Storage

Top 10 storage stories of 2023

In this 2023 review, we consider if flash will thrash disk, what the Toyota outage shows about capacity planning, how to achieve green storage, the backup and compliance risks of AI, the lowdown on DPUs, and more Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Top 10 storage supplier strategy stories of 2023

In 2023, we looked at the top storage suppliers, their market share and how they set themselves for a future of hybrid cloud, containerisation and consumption models of purchasing Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Storage suppliers’ market share and strategy 2023

We look at the top suppliers in data storage by market share and run the rule over their storage offer, strategies for hybrid cloud, containerisation and as-you-go purchasing Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

megabyte (MB)

A megabyte is a unit of data capacity that is equal to 1,000,000 bytes in decimal notation (base 10) or 1,048,576 bytes in binary notation (base 2). Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

iSCSI initiator

An Internet Small Computer System Interface initiator is software or hardware that lets a host computer send data to an external iSCSI-based storage array through an Ethernet network adapter over a TCP-based IP network. Continue Reading

By

• Carol Sliwa

Tutorial: Use Linux rsync backup to protect files

Rsync is a file transfer utility designed to move data from one Linux network host to another, which has made it a popular option for backing up critical data. Continue Reading

By

• Damon Garn, Cogspinner Coaction

On-prem vs cloud storage: Four decisions about data location

Hybrid cloud is now a reality. But how to decide what data goes where? We highlight four key decision points to evaluate whether data should be stored on-premise or in the cloud Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Tutorial: How to use Linux Deja Dup to back up and restore files

Deja Dup isn't advertised as a backup tool, but that doesn't mean you can't use it for data protection. Find out how to use Linux Deja Dup for backup and restore in this tutorial. Continue Reading

By

• Damon Garn, Cogspinner Coaction

Pure Storage: Flash ‘startup’ that brings late entrant advantage

Storage profile: We look at Pure Storage, the youngest of the array makers, which comes to market with well-developed flash, hybrid cloud and consumption purchasing models Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Tutorial: Use Linux cpio to back up and restore files

There are many ways of backing up files on Linux devices. The cpio utility copies contents out of the file system and into an archive to create reliable backups. Continue Reading

By

• Damon Garn, Cogspinner Coaction

Police defend facial recognition target selection to Lords

Senior police officers confirm to Lords committee that facial recognition watchlist image selection is based on crime categories attached to people’s photos, rather than a context-specific assessment of the threat presented by a given individual Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Why We Should Maybe Get Hyper Over A Cloud...

This time last year I was basking in the icy cool, but mercifully dry climate of Berlin, testing SoftIron’ s HyperCloud product in its Berlin labs and very much appreciating the fantastic support ... Continue Reading

By

• Steve Broadhead, Broadband Testing

Dump and restore: Helpful backup utilities for Linux users

Dump and restore are two Linux utilities that help ensure reliable backups. From utility installation to restoring file systems, this tutorial is for Linux users of all levels. Continue Reading

By

• Damon Garn, Cogspinner Coaction

Inside the Singapore government’s cloud journey

The Smart Nation Group’s chief digital technology officer outlines the government’s cloud journey, including its approach to cloud migration and how it came to host mission-critical workloads on AWS Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Tutorial: How to use tar to back up and restore files in Linux

This tutorial walks users through using the Linux tar utility. Readers will learn a few commands to create files, then how to back up and restore them. Continue Reading

By

• Damon Garn, Cogspinner Coaction

Top IT predictions in APAC in 2024

Generative AI will continue to leave its mark on many areas in business and IT, along with other trends such as sustainability, cyber security and smart factories that are expected to shape the region’s technology landscape in 2024 Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Shaping the modern workplace

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine how the shift to cloud services and the necessity of dealing with a hybrid workforce have changed modern IT. The emerging area of computational storage promises performance boosts for demanding workloads – we look at the challenges. And we find out how pandemic poster child Zoom plans to exploit generative AI. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Panasas set for Mach.2 throughput with multi-actuator HDDs

Scale-out NAS maker claims to be the first enterprise array maker to use multi-actuator HDDs designed for hyperscaler architectures and which double throughput Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

ERP’s storage requirements and options in the cloud

We look under the hood at enterprise resource planning and its databases, the storage needed to support ERP’s I/O requirements, block, file and object storage, and ERP in an era of hybrid cloud Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

hardware RAID (hardware redundant array of independent disk)

Hardware RAID is a form of RAID (redundant array of independent disks) where processing is done on the motherboard or a separate RAID card. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati
• Erin Sullivan, Senior Site Editor

Dell EMC: Storage giant shifts gear to cloud operating models

Storage profile: We look at Dell EMC, the result of the biggest tech acquisition ever, and find a company well set for ubiquitous cloud operating models and as-a-service Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

magnetic tape storage

Magnetic tape is one of the oldest technologies for electronic data storage. Continue Reading

By

• Paul Crocetti, Executive Editor

Rhysida ransomware gang hits hospital holding royal family’s data

Ransomware gang boasts of having stolen data on the royal family in an attack on a private London hospital Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Generative AI: Data privacy, backup and compliance

 Continue Reading

High availability and resiliency: A DR strategy needs both

An organization's resiliency during and after a crisis depends on many factors. High availability is one aspect of overall resiliency that DR teams can't afford to overlook. Continue Reading

By

• Paul Kirvan

The all-flash datacentre: Mirage or imminent reality?

Some say disk is dead and we’re on the cusp of the all-flash datacentre. But when will flash capacity and cost hit a point where it is suited to more than just high-tier storage? Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Build and maintain digital resilience for a stronger DR program

A digital resilience program builds on existing preventive and restorative activities by identifying the ways an organization's infrastructure can become more resilient. Continue Reading

By

• Paul Kirvan

Aerodyne taps AWS to power drone platform

The Malaysia-based startup is running its Dronos platform on AWS to expand its footprint globally and support a variety of drone use cases, from agriculture seeding to cellular tower maintenance Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

AWS sharpens focus in APAC

AWS is doubling down on industry offerings and investing in cloud infrastructure and skills training, among other efforts, to tap growth opportunities in the region Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Optimistic Cloud Forecast - IT Managers No Longer Left In The Shade...

Remember the early days of cloud computing. All the promises – low-cost, scalable, simple to deploy and manage, secure, be in control of your own data and apps without the OnPrem hassle… All ... Continue Reading

By

• Steve Broadhead, Broadband Testing

DWP to surveil bank accounts of benefit claimants for fraud

The UK government has outlined how it plans to tackle benefit fraud by giving the Department for Work and Pensions new powers compelling banks to collect and share data on claimants’ bank accounts Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

MOVEit incident spurred UK decision makers to spend big on cyber

The MOVEit cyber attacks that unfolded in the spring and summer of 2023 seem to have driven an increase in both ransomware awareness and spend, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

4 data loss examples keeping backup admins up at night

Protecting data is a critical task for backup admins, and threats are ever evolving. Preparation is key to preventing data loss and recovering quickly. Continue Reading

By

• Mitch Lewis, Evaluator Group

Offline backups are a key part of a ransomware protection plan

Ransomware resilience relies not on a single tool, but on several layered protections. Offline backups are a critical layer in a ransomware protection strategy. Continue Reading

By

• Krista Case, The Futurum Group

Palantir awarded NHS FDP data contract

NHS England has awarded a £330m, seven-year contract to US data specialist Palantir, prompting concerns from data privacy practitioners Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Nebulon upgrades SPU to Medusa2 with Nvidia DPU hardware

Nebulon aims to replace HCI with its OS on an offload card that it claims reduces server resource use by 25%. Medusa2 uses Nvidia DPU hardware and its own cloud control plane Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Cubbit DS3 Composer brings DIY cloud to object storage pool

Cubbit customers can now build and configure S3-compatible clouds from unused capacity and offer MSP-grade services with high levels of resilience, security and data sovereignty Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

IT not ready for AI, Pure Storage survey finds

Storage, compute and networking hardware won’t cope without upgrades, and that often means total IT infrastructure overhaul Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

tape backup

Tape backup is the practice of periodically copying data from a primary storage device to a tape cartridge. Continue Reading

By

• Paul Crocetti, Executive Editor

Outgoing police tech watchdog warns of declining oversight

The outgoing biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner for England and Wales discusses police deployment of powerful new surveillance technologies, and the declining state of oversight in this area Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

cold backup (offline backup)

A cold backup is a backup of an offline database. Continue Reading

By

• Ed Hannan

Comparing RAID levels: 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 and 50 explained

RAID protects data and improves storage performance and availability, but it can be confusing. Read about the different levels of RAID, the pros and cons, and where they work best. Continue Reading

By

• Brien Posey
• Erin Sullivan, Senior Site Editor
• Stacey Peterson, Senior Managing Editor

DPU 101: What are DPUs, what do they do, and who supplies them?

We look at data processing units, the latest in a line of hardware offload devices that emerged in the era of composable infrastructure. They come as hardware and even in the cloud Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

fault tolerance

Fault tolerance is the capability of a system to deliver uninterrupted service despite one or more of its components failing. Continue Reading

By

• Garry Kranz

cardholder data environment (CDE)

A cardholder data environment (CDE) is a computer system or networked group of IT systems that processes, stores or transmits cardholder data or sensitive payment authentication data. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati
• Sharon Shea, Executive Editor

Engineers slash RPO/RTO as they swap tape for Rubrik backup

Frankham Group ditches archaic tape backup and deploys Rubrik backup appliances and remote disaster recovery facility. Meanwhile, the engineering group assesses a move to the cloud Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

crisis communication

Crisis communication is a strategic approach to corresponding with people and organizations during a disruptive event. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati
• Paul Crocetti, Executive Editor

The best IR plans are well-revised and deeply familiar

What goes into a good incident response plan, and what steps should security professionals take to ensure they are appropriately prepared for the almost inevitable attack, and secure buy-in from organisational leadership? Continue Reading

By

• Elliott Wilkes

Top 5 IT disaster scenarios DR teams must test

While most organizations are prepared to face small-scale interruptions, they cannot overlook a larger, more complex crisis just because it seems less likely to occur. Continue Reading

By

• Stuart Burns

Data-sharing management gap highlights cyber risk, says report

Organisations are struggling to secure their use of communications tools to share data with third-party partners and suppliers, and in the process are exposing themselves to heightened levels of risk, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Iconic Singapore hotel caught up in major data breach

The Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore uncovered a data breach of its guest loyalty programme last month Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

VMware consolidates AI push at Explore in Barcelona

VMware’s vision is of ‘cloud smart’ enterprises that run on-premise, in multiclouds and in the ‘edge cloud’, with secure and compliant generative AI fuelling efficient business processes Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Enhancing security: The crucial role of incident response plans

What goes into a good incident response plan, and what steps should security professionals take to ensure they are appropriately prepared for the almost inevitable attack, and secure buy-in from organisational leadership? Continue Reading

By

• Chris McGowan

How often should you back up your data? Answers vary

Backup strategy and frequency is unique for just about every organization. You must balance backup management abilities with the amount of loss your business can tolerate. Continue Reading

By

• Stuart Burns

Real-life business continuity failures: 4 examples to study

Business continuity failures are costly and can significantly harm a company's reputation. These four high-profile examples demonstrate what can go wrong when a plan fails. Continue Reading

By

• Stuart Burns

IR plans: The difference between disaster and recovery

What goes into a good incident response plan, and what steps should security professionals take to ensure they are appropriately prepared for the almost inevitable attack, and secure buy-in from organisational leadership? Continue Reading

By

• Becky Gelder, Turnkey Consulting

AWS to open Malaysia cloud region in 2024

Amazon Web Services’ new cloud region in Malaysia will open next year to meet the increased demand for cloud services and support digitisation efforts in the country Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

EU digital ID reforms should be ‘actively resisted’, say experts

Over 300 cyber security experts have called for the EU to rethink its proposals for eIDAS digital identity reforms, saying some of the provisions risk damaging user privacy and security Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Incident response planning is vulnerable to legacy thinking

What goes into a good incident response plan, and what steps should security professionals take to ensure they are appropriately prepared for the almost inevitable attack, and secure buy-in from organisational leadership? Continue Reading

By

• Mike Gillespie

natural disaster recovery

Natural disaster recovery is the process of recovering data and resuming business operations following a natural disaster. Continue Reading

By

• Erin Sullivan, Senior Site Editor

Domestic abuse charities surface fresh worries over NHS data sharing

With new NHS data access options coming into effect at the end of October, a group of campaigners including womens' charities and the BMA have warned that the revived GP-patient data sharing scheme risks putting vulnerable people at risk Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

‘Egregious’ to link passport data with facial recognition systems

The Scottish biometrics watchdog has spoken out against the UK policing minister’s plans to integrate passport data with police facial recognition systems Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

The new data landscape: how will the new UK-US data bridge affect businesses?

With the UK-US data bridge coming into effect on 12 October 2023, find out what steps your organisation can take to take advantage of, and remain compliant with, the new framework Continue Reading

By

• Charlie Bromley-Griffiths

NetApp ‘unified storage’ adds new ASA block storage at Insight

Las Vegas event sees NetApp continue its evolution to hybrid cloud and data management player announce ASA C-series and Keystone and Kubernetes storage enhancements Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Dell updates PowerStore, PowerMax and PowerFlex storage

Dell storage upgrades include improved AIOps, lower energy usage, real-time HA failover, seamless hardware replacement, and enhancements to take advantage of DPU acceleration Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Risk assessment matrix: Free template and usage guide

A risk assessment matrix identifies issues that present the greatest potential for business disruption or damage. Use this free template to focus risk mitigation plans. Continue Reading

By

• Paul Kirvan

Five key questions about disaster recovery as a service

Disaster recovery as a service builds recovery data and systems into the cloud, accessible from anywhere. We look at the difference vs cloud backup, DRaaS use cases, the cost, and the firms that provide it Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

NetApp: NAS pioneer well set for the cloud revolution

In this storage profile, we look at NetApp, which built a reputation in file access storage but seems to be set fair to navigate a future of hybrid cloud, cloud-native and containerisation Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Scality gets a jump with VMware Cloud Director integration

S3-compliant object storage specialist will use new OSIS integration with VMware’s cloud management tool to target service providers that want to deliver regional cloud offers Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Flash prices drop towards spinning disk levels in 2023

Number-crunching data on 17,000-plus drive prices shows cost of flash drives per gigabyte fell by around 10% in past six months while hard disk drive per-gigabyte prices stood still Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Pure offers Evergreen energy and rackspace cost guarantees

Pure Storage will take upfront payments for power and rackspace and guarantee those for product lifecycles in its Evergreen One, Flex and Forever consumption purchasing models Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Business continuity maturity model: An at-a-glance guide

Business continuity maturity models are effective tools to improve disaster recovery processes and define an organization's desired level of BC preparedness. Continue Reading

By

• Paul Kirvan

Generative AI: automating storage and backup management

 Continue Reading

Policing minister wants to use UK passport data in facial recognition

The policing minister’s plans to integrate the UK’s passport database with police facial-recognition systems have been met with criticism from campaigners, academics, and the biometrics commissioner for England and Wales Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Will computational storage meet data processing demands?

Computational storage promises performance for workloads that can benefit from dedicated oomph, but it’s not a cure-all. It may come at a cost, and with added application complexity Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

Ransomware: All the ways you can protect storage and backup

We survey the key methods of ransomware protection, including immutable snapshots, anomaly detection, air-gapping, anomaly detection, and supplier monetary guarantees Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

How Pure Storage is supporting AI workloads

Pure Storage’s cloud-compatible and energy-efficient modular flash storage architecture is well-poised to address the data storage demands of artificial intelligence workloads Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Where next for quantum computing?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the head of Amazon’s Braket quantum computing services about how the technology is progressing. We go behind the scenes at an ethical hacker event to find out how bug bounty programmes work. And we analyse the offerings of the major players in software-defined storage. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Versity targets Exabyte volumes in data archiving

Versity builds archiving for Exabyte data volumes on tape and in object storage. It has built its own S3 and transitioned to a GPL licence for supercomputing archives Continue Reading

By

• Pierre Berlemont
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Scottish watchdog urges wider biometric oversight

Scotland’s biometrics watchdog urges Scottish Parliament to extend oversight of biometric information to include the entire criminal justice system, not just police Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Cloud NAS, what is it good for?

We look at NAS file access storage, how it works, what it’s good for and the possibilities to access storage for files and unstructured data in the public cloud Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

How to use a SWOT analysis for IT disaster recovery planning

A disaster recovery IT SWOT analysis can identify the good and the bad aspects of a DR plan, as well as highlight potential risks and opportunities for improvement. Continue Reading

By

• Stuart Burns

IBM reorients to offset historic storage hardware decline

Storage profile: We look at IBM and the strategic shifts it has made towards the cloud, cloud-native and as-a-service offerings that aim to reverse a long-term decline in revenues Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Kubernetes storage: It’s object or nothing for MinIO

SAN and NAS are finished in the age of the cloud when it comes to cloud-native Kubernetes storage, according to container-focused object storage maker MinIO Continue Reading

By

• Pierre Berlemont
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Preparing for post-quantum cryptography

In this week’s Computer Weekly, our latest buyer’s guide assesses the challenges for cryptography in the emerging era of quantum computing. Google Cloud experts explain how the internet giant is preparing its datacentres for a world of AI. And we examine the privacy, compliance and backup issues from generative AI. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Data protection and security: A marriage of necessity?

The data protection market is fundamentally changing. An increased focus on cybersecurity and resilience efforts should shift how an organization views backup. Continue Reading

By

• Jack Poller
• Christophe Bertrand
• Enterprise Strategy Group

  We provide market insights, research and advisory, and technical validations for tech buyers.

Use geo-redundant backups for long-distance data protection

Storing duplicated data across multiple regions is a tried-and-true method of protection, but geo-redundant backup can bring its own set of complications. Continue Reading

By

• David Weldon

How Liverpool FC is tapping cloud and data analytics

Liverpool Football Club is leveraging data analytics and cloud technology to improve fan engagement and enable its media production team to work more efficiently Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

UK-US data bridge to open to traffic on 12 October

Government forges ahead with the implementation of the UK-US data bridge, which will come into effect for real just under three weeks from now Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Toyota car plant outage shows database capacity planning is vital

How could database deletes and re-organisation take out car production for 36 hours at 14 plants? We drill down into the details of database capacity planning Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

4 reasons cloud data repatriation is happening in storage

When the advantages of cloud storage aren't fully realized, repatriation becomes a consideration. Find out where the cloud isn't delivering on its promises. Continue Reading

By

• Paul Kirvan

How Google is priming its infrastructure for the AI wave

The technology giant is integrating purpose-built hardware with an optimised software stack to meet the heightened computational demands of next-generation AI workloads Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

38TB Microsoft data leak highlights risks of oversharing

An accidentally disclosed SAS token with excessive privileges enabled researchers to access nearly 40TB of Microsoft’s data, highlighting the risks of privilege mismanagement and oversharing Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: A user’s guide to encryption

The Security Think Tank assesses the state of encryption technology, exploring topics such as cryptographic techniques, data-masking, the legal ramifications of end-to-end encryption, and the impact of quantum Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Morris, Turnkey Consulting

NCSC and ICO sign MoU to forge deeper collaborative links

The scope of the MoU signed by the NCSC and the ICO includes collaboration on new cyber regulations and guidance, and how to support cyber attack victims appropriately and minimise regulatory penalties Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Podcast: ‘Data first’ a key principle of digital transformation

Chris Gorton of Syniti says organisations should put data first during digital transformation projects, and that means getting data quality, access rights and governance right Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Huawei launches OceanStor Pacific 9920 entry-level NAS

Huawei adds to its OceanStor Pacific NAS family, offering entry-level 9920 with up to 92TB per node which can be combined into clusters and also used as a SAN device Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

How to develop a cloud backup ransomware protection strategy

Deploying cloud backups for ransomware protection has become a common security strategy. Here's how to properly vet cloud storage vendors to ensure backups stay secure. Continue Reading

By

• Dave Shackleford, Voodoo Security

Polish election questioned after Pegasus spyware used to smear opposition, investigation finds

Senate committee alerts prosecutors over potential crimes by public officials involved in purchasing Pegasus spyware used to monitor and smear political opponents Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

write-through

Write-through is a storage method in which data is written into the cache and the corresponding main memory location at the same time. Continue Reading

By

• Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor