Storage

Immutable snapshots aim to neutralise ransomware

Snapshots – usually immutable anyway – get functionality to stop ransomware intruders moving or deleting snapshots, so customers know they have clean copies of data to restore from Continue Reading

Create your data backup strategy: A comprehensive guide

This data backup guide will help you if you're starting the planning process, looking for a refresh or seeking new options. Backup plans are critical in today's environment. Continue Reading

Facebook self-imposes facial recognition moratorium

Facebook and Meta have committed to halting their use of facial recognition technology and deleting the biometric data of more than a billion people by the end of 2021, but will retain the underlying algorithms and software for potential use in future products Continue Reading

iXsystems entry-level NAS goes hyper-converged with TrueNAS Scale

iXsystems TrueNAS can be a fraction of the cost of competitors and with a revamped operating system it can be built into clusters that can run virtual machines and containers Continue Reading

What the Budget means for UK technology

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look through the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget and Spending Review to find what it means for the UK tech sector. As COP26 starts, we assess the green credentials of the IT industry. And we hear one CTO’s experiences of learning the privacy lessons of GDPR. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

No cloud storage for Belfast City Airport in Nutanix hyper-converged switch

George Best Belfast City Airport ditches ageing Dell iSCSI SAN for Nutanix HCI for half the price of nearest contender, and gets DR site into the bargain. Cloud storage was a no-go for cost reasons Continue Reading

Five ways the hyper-converged infrastructure market is changing

We look at changes in the hyper-converged infrastructure market as suppliers go cool, go soft, disaggregate HCI nodes, provide as-a-service options and look to containers Continue Reading

How ransomware crews pile on the pressure to get victims to pay

Sophos researchers share some of the more common tactics ransomware gangs use to pressurise their victims into paying up Continue Reading

Understand your storage infrastructure management

Emerging technology, such as AI and software-based storage management systems, have simplified how IT manages its infrastructure. Explore the many components of modern management. Continue Reading

Cohesity beefs up ransomware and disaster recovery offer

Disaster Recovery as-a-service, Data Govern and project Fort Knox available or in development as data protection supplier augments its portfolio with ransomware firmly in mind Continue Reading

AWS to open cloud region in New Zealand

Cloud giant will invest NZ$7.5bn in New Zealand over the next 15 years through the new Auckland cloud region Continue Reading

Managing cyber risk by integrating supply chains

In this week’s Computer Weekly, our latest Buyer’s Guide examines the security and IT integration challenges of modern supply chains, especially post-pandemic – while we also talk to the CEO of software provider SolarWinds about how the company overcame its huge supply chain attack. And we look at how a small town in Lancashire was chosen as the HQ for the UK’s new National Cyber Force. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Vast Data goes massively larger

As every environmental naturalist and hard core rave fan knows, the jungle is massive and jungle [music] is massive. Data is also massive, so much so that it can easily be described as vast. ... Continue Reading

MEPs vote to expand Europol data mandate

The European Parliament has voted in favour of expanding Europol’s mandate to process data and develop AI tools, but critics claim it contradicts a previous vote which opposed using new technologies to predict crime Continue Reading

NetApp Insight frames moves to public cloud and cloud native

Storage player highlights partnerships with cloud hyperscalers and development of Spot portfolio aimed at cloud-native applications, DevOps, FinOps and SecOps Continue Reading

Vast boosts QLC flash offer with ransomware-proof snapshots

Vast majors on QLC flash bulk storage with 3D Xpoint cache to smooth out traffic into sequential flows Continue Reading

Spectra Logic unveils Vail hybrid cloud storage virtualisation

Vail provides single pool of storage overlay to on-premise flash, disk and tape, plus cloud via object storage interface with Posix-compliance promised in future releases Continue Reading

US intelligence agencies issue advisory on BlackMatter gang

Joint advisory on ransomware gang warns about potential of further attacks on critical infrastructure providers Continue Reading

Alibaba Cloud to open datacentres in Thailand and South Korea

Chinese cloud supplier is expanding its regional datacentre footprint to Thailand and South Korea in 2022 alongside technology investments that include a custom Arm-based server chip Continue Reading

Verizon opens shop for private mobile edge compute with AWS Outposts

Cloud and communications giants make generally available private mobile edge compute offering to enterprise customers, bringing compute and storage services to the edge of the network on the customer premises Continue Reading

VMware refines cross-cloud strategy

VMware’s CTO Kit Colbert talks up the evolution of the company’s cross-cloud strategy and how it stands out from other suppliers eyeing the multicloud pie Continue Reading

Want to sidestep public cloud? AuriStor offers global file storage

Built to scale hugely, and built for high performance and security, Auristor offers NAS-like Posix-compatible storage to customers that want to avoid public cloud Continue Reading

Hybrid cloud: Five key questions in 2021

We look at key need-to-knows about hybrid cloud in 2021, including how it is defined, key use cases, the main pitfalls and where it’s heading Continue Reading

APAC expert guide to storage management

In this expert guide to storage management in Asia-Pacific, we unpack the developments shaping storage management and key strategies to extract business value from data Continue Reading

Ban UK police use of facial-recognition, House of Lords told

Experts giving evidence to the House of Lords have said that UK police use of facial-recognition technology is disproportionate and ineffective, and further questioned the utility of algorithmic crime ‘prediction’ tools Continue Reading

NetApp adds CloudCheckr to Spot portfolio

CloudCheckr brings multi-cloud audit capabilities as well as visibility of security and governance in an acquisition that adds to its cloud price optimisation in the Spot portfolio Continue Reading

Malaysia’s highway authority improves DR capabilities

The Malaysian Highway Authority is now more resilient against cyber attacks through a local disaster-recovery-as-a-service offering powered by Veeam software Continue Reading

What lies beyond the data warehouse?

Has the traditional data warehouse finally reached the end of its life? If so, what will follow it? Will it be a hybrid? We find out Continue Reading

Addressing the backup dilemma to ransomware recovery

Everyone knows good backups are essential if one is to recover from a ransomware attack, but using them effectively poses challenges that IT teams need to know about Continue Reading

Is ‘suite’ becoming a dirty word?

How much attention do you pay to the pros and cons of software and service bundling? I was reminded of the topic on a recent briefing call with Dave Russell, Veeam’s VP of enterprise strategy, ... Continue Reading

ICO expresses concerns over its future independence

In its response to the government’s data protection consultation, the Information Commissioner’s Office has raised worries over its future ability to function independently of government interference Continue Reading

French Caisse uses NetApp to move backups to object storage

State financial arm wanted to move backups held on NAS file-based storage to object storage, so stuck with NetApp StorageGRID and achieved near-seamless migration Continue Reading

Why QLC flash adoption now benefits the enterprise

While enterprises must overcome some obstacles with QLC, there is a solid case for its use. 3D NAND has played a big part in enabling QLC use within the enterprise. Continue Reading

Nexustorage aims at file and block access to object storage

New Zealand-based startup to release Nexfs, which chops files into sub-file chunks and tiers them off to cheap and deep object stores with NFS and iSCSAI access for Posix applications Continue Reading

Architecture firm shares ransomware recovery success story

The architecture firm Leo A Daly executed a successful ransomware recovery using the Nasuni cloud file system. It also used Nasuni to move storage off premises and into the cloud. Continue Reading

Met Police purchase new retrospective facial-recognition system

Retrospective facial-recognition software purchased for £3m by the Met Police will be deployed in coming months amid continuing controversy around the use of biometric technologies by law enforcement bodies Continue Reading

NVMe-over-fabrics: Five need-to-knows

We look at five need-to-knows about NVMe-over-fabrics, such as its implementations – RDMA, Fibre Channel and TCP – use cases, hardware and operating system support Continue Reading

Digital regulators need discrete but cooperative remits

The UK’s information commissioner has told MPs that digital economy regulators need discrete remits backed up by strong information sharing powers to both provide clear focus as well as allow for greater cooperation between their disparate but interlinked regimes Continue Reading

Pure launches Fusion cloud control layer for storage

Pure Fusion is a storage control plane across cloud and datacentre. Portworx Data Services also launches to provide database management for container storage platform Continue Reading

Chancellor Rishi Sunak talks tech

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the Chancellor of the Exchequer about his plans to support innovation and growth in the UK tech sector. Composable IT is the latest trend in building software to support business change. And Halfords built its own service management software – and now is selling it to other retailers. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

GCP gets triple-redundant NAS and built-in Kubernetes backup

Google Filestore Enterprise will provide synchronous replication across three zones, while Backup for Google Kubernetes Engine brings built-in container cluster data protection Continue Reading

Salesforce to debut Hyperforce architecture in Singapore

Salesforce is rolling out its Hyperforce infrastructure architecture in Singapore by the year-end, enabling enterprises to run Salesforce applications on Amazon Web Services Continue Reading

Stax to expand in New Zealand, Southeast Asia

Australia’s homegrown cloud management platform is setting its sights on neighbouring markets amid growing cloud adoption across the region Continue Reading

Kioxia revisits SLC flash to power FL6 and rival Optane

SLC flash storage – mostly consigned to the ‘where is it now?’ pile – has been given a lease of life by Kioxia as capacity for rapid access storage-class memory applications Continue Reading

NGO Fair Trials calls on EU to ban predictive policing systems

The use of artificial intelligence to predict criminal behaviour should be banned because of its discriminatory outcomes and high risk of further entrenching existing inequalities, claims Fair Trials Continue Reading

UN human rights chief calls for moratorium on AI technologies

High commissioner’s call for a moratorium on the use of AI systems that pose a serious risk to human rights is accompanied by a UN report on the negative human rights impacts associated with the technology Continue Reading

HDD support and Zoned Namespaces: Key takeaways about NVMe 2.0

We look at new capabilities in the most recent iteration of the NVMe flash storage standard Continue Reading

Is 3D printing about to hit the mainstream?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out about the emerging consumer services using 3D printing and ask if the technology is about to go mainstream. Our latest buyer’s guide looks at the importance of sustainable datacentres. And we analyse the risks of increasing contactless card spending limits and whether tech could help. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Five things you need to know about cloud file services

We look at cloud file services, which provide a file system-like architecture that gives users access to file data wherever they are, just as if it were a local NAS filer Continue Reading

CW Europe: Dutch researchers build security software to mimic human immune system

In this issue of CW Europe, find out how researchers in the Netherlands are attempting to help IT systems fight certain cyber attacks in a similar way to the human immune system works. One of the team at Dutch research institute TNO was originally an immunologist, and saw parallels with the human immune system in the field of cyber security. Also in this issue, find out about the so-called “Klarna academy” in Stockholm, which has created the next set of Nordic fintech entrepreneurs. Continue Reading

Dell, NetApp and Pure: Healthy results on Covid easing

Dell’s still top of the storage supplier pile with midrange arrays doing well, but meanwhile NetApp and Pure are making gains on the rise of public cloud Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Optimising privacy, post-GDPR

Airbus CyberSecurity CTO Paddy Francis explores the impact of regulation on data protection, and how it has changed how one goes about optimising data privacy in the enterprise Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: A response to planned data protection changes

The ISF’s Emma Bickerstaffe assesses how organisations might respond to proposed changes to the UK’s data protection regime Continue Reading

Highways England delivers a digital roadmap

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the CDIO of Highways England about her digital services and asset management plans. We explore SIEM and SOAR security tools. And we find out how McLaren Racing is using data analytics to build its cars more efficiently. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

NetApp and AWS launch fully managed Ontap cloud file storage

But hybrid cloud still limited, according to NetApp. Until containerisation is widespread, applications tend to be built for the cloud or work better in the datacentre Continue Reading

UK’s new data protection strategy risks costing business more than it gains

The apparent business benefits of pursuing data adequacy agreements around the world may not be as enticing as they at first appear Continue Reading

Disaster recovery for SMEs: Five key areas to consider

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Five key questions to ask about storage-as-a-service and consumption models

We look at important questions to ask providers of consumption-based storage procurement services, such as base costs and burst, usage measurement and upgrade paths Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Managing data securely throughout its lifecycle

Managing data in a secure manner is key to ensuring its integrity and therefore its value to the organisation, as well as reducing risk from breaches and misinformation Continue Reading

More NAND SSD in fewer hands as WD $20m Kioxia bid likely

The NAND flash market could soon go from six major players to four, but the fusion of Kioxia into WD and SK Hynix with Intel’s NAND business will still leave Samsung atop the pile Continue Reading

Cache vs. RAM: Differences between the two memory types

Cache memory and RAM both place data closer to the processor to reduce latency in response times. Learn why one can be faster, along with other key variables in cache vs. RAM. Continue Reading

Cloud disaster recovery: The devil is in the detail

We look at cloud disaster recovery and the potential complexities that can result from partial outages and restores as well as challenges around re-configuring network and security Continue Reading

Are proposed data protection changes a threat to UK citizens’ privacy?

Though changes are as-yet undefined pending an upcoming consultation, concerns are already being expressed over the government’s plan to liberalise data protection laws in the service of innovation and growth Continue Reading

Government unveils post-Brexit data flow proposals

The government will pursue data partnerships with countries including Australia, South Korea and the US as part of a post-Brexit data regime that may also see substantial changes to the UK’s data protection law Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Steps to a solid data privacy practice

Petra Wenham of the BCS shares her expertise on building, or rebuilding, a solid business data privacy practice in a post-Covid-19 world Continue Reading

CW Nordics: Klarna alumni energise Stockholm’s startup scene

Klarna, established in 2005, has not only grown into a well-known Swedish fintech brand, but former staff have gone on to create some of the Nordic region's new startup ventures that are currently riding a wave of growth. Find out more about the so-called ‘Klarna academy’. Also read in this issue why growing tech companies in Stockholm say the city's startup environment needs to diversify more. Continue Reading

NZ privacy lead John Edwards named new information commissioner

DCMS has named John Edwards, currently New Zealand privacy commissioner, to succeed Elizabeth Denham as UK information commissioner Continue Reading

Over a million opt out of NHS data-sharing

Failure to communicate benefits of data-sharing proposals and privacy concerns are prompting large numbers of people to opt out of a proposed NHS Digital scheme Continue Reading

Veeam survey: Big cloud impact on backup and disaster recovery

Backup specialist finds cloud eclipses on-site compute for all workloads while DR makes big strides in the cloud despite concerns about complexity and security Continue Reading

CW APAC: Trend Watch on datacentre operations

In this handbook, focused on datacentre operations in the Asia-Pacific region, Computer Weekly looks at the most innovative methods being adopted to improve datacentre efficiency. Continue Reading

Pub apps harvesting swathes of customer data unnecessarily

Some pub and restaurant chain apps demand data such as gender and marital status, raising eyebrows among privacy campaigners Continue Reading

How to choose between SIEM and SOAR

In this week’s Computer Weekly, our buyer’s guide examines the use of SIEM and SOAR to improve IT security, and asks which you should use, and when? We look at what you need to know about NVMe over Fabrics, the emerging storage networking technology. And we find out how Oracle customers are introducing its Fusion Cloud suite. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Five things you need to know about NVMe over Fabrics

We look at NVMe-oF, which extends fast flash across the network – what it is, how it works, use cases, benefits and limitations, and the suppliers of NVMe-oF products Continue Reading

CW Benelux: Netherlands sees increase in the number of women opting for an ICT career

The IT skills gap in the Netherlands could be about to narrow as more women take up jobs in the sector. Figures from last year revealed that the number of female ICT professionals grew by 6.5%, while the number of male ICT professionals increased by only 1.7%. Read more about it in this issue. Also find out why more openness about ransomware attacks in the Dutch business community could be the first step to defeating a growing problem. Continue Reading

Top 10 data storage issues and how to overcome them

Don't overlook or ignore these 10 data storage issues -- including ones related to staff, security and cost -- as they could disrupt operations without the proper planning. Continue Reading

How the CXL interconnect will affect enterprise storage

The Compute Express Link standard will shake up the enterprise storage market in several significant ways. Here's what admins need to know. Continue Reading

Disaster recovery for SMEs: Five key areas to consider

We look at key disaster recovery considerations for SMEs, including why backup is not enough, how to create a disaster recovery plan, best-practice DR testing and DR as a service Continue Reading

Panasas’s 10x saving bumps NetApp from HPC storage deployment

University of Wollongong got 1.2PB for the cost of 100TB for HPC storage in its cryo-imaging institute. Scale-out NAS maker Panasas also brought life sciences expertise to bear Continue Reading

New ransomware gang spins out of DarkSide

The emergence of a ransomware gang known as BlackMatter raises questions that it could be a re-brand of REvil or DarkSide Continue Reading

NVMe speeds vs. SATA and SAS: Which is fastest?

The NVMe protocol is tailor-made to make SSDs fast. Get up to speed on NVMe performance and how it compares to the SATA and SAS interfaces. Continue Reading

When long-term data archiving means 'forever'

Storage customers such as the German data processing service center GWDG have started to think about how they can archive data forever. It's challenging and complex, but possible. Continue Reading

Almost half unaware of GP data-sharing plans

Around half of adults in England – approximately 20 million people – remain unaware of the scope of the NHS GPDPR programme, prompting calls for a public education campaign Continue Reading

Are we getting cyber security skills all wrong?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, the chair of the new UK Cyber Security Council tells us how she plans to fundamentally reimagine what working in IT security means. Our latest buyer’s guide examines ERP modernisation and its role in digital transformation. And we take an in-depth look at the first preview version of Windows 11. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

DNA storage promises 10 million times storage capacity boost

A datacentre that fits in the palm of your hand? However, right now, DNA storage is an expensive chemical process that researchers are trying to make a practical proposal Continue Reading

Beeinfotech PH opens telco-neutral datacentre in the Philippines

Datacentre startup is touting carrier neutrality, bespoke services and cyber security capabilities to meet the growing demand for co-location services in the Philippines Continue Reading

Five ways to ensure remote working security and compliance

A mix of on-site and remote working has become a fact of life for many organisations. We look at five key things you should consider to ensure compliance and security Continue Reading

Storage-as-a-service: Consumption models from the big six

We look at the big six storage makers’ consumption model offers, which allow customers to pay for on-prem hardware and cloud storage capacity on a pay-per-use basis, within limits Continue Reading

Briefing: Cloud storage performance metrics

We look at some of the key storage performance metrics that determine what your applications will get from cloud storage, plus cloud essentials that are beyond simple measurement Continue Reading

Secureworks sets up in EU datacentre for XDR services

New datacentre location helps Secureworks’ customers meet EU data residency requirements Continue Reading

Flexify brings virtualisation layer to multi-cloud storage

Cloud storage virtualisation provider allows application access via S3 API calls to a single destination while capacity can be in numerous clouds with migration between them Continue Reading

Zoning in on better storage performance and capacity

The fundamentals of data storage are undergoing a significant evolution, and many – if not most – IT administrators won’t even have noticed yet.  Called zoned storage, it’s a shift away from host ... Continue Reading

Five things you need to know about NVMe over Fabrics

We look at NVMe-oF, which extends fast flash across the network – what it is, how it works, use cases, benefits and limitations, and the suppliers of NVMe-oF products Continue Reading

Google Cloud ties up with AI Singapore on skills training

Google Cloud is working with Singapore’s national AI programme to build up the country’s talent pool in machine learning and AI Continue Reading

Manutan claws back 25% of storage admin time in switch to Pure

Industrial and office supply giant needed to replace 3Par arrays then made a rapid switch to Pure Storage FlashArray flash storage when the ageing HPE hardware crashed during POC Continue Reading

Cyber espionage campaign targeted central Asian states

The Afghan, Kyrgyz and Uzbek governments are all thought to have been targeted by the same APT Continue Reading

Lakehouse concept aims to merge data lake and data warehouse

Data lakes are big, amorphous and difficult to access, while data warehouses are costly and aimed at structured data. The data lakehouse aims at analytics in an age of unstructured data Continue Reading

Putting cloud repatriation into perspective

Moving public cloud workloads back on-premise is among the decisions that organisations have to make as they straddle between public and private cloud environments Continue Reading

Work around NVMe storage controller drive limitations

Innovation in the storage and memory market helps with the challenge of NVMe drive limits. Be sure to make the right comparisons and scale out effectively. Continue Reading

Is the UK government planning to rewrite GDPR?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, a government taskforce on post-Brexit regulations has recommended changes to GDPR in the UK – we examine the implications. The NHS has launched a new data strategy - we look at what it means for your medical records. And we ask how to avoid the performance problems that affect private cloud. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

France TV repatriates backup and archive from public cloud

France Télévisions Publicité couldn’t always get to critical data, so decided to repatriate backup and archiving from the cloud to on-site locations, with help from a managed service Continue Reading