Storage performance
Buying wisely and tuning your storage infrastructure for the best possible storage performance is vital to ensure the business is adequately supported. Understanding storage performance starts when you begin to evaluate manufacturers’ products and continues as you set up, configure and tune storage hardware to suit your workloads.
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Podcast
04 Nov 2025
HDD metrics and why mean time to failure is not terribly useful
In this podcast, we talk to Rainer Kaese of Toshiba about hard drive metrics, why MTTF is less useful than annualised failure rate, and why big systems need to use enterprise drives Continue Reading
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Feature
03 Nov 2025
What are the storage requirements for AI training and inference?
Storage for AI must cope with huge volumes of data that can multiply rapidly as vector data is created, plus lightning-fast I/O requirements and the needs of agentic AI Continue Reading
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News
12 Apr 2017
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
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Feature
08 Mar 2017
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
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News
07 Mar 2017
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
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Feature
06 Feb 2017
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
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Feature
06 Feb 2017
Moore’s Law is running out – but don’t panic
Can system performance continue to improve to cope with the burgeoning needs of datacentres Continue Reading
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Feature
03 Feb 2017
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
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News
12 Jan 2017
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
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Feature
12 Dec 2016
Disaster recovery testing: technology systems to test DR
In this concluding part of a two-part series, Computer Weekly looks at ways of testing disaster recovery plans, with methods including array-based replication and hypervisor-based approaches Continue Reading
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Feature
01 Dec 2016
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
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Opinion
06 Oct 2016
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
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Feature
23 May 2016
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
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News
29 Mar 2016
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
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Feature
09 Mar 2016
Examining the Teradata Data Warehouse
With both relational and columnar options, the Teradata Active Enterprise Data Warehouse gives companies an efficient, scalable appliance they can deploy in-house or in the cloud. Continue Reading
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Feature
17 Feb 2016
What to expect from Oracle Exadata Database Machine
Oracle Exadata Database Machine combines hardware and software to enable analytics, batch, reporting and other tasks to run simultaneously within and across databases. Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Jan 2016
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
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News
24 Jun 2015
NetApp adds AFF All-Flash FAS 8000 series storage arrays
NetApp boosts its SSD array portfolio with the addition of AFF All-Flash FAS 8000 series storage arrays built on Data ONTAP, but still no sign of FlashRay general availability Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Jun 2015
Which in-memory DBMS best fits your company's needs?
Database expert Craig S. Mullins examines some top in-memory DBMS software offerings to help you determine which is the best fit for your organization. Continue Reading
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Feature
17 Apr 2015
How to determine if an in-memory DBMS is right for your company
Database expert Craig S. Mullins examines the pros and cons of the in-memory database management system, and the criteria you should consider during the request-for-proposal and evaluation period. Continue Reading
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Feature
16 Mar 2015
Top five things you need to know about VMware Virtual Volumes
VMware’s Virtual Volumes (VVOLs) promise a revolution in storage for virtual machines, but what are the key things you need to know? Continue Reading
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News
15 Jan 2015
Amatis Networks waves goodbye to LUN woes and deploys Tintri hybrid flash
Managed service provider Amatis Networks deploys Tintri hybrid flash to slash latency and cut time-consuming LUN storage management overheads Continue Reading
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Feature
18 Aug 2014
Scale-out NAS product survey: The big six
We survey the big six storage array makers’ scale-out NAS product ranges Continue Reading
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Feature
31 Jul 2014
Key storage performance metrics for virtual environments
We run the rule over storage performance metrics – latency, throughput and IOPS – that are key to optimising virtual machines Continue Reading
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News
08 Jul 2014
EMC XtremIO, VMAX and Isilon get new CPUs and data services
EMC boosts XtremIO, VMAX and Isilon with Ivy Bridge CPUs and advanced data services including flash array snapshots Continue Reading
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Feature
04 Jul 2014
Big players target object storage at cloud and archive
All but one of the big six storage vendors have object storage products that target public and private cloud environments and/or archiving use cases Continue Reading
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Feature
28 May 2014
In-memory databases - what they do and the storage they need
In-memory databases offer high performance data processing, but how do you protect data in volatile DRAM and what kind of storage is needed for longer term retention? Continue Reading
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Feature
16 May 2013
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
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Feature
10 Dec 2012
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
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Feature
14 May 2012
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
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Feature
15 Sep 2011
Encryption techniques and products for hardware-based data storage security
Encryption techniques can be applied to data on the drive or array, at the host or in the fabric. We survey the key hardware-based methods and products available for data storage security. Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Jan 2011
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