Storage

Business impact analysis (BIA) at heart of disaster recovery planning

Business impact analysis is at the heart of all good disaster recovery planning projects. Learn about the UK guidelines for conducting a BIA. Continue Reading

Block vs file for Hyper-V and VMware storage: Which is better?

Is block- or file-based storage better for Hyper-V and VMware virtual server environments? The answer depends on the precise needs of your virtual server environment. Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

Backing up virtual servers vs physical servers

Find out about the differences between backing up virtual servers vs physical servers, best practices in virtual server backup and how to avoid crash-consistent database backups. Continue Reading

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

Backup appliance: Backup software and hardware in one box

A backup appliance provides the backup app, processing power and disk to give all you need for SMB or branch office backup pre-packaged into one easy-to-manage box. Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

Cloud compliance: What it is and how to achieve it

Cloud compliance is an issue for anyone using cloud storage or backup services. What do you need to know about your data, and how do you ensure it is compliant when in the cloud? Continue Reading

Synchronous vs asynchronous replication: Order of events during data writes

Learn about the order of events during data writes in synchronous vs asynchronous replication. Continue Reading

By

• Steve Pinder, GlassHouse Technologies

How Google runs its storage and more from the storage blogs

Google has posted a paper that outlines its storage architecture, and that’s the choicest morsel in a month when the usual blogosphere protagonists have gone easy on each other. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

SMB storage: What can you outsource to cloud storage and backup services?

SMB storage: Cloud storage and backup offer many cost-saving advantages to SMBs, but drawbacks too, so what exactly can you outsource to the cloud right now? Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

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

Cloud disaster recovery services vs. traditional DR: A weigh-in

Do cloud disaster recovery services’ benefits outweigh those of traditional DR? An expert weighs the viability of these disaster recovery approaches. Continue Reading

By

• Simran Gambhir, Contributor

HDS, NetApp and EMC all agree on big data

HDS, EMC and NetApp have all picked up on the same ‘Big Data” theme in recent blogs, but is NetApp struggling to ship enough FAS 3200 units to meet demand? Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

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

Test data deduplication tools with these five guidelines

Here is a list of five critical aspects to reflect on while testing data deduplication tools for actual results after your rollout. Continue Reading

By

• Anuj Sharma, Contributor

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

Thin provisioning best practices for virtual server environments

This tip emphasizes on the key factors to consider while provisioning thin storage for virtual server environments. Continue Reading

By

• Anuj Sharma, Contributor

Remote replication: Comparing data replication methods

Learn how remote replication fits into a disaster recovery plan, as well as the various data replication methods available, such as host-based, array-based and network-based replication. Continue Reading

How virtual machine backup differs from traditional backup

Virtual machine backup can be accomplished with traditional backup tools but can be better effected with snapshots and dedicated virtual server backup products. Continue Reading

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

Snapshot technology: The role of snapshots in today's backup environments

We've collected our top resources on snapshot technology. Gain more insight on snapshots before you decide to use them in place of your data backup system. Continue Reading

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

Data migration projects: Avoid data migration errors with automation, orphaned storage remediation

Learn the top three things users should do when planning a data migration project, what data migration tools you should have, describe some of the most common data migration errors, and describe some storage environment challenges when migrating data. Continue Reading

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

HDS and EMC's unified plans ridiculed by 3Par, Pillar, NetApp labelled "NotApp"

The storage blogosphere has adopted some wonderfully plain speech to describe the current mania for "unified storage" as EMC, HDS, NetApp, Pillar and 3Par sound off. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

Geoscience Australia selects IBM 3592 cartridges as its tape migration extends beyond ten years

Geoscience Australia selects IBM 3592 cartridges as its tape migration extends beyond ten years Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

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

Evolving cloud storage market has users weighing their enterprise data storage options

This series takes an in-depth look at the evolving concepts of cloud storage and all of its subtypes, such as internal, external, private and public clouds. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Performance metrics: Evaluating your data storage efficiency

Learn how performance metrics can evaluate the efficiency of your enterprise data storage resources in terms of capacity utilization, performance and data protection. Continue Reading

By

• Greg Schulz, The Server and StorageIO Group

Data asset inventory key to disaster recovery planning and design

A disaster recovery plan should include a data asset inventory and business impact analysis, define the company's DR levels and explore DR site options (hot, warm or cold site). Continue Reading

By

• Cath Everett

Data backup software: Selection, implementation and optimization advice for Indian businesses

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By

• Anil Patrick

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

A guide to storage virtualization

Few technologies are more confusing than storage virtualization. Without a guide to explain the different storage virtualization solutions, storage administrators who want to deploy this technology will be lost. Continue Reading

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

Managing enterprise data storage more efficiently: Part 1

Storage managers must learn to improve storage efficiency though smarter spending, while taking steps to reduce operating expenditures during budget crunches. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

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

Green storage best practices control costs, increase energy efficiency

Green storage best practices control power and cooling costs, and increase energy efficiency in your data center. Tiered storage, consolidating storage arrays, solid-state drives (SSDs) and MAID can help. Continue Reading

By

• James Damoulakis, GlassHouse Technologies

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

Make IT change management part of your disaster recovery plan

All the disaster recovery technology in the world won't help without the right culture and process, writes Burton analyst Richard Jones. Continue Reading

By

• Richard Jones

Incremental vs. differential backup: A comparison

In this Storage Basics on incremental vs differential backup, we explore the benefits and drawbacks of each of these backup strategies Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Sectors - NetApp says EMC Centera loses data, gets slapped by blogosphere

NetApp has tried to smear EMC, starting a blogosphere brawl which embroiled Symantec but may have left egg on its face. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

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

Podcast: Data deduplication on primary storage

What should a storage administrator know before using data deduplication on primary storage? Eric Burgener, senior analyst and consultant at the Taneja Group, discusses the impact data deduplication on primary storage will have and the things to consider before using it. Continue Reading

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

NetApp dedupes data on rivals' primary storage

NetApp extends its free data deduplication to its V-Series gateways, making it possible for its customers to dedupe their primary storage. But users say what's missing is a GUI and data dedupe for VTLs. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

3PAR shrinks virtual desktop storage

3PAR's software package allows users of its high-end disk arrays to store a single "golden image" of virtual desktops and hold that image in cache for better boot performance. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Friction grows between storage vendors, VMware

As the booming server virtualisation market spawns new competitors to VMware, how virtual machines connect with storage is becoming a matter of contention among vendors. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

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

SNW Roundup: Sun adds data deduplication to VTL

Sun comes out with VTL Prime, a virtual tape library with FalconStor's data deduplication; Attune gets into file archiving; and SGI, Fujitsu and Dot Hill launch storage systems. Continue Reading

By

• Dave Raffo

Isilon reveals turnaround plan

Clustered storage vendor vows to continue to spend on product development, sales and marketing, despite losing nearly $27 million (£13.5m) in its first year as public company. Continue Reading

By

• Dave Raffo

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

NetApp says flagging economy could boost its sales

The current economic downturn may actually help boost NetApp's appeal to storage users, according to company officials at its US Analyst Day Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Hot Spots: A new level of backup reporting

A bumper crop of backup reporting tools can provide invaluable insight into backup operations for you and the boss. Continue Reading

By

• Lauren Whitehouse

Data Domain makes remote office data deduplication push

Data Domain launches its smallest data deduplication appliance specifically built to reduce and back up data at remote offices. 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

WAN/WAFS and remote offices

This overview of WAFS and remote offices looks into the role of cache and file limitations, and WAN optimisation. Continue Reading

By

• Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor

Disk-based backup vs. tape

Get advice on choosing disk versus tape for small businesses. Continue Reading

By

• W. Curtis Preston

Archiving software purchase considerations

Archiving software must be able to support a wide range of file types, as well as quickly search through vast quantities of data. Continue Reading

Archiving software product specifications

Archive software provides many of the features we take for granted in modern archive systems, including index and search, data classification and migration, retention and deletion, litigation hold and even data reduction technologies, such as data deduplication. Continue Reading

Forestry firm picks Riverbed WAFS over Cisco

Cisco shop picks Riverbed after head-to-head performance testing between Riverbed's Steelhead appliance and Cisco's wide area application services card. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

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

Archiving vendors beef up integration

CA, Autonomy and Prostor look to differentiate products in a sea of archiving and e-discovery compliance players. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

Tape encryption purchases Part Two: LTO-4 considerations

This chapter covers specific considerations for LTO-4 tape drives. After that, you'll find a series of specifications to help compare vendor products. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage ANZ staff

Happy Birthday to TechTarget ANZ

It's our first birthday and we offer you the rather small present of a roundup of the most-read stories across our sites over the last month. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

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

Archive integration woes dog healthcare providers

Healthcare providers are getting up to speed with networked storage, but say integration of new storage systems with medical applications is still rocky. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

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

Riverbed extends WAFS to laptops

Steelhead Mobile installs on workstations without an onsite appliance. Users say they'd like to see better integration between the mobile and data centre versions of the product. 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

First in, best dressed?

Telephony company Link Communications Group bought storage from EqualLogic before the vendor had opened its doors in Australia. The company's Vice-President of Global Engineering explains why the organisation took this risky-looking move. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

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