestration were big topics. In this podcast, Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust, talks us through the key areas discussed at the event Continue Reading

Backup 101: Incremental vs differential backup

In this Backup 101 article, we look at incremental versus differential backup and walk through the advantages and disadvantages of these two key backup strategies Continue Reading

Who needs hybrid cloud object storage?

Hybrid cloud object storage products are an emerging category. But what use cases are driving their emergence? And which suppliers lead the way? Continue Reading

Western Digital adds StorReduce deduplication to object storage

US hardware giant Western Digital links up with StorReduce to provide data deduplication for object storage that combines WD ActiveScale scale-out appliances with the startup’s dedupe software Continue Reading

Pivot3 Cloud Edition adds backup from hyper-converged to AWS

Hyper-converged infrastructure node maker dips its toes into hybrid cloud operations with Pivot3 Cloud Edition on Amazon Web Services to add cloud backup to HCI Continue Reading

DR 101: The disaster recovery plan and disaster recovery strategy

We walk through the key steps and essential building blocks required to develop a disaster recovery strategy and how to write a disaster recovery plan Continue Reading

Hybrid cloud mainstream, but seamless operations hard to achieve

Survey by 451 Research finds most organisations use a mix of on-premise and cloud locations, but truly seamless hybrid cloud operations are very difficult to achieve Continue Reading

All-flash rules while Brexit slows UK storage spend, says IDC

IDC quarterly storage shipments tracker shows all-flash storage on top of the pile while Brexit slows UK spending and Huawei knocks Hitachi Data Systems out of top five Continue Reading

Storage 101: How to create, share and manage a LUN in SAN storage

Despite pronouncements from some, the days of the logical unit number (LUN) are not over. We look at the LUN in SAN management: How to create, share, provision and manage a LUN Continue Reading

Druva maintains cloud course with AWS cloud-to-cloud backup plans

Backup product supplier Druva plans cloud-to-cloud backup to Amazon Web Services and other public cloud services as demand arises, in a future firmly fixed on hybrid operations Continue Reading

Getting up to speed with 5G

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at what needs to be done to make next-generation 5G mobile networks a reality. Fewer EU workers are moving to the UK due to Brexit fears – we examine what that means for the IT skills gap. And we analyse the state of the hyper-converged infrastructure market and the main suppliers. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Scality Zenko 'multi-cloud controller' offers hybrid cloud boost

S3-based software control layer will support Amazon, Google and Microsoft clouds to bring hybrid cloud operations, with object storage across private and public clouds Continue Reading

Cloud DR: Key choices in cloud disaster recovery

Flexibility and low cost make the cloud well-suited to disaster recovery, but there is no one-size-fits-all route to cloud disaster recovery. We look at the key choices 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

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

GDPR requests to take thousands of hours a month, says survey

A recent survey predicts organisations will potentially face thousands of customer requests about their personal information every month, with many unprepared for GDPR compliance Continue Reading

ESG survey: Storage spending habits become ‘hybrid-cloud-defined’

Analyst survey finds cloud is used as a way to make storage more efficient, but organisations are also bringing cloud apps back into the datacentre and spending on in-house capacity Continue Reading

GDPR worries hit cloud storage investments, says survey

NetApp-sponsored survey finds lack of customer confidence in cloud service providers’ retention of GDPR-affected data has led organisations to rethink and scale back cloud investments 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

Will banking regulations create a new Big Bang?

In this week's Computer Weekly, we look at two important new financial services regulations, PSD2 and open banking, which promise to revolutionise the industry by opening up customer data. We ask security researchers to explain the Spectre and Meltdown processor flaws and how to tackle them. And we examine the NVMe protocol and its likely benefits for storage technologies. Read the issue now. 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

Laing O’Rourke unifies on-site and cloud backup on Commvault

Construction firm sweeps away tape and multiple backup products for single Commvault environment to cut admin time, slash backup windows and boost legal and regulatory compliance 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

Cloud-to-cloud backup: What it is and why you need it

Applications that run in the cloud are protected, but only so much. For full protection of data generated by cloud-based apps you need cloud-to-cloud backup Continue Reading

Chancellor earmarks £500m for UK technology growth

In this week’s Computer Weekly, after chancellor Philip Hammond offered £500m in his Autumn Budget to boost the tech sector, we ask if it’s enough to ease industry fears over Brexit. Experts debate the future of artificial intelligence and its effects on society. And we find out how emerging technologies could help the work of charity Save the Children. Read the issue now. 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

CW ANZ: Rise to the big data challenge

Like their counterparts in other parts of the world, Australian businesses are facing a data explosion as they roll out more digital services for customers. Take IAG for instance. A year ago, the insurance giant had a data store of just over 80TB, but today it manages a collection of 2TB, which is growing by 14TB a month. In this month’s issue of CW ANZ, we look at how Aussie organisations are fine-tuning their storage strategy to keep up with the demands of big data without compromising performance and service levels. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

OpenStack vs hyper-converged: Open-source cloud in the datacentre

We look at how to deploy OpenStack on hyper-converged infrastructure and how HCI suppliers’ products can support deployment of the open-source cloud in the datacentre 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

How banking technology has changed since the crash

In this week’s Computer Weekly, 10 years after the financial crash, we examine how banking technology has changed as a result of the economic crisis. We look at how GDPR, the EU’s new data protection laws, will affect your data storage strategies. And we ask if the cryptocurrency boom will remain a niche pursuit or whether the underlying technologies can bring benefits for enterprise IT. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

CW Middle East: How women can fill the tech skills gap

The growth of the IT sector continues to drive both innovation and employment in the Gulf, but women – as with all industries in the region – are under-represented in technology by significant margins, and could help to fill the tech skills gap. Also in this issue, read about growing threats in Saudi Arabia’s cyber sector, and how Dubai is becoming a world leader in smart city developments. 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

Scality Zenko.io brings hybrid cloud storage virtualisation

Zenko.io is a control layer that allows customers to manage data in on-site Scality ring object storage and multiple public clouds but falls short of full data portability for now Continue Reading

GDPR brings serious implications for data storage

New European Union data protection regulations put tough requirements on organisations that store “personally identifiable data”. We look at what is needed to achieve compliance 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

Finnish government scraps paper and digitises archives

The government in Finland is digitising 94 shelf kilometres of documents to save millions of euros and make the information easier to access 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 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

NetApp to launch SolidFire-based HCI hyper-converged appliances

NetApp HCI will comprise hyper-converged infrastructure appliances based on SolidFire flash storage with QoS and compute from an unnamed supplier later in 2017 Continue Reading

The brain as a model for data storage

The future of data storage will not be in the binary switching of electrical cells as in flash storage. It may also not be in magnetism-based potential successors to flash such as Racetrack Memory, ... 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

Cloud data portability: Obstacles to it and how to achieve it

Cloud providers are very keen to get your data into their systems but sometimes it can be difficult or costly to move it elsewhere. We look at solutions to cloud portability Continue Reading

Toxic data: What it is and how to find it and deal with it

In this podcast, Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust, looks at the management of legacy data and how to find and deal with toxic data that could expose your organisation to compliance breaches 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

3D XPoint et al to force architecture and software changes

New solid state technologies such as 3D XPoint will be a second tier of memory, bringing change to hardware architectures and software to be rewritten, says SNIA solid state group chair Continue Reading

Backup testing: What to test, when to test, how often to test

We run the rule over what’s involved in backup testing in virtual and physical server environments, how often you should test and the key pitfalls to avoid 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

StorageOS goes to market with persistent Docker container storage

StorageOS is now available on the Docker marketplace with software product that manages stateful storage for containers, with advanced storage features such as data protection and encryption 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

Analytics, internet of things to drive data volumes to 163ZB by 2025

IDC study predicts consumers as creators of data will decline as the enterprise, analytics and “life critical” scenarios push total volumes to a tenfold increase by 2025 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