Todd Erickson

EMC Isilon aims to make Hadoop storage ready for enterprise

2012-01-31T08:00:00.001-07:00

EMC Corp. is tackling Hadoop storage by integrating the open source “big data” analytics framework with EMC Isilon scale-out NAS.

Today, EMC said its Isilon OneFS 6.5 operating system natively supports the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) protocol. The vendor also released EMC Greenplum HD on Isilon. EMC launched Greenplum HD last May, putting Hadoop on its Greenplum data analytics appliance. Now the Greenplum appliance works with Isilon back-end storage.

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Virtual desktop software aims to help storage VDI performance

2011-12-15T08:00:00.001-07:00

It’s no secret that implementing a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) can play havoc with storage performance and cost.

Storage system vendors have developed features and entire arrays designed to help solve these problems, but third-party virtual desktop software tools can also help solve problems for organizations planning and implementing a VDI.

Software products designed to boost storage performance or reduce capacity requirements for VDI projects are available in the areas of storage optimization, predeployment analytics, virtual file systems and application management software.

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National Geographic chooses tape archiving to store PBs of content

2011-11-17T08:00:00.002-07:00

While many organizations want to eliminate tape, National Geographic Global Media (NG Global) embraces tape archiving to store between 5 and 10 TB of media content every day.

Kyle Knack, NG Global’s director of infrastructure systems, said his company has petabytes of data in his long-term tape archive and requires a highly available tape library to make sure the data is protected, searchable and retrievable.

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Control VDI costs for storage by careful configuration planning

2011-11-15T08:00:00.001-07:00

Whether or not a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) requires a SAN is open to debate, but experts and administrators agree that if you do opt for a SAN for VDI storage, you’ll need to do a good deal of research and planning to find the right balance between performance and VDI costs.

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VDI implementation without boot storms for Ohio DoDD

2011-11-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

The Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DoDD) faced a big decision about its PC infrastructure 18 months ago. It either had to replace 80% of the agency’s desktops because they were between 4 and 7 years old, or move to VDI. Brian Brothers, DoDD’s network administrator manager, found a VDI implementation would be cheaper, and he went with VMware View because it is a VMware shop.

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Index Engines revs its discovery appliance

2011-10-27T08:00:00.002-06:00

Index Engines is giving its e-discovery platform a facelift with a new look and new features.

Index Engines renamed its products, bringing them all under the new Octane brand. The latest version is Octane 4, and has a re-designed GUI and compliance archive to make it easier to search and collect data.

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Integrated IT stack: Packaging the pieces of the virtualization puzzle

2011-09-30T08:00:00.002-06:00

Some of the biggest names in the storage industry now offer integrated IT stacks for organizations looking to quickly deploy high-performance virtualized environments. EMC Corp., NetApp Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. sell predesigned architectures that include the virtual server platform, networking and computing gear, and storage infrastructure in one package.

While it’s early for the integrated storage stacks, vendors and their distribution partners expect the trend toward data center consolidation around virtualization and cloud storage to spark interest in integrated stacks.

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Hyper-V storage management options expanding

2011-09-01T08:00:00.001-06:00

VMware is the most popular choice for virtualizing servers by a wide margin, but it isn’t the only option. Microsoft’s Hyper-V hypervisor is gaining users because it costs less and requires little extra training for Windows users. As a result, more Hyper-V storage management tools are becoming available.

In addition to Microsoft’s own System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM), vendors have released third-party products to manage performance issues in Hyper-V virtual environments. Here’s a rundown of some of Microsoft’s inherent Hyper-V storage management resources as well as some third-party tools.

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Keep compliance data safe when using cloud archiving

2011-08-31T08:00:00.001-06:00

The cloud is an obvious candidate for storing compliance-related data. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers pitch their services as an economical way to rid your on-site storage of reams of rarely accessed information that requires strict security and access controls. But experts warn about stashing your compliance data using cloud archiving without carefully examining available third-party services.

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Iomega launches SMB multiprotocol storage with SSD support, dedupe

2011-08-23T08:00:00.001-06:00

EMC’s Iomega Corp. today launched the StorCenter px12-350r, a 12-bay rackmount small- to medium-sized business (SMB) multiprotocol storage array with solid-state drive (SSD) support and built-in data deduplication for backup. The 2U system comes a day after rival Drobo officially launched a similar 12-bay rackmount system with SSD support for SMBs.

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Drobo launches SMB SSD system with auto-tiering storage

2011-08-22T08:00:00.002-06:00

Small- to medium-sized business (SMB) storage specialist Drobo Inc. has launched its first rackmount system, a 12-bay iSCSI model that supports solid-state drives (SSDs) and built-in automated tiering. The B1200i 3U system is the largest of Drobo’s series of products for SMBs, branch offices and prosumers.

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Unified storage systems showdown: NetApp FAS vs. EMC VNX

2011-07-15T08:00:00.001-06:00

When EMC Corp. rolled out its VNX and VNXe storage platform this year, it shone a bright light on unified storage systems and intensified its competition with NetApp.

NetApp and EMC aren’t the only vendors to offer unified storage -- most major vendors have systems that support multiple protocols -- but NetApp’s FAS and EMC’s VNX are the most talked about. They're also the most scrutinized and serve as the models that most people refer to when they discuss what is and isn’t true about unified storage platforms.

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FlexPod vs. Vblock: How the integrated IT stacks stack up

2011-07-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

Integrated stacks are starting to gain traction in storage. They are mainly aimed at organizations that want preconfigured and pretested systems for highly virtualized environments. These stacks combine storage, hypervisors, networking and management as an alternative to building best-of-breed systems.

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The cloud and virtualization haven't made IT disaster recovery plans obsolete

2011-06-23T08:00:00.001-06:00

CHICAGO -- Server virtualization and the cloud haven't eliminated the need for good IT disaster recovery plans and those plans should include tape, consultant Jon Toigo said as part of the DR tips offered during his Storage Decisions keynote.

Toigo, CEO and managing partner of Toigo Partners International, said new technologies and budget cuts shouldn't lull IT administrators into thinking they don’t need to make DR a top priority.

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Iomega’s PX Series SMB NAS devices support SSDs, 3 TB drives

2011-05-04T08:00:00.001-06:00

EMC Corp.’s Iomega today launched its StorCenter PX Series of network-attached storage (NAS) devices for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with solid-state drive (SSD) support, user-swappable 3 TB drives and dual-core processors.

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4 Android apps worth buying

2011-04-03T08:00:00.002-06:00

I'm cheap. I hate to pay for software, especially mobile software. It may not work on my device (Droid 2). It may not perform as advertised. It may not do what I thought it would do, and you can't return it.

So I rarely buy apps for my cell phone.

But there have been a few I've actually paid for and found worth the money.

Tower Raiders Gold ($3.99): Played both v1.0 and v2.0 free versions before buying the the first version. It's a tower defense game. You must strategically place tower weaponry to stop the Raiders from stealing your crystals. It can be a bit repetitious, but I enjoy figuring out not only which weapons to use, but how to place them to route the Raiders through the most defensible path.

Flex T9 Keyboard ($4.99): The FlexT9 keyboard is the best Android keyboard I've found, with the right balance between key size for my fat thumbs and total keyboard size. It also uses Dragon Naturally Speaking technology for its speech recognition software.

Beautiful Widgets ($2.82): Includes a number of widgets for putting clocks and weather info on your screen. I got it specifically for the Beautiful Weather Live Wallpaper, which shows my city's actual weather as my wallpaper. Very geeky.

X Construction ($1.42): My favorite physics game. Use the limited resources to build a bridge across various landscapes so the train can safely cross. It's harder than it looks.

Survey says cloud DR is viable, but security concerns linger

2011-03-23T08:00:00.008-06:00

Nearly half IT administrators said they consider cloud disaster recovery (DR) services a viable option for disaster recovery, although security remains the chief concern, according to a survey of 1,473 small- to medium-sized enterprise (SME) and enterprise IT professionals in the United States.

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InMage introduces cloud recovery as a service

2011-03-01T08:00:00.005-07:00

InMage Systems Inc. this week introduced its ScoutCloud recovery-as-a-service platform for managed service providers (MSPs). The platform includes a recovery engine that handles physical-to-virtual (P2V) and virtual-to-virtual (V2V) failover and failback, automated virtual machine (VM) provisioning, storage, and multi-tenant portal for MSPs looking to offer managed or automated cloud disaster recovery services.

Syncplicity opens cloud file management software to channel partners

2011-02-11T08:00:00.003-07:00

Cloud file management software vendor Syncplicity Inc. launched its first channel program, which offers pricing discounts and administrative controls for its cloud-based file management, backup and collaboration services.

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High-availability options for virtual environments: A HA solutions tutorial

2011-02-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

There's increased interest in high-availability (HA) technologies due to the havoc and lost productivity server outages can cause in both physical and virtual server environments. Virtual server technology can alleviate outage pain by making it easier to restart stalled virtual servers and move resource-strained virtual machines (VMs) to different physical hosts before they crash.

In this tutorial, learn about how to choose the right HA solution for your virtual environment. Learn about the best solutions for VMware, Hyper-V and Citrix environments, and the pros and cons of each.

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2011-01-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

Only half of SMBs have disaster recovery plans, according to survey

Half of all small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have no disaster recovery plans in place, according to results of Symantec's 2011 SMB Disaster Preparedness survey. The percentage of SMBs surveyed without DR plans was higher than last year, when 47% said they had no plans.

Concerns with cloud backup solutions: Security and performance top list

2010-12-14T08:00:00.001-07:00

There are many things to like about cloud backup solutions, such as inexpensive capacity, reduced capital expenditures and simplified data management. The cloud computing distributed architecture and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery model allows you to sign up, get started and change your service quickly and inexpensively.

But that architecture and delivery model makes some administrators nervous.

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2010-11-10T08:00:00.001-07:00

CA upgrades ARCserve Replication, High Availability

CA Inc. today upgraded its ARCserve Replication and High Availability products. Version 15.2 adds multi-stream replication for high-latency networks, a wizard to assist administrators in protecting non-Microsoft and custom applications, support for updated Microsoft applications, and integrated management-console access to Web 2.0 interactive technologies and documentation resources.

2010-11-09T08:00:00.001-07:00

Deduplication best practices and choosing the best dedupe technology

Data deduplication is a technique to reduce storage needs by eliminating redundant data in your backup environment. Only one copy of the data is retained on storage media, and redundant data is replaced with a pointer to the unique data copy. Dedupe technology typically divides data sets in to smaller chunks and uses algorithms to assign each data chunk a hash identifier, which it compares to previously stored identifiers to determine if the data chunk has already been stored. Some vendors use delta differencing technology, which compares current backups to previous data at the byte level to remove redundant data.

2010-11-01T08:00:00.001-06:00

Records retention management: Arm yourself against regulatory scrutiny

Learn the 10 steps to building a strong records retention management system that satisfies e-discovery requests and protects your firm against regulatory scrutiny.

2010-10-14T08:00:00.001-06:00

Dataglobal merges storage resource management, enterprise content management

German-based dataglobal GmbH moved into the U.S. market this week, launching the dg suite of storage resource management (SRM) and enterprise content management (ECM) applications it claims will enable a universal content data repository.

2010-10-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

Virtualization capacity planning explained (podcast)

Virtualization capacity planning can be a daunting task. You're creating virtual machines (VMs) on the fly while moving applications across virtual and physical resources. Ensuring enough storage capacity for all these moving parts now and in the future might seem impossible.

2010-10-05T08:00:00.001-06:00

Digitiliti DigiLibe data management system adds cloud storage features

Digitiliti Inc. today began shipping an upgrade to its DigiLibe unstructured data management system with the goal of helping customers incorporate cloud storage into data archiving.

2010-09-29T08:00:00.002-06:00

Dexrex Gear expands instant messaging archiving capabilities for Blackberry

Dexrex Gear this week expanded its instant messaging archiving capabilities, along with archiving data for multimedia messages and social media for Blackberry users. Dexrex Gear's ChatSync Mobile Enterprise builds on the vendor's ChatSync platform for capturing and routing text-based messaging into a centralized storage repository for compliance and e-discovery management.

2010-09-21T08:00:00.001-06:00

Nasuni adds Hyper-V and Azure support to primary cloud storage appliance

Nasuni Corp. today released an upgrade of the Nasuni Filer virtual appliance that serves as a gateway to cloud storage providers. Nasuni 2.0 includes support for the Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisor, Windows Azure cloud-services platform, Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS), and Windows Previous Versions file restore technology.

2010-09-15T08:00:00.002-06:00

How RAID storage systems protect your application data

Redundant array of independent disks (RAID) is a technique for storing the same data on multiple hard disks to increase read performance and fault tolerance. In a properly configured RAID storage system, the loss of any single disk will not interfere with users' ability to access the data stored on the failed disk.

2010-09-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

Managing data storage in small businesses: A data storage strategy tutorial

While small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) might not have the resources larger enterprises enjoy, they still run into many of the same data storage problems such as capacity issues, shrinking data backup windows, data sharing and remote access. They still have similar problems managing data storage. Compounding the problem is the fact that many SMBs don't have a dedicated IT person. So it can be challenging to determine the ideal small business data storage strategy.

This tutorial can help you understand which architecture is right for your environment, whether it's direct-attached storage (DAS), network-attached storage (NAS), or a storage area network (SAN), and the key factors in choosing a VAR. Learn the best data storage strategy for your small business in this tutorial.

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2010-09-01T08:00:00.001-06:00

Scale Computing launches clustered multiprotocol storage system with iSCSI, NAS

Scale Computing today introduced a clustered multiprotocol storage system for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that provides thin provisioning, snapshots, and replication as well as iSCSI and network-attached storage (NAS) connectivity.

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2010-08-20T08:00:00.005-06:00

Mobile device management requires strict storage, security policies

Apple Inc. has sold more than 26 million iPhones over the last year, 14.7 million smart phones were sold in the U.S. in the second quarter of this year alone, and Cisco Systems Inc. has sold more than 4 million Flip video cameras since 2007. Because these small devices and their gigabytes of memory are also proliferating in your organization, your corporate data storage strategy needs to include mobile device management.

2010-08-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

Clustered NAS: How to choose the right clustered NAS system

Clustered network-attached storage (clustered NAS) uses a distributed file system that runs concurrently on multiple nodes or servers. Unlike traditional NAS, clustered NAS stripes data and metadata across storage nodes and subsystems. Clustering also provides access to all files from any of the clustered nodes regardless of the physical location of the file. But how do you determine which clustered NAS system is right for you? Here are the questions you need to ask when evaluating your own data storage requirements along with the latest offerings from vendors.

2010-08-16T08:00:00.001-06:00

Actifio launches disaster recovery appliances

Actifio Inc. is coming out of stealth this week with appliances aimed at managing data and enabling disaster recovery in virtual server environments.

On Tuesday, Actifio will launch Actifio DP for data protection, Actifio DR for disaster recovery and Actifio BC for business continuity. Actifio's founder and CEO Ash Ashutosh claims the startup's technology decouples data management from the underlying storage infrastructure to make the process simpler and less expensive.

2010-08-10T08:00:00.002-06:00

Implementing an electronic records retention system

Many companies strive to put together what is often called a defensible electronic records retention system to help them show attorneys and judges that electronic data discovery materials such as litigation holds, email archiving, deletion policies and more have not been improperly modified.

Christine Taylor, an analyst at Hopkinton, Mass.-based Taneja Group, discusses the critical components of a record retentions system and shares best practices for implementing an electronic data discovery policy in your storage environment.

Virtualization disaster recovery planning tutorial

2010-08-01T08:00:00.001-06:00

If you are considering or starting to implement virtual servers into your IT environment, you should be aware of the differences between virtualization and physical-server environment disaster recovery (DR) planning, preparation and testing.

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2010-07-27T08:00:00.002-06:00

Cloud storage audit trail key to Geminare archiving service for MSPs

Geminare Inc. today rolled out Cloud Storage Assurance (CSA) 2.0, an upgrade to the cloud storage and archiving engine for SMEs the Canadian-based company sells exclusively through managed service providers (MSPs), value-added resellers (VARs), and Software as a Service (SaaS) providers.

2010-07-21T08:00:00.002-06:00

Fusion-io drives I/O solid-state storage and memory to the operating system

Fusion-io today introduced its newest generation solid-state storage software stack, the ioMemory Virtual Storage Layer (VSL). Fusion-io characterizes the ioMemory VSL as a hybrid operating system subsystem that combines the block-level reading and writing benefits of an I/O subsystem with the virtual addressing benefits of a virtual memory subsystem.

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2010-07-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

Compellent SAN is added to Orlando Magic's IT lineup

The Orlando Magic are one of the National Basketball Association's most successful franchises, with a trip to the NBA finals in 2009 and the Eastern Conference finals last season. But when Frank Frazier joined the organization as project and application manager in January 2008, the team lacked a SAN and he had to do a full-court press to get his storage infrastructure ready to support a state-of-the-art arena due to open this fall. A Compellent Technologies Inc. SAN (Compellent SAN) was his pick.

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2010-06-28T08:00:00.003-06:00

Sepaton adds storage pooling and prepares to move beyond pure virtual tape library

Sepaton Inc. today added storage pooling and improved monitoring and reporting features for its S2100-ES2 virtual tape libraries (VTLs) while preparing to extend the platform from beyond solely a VTL to support Ethernet and file-based interfaces.

2010-06-25T08:00:00.006-06:00

Double-Take Flex for HPC brings iSCSI SAN boot to HPC Server

Double-Take Software Inc. this week launched Double-Take Flex for High Performance Computing (HPC), a diskless iSCSI SAN boot solution for Microsoft Windows HPC Server 2008 R2.

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2010-06-24T12:15:00.004-06:00

Zmanda adds cloud disaster recovery to Zmanda Cloud Backup

Zmanda Inc. this week released the third generation of its Zmanda Cloud Backup (ZCB), adding cloud disaster recovery, support for Microsoft Server 2010 and bandwidth throttling to the online data backup service for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

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2010-06-18T08:00:00.001-06:00

Law school council IT disaster recovery plan aces its examinations

While Hurricane Katrina forced many organizations in the New Orleans area to implement IT disaster recovery plans after the fact, the devastating 2005 storm also prompted the Newtown, PA-based Law School Admission Council (LSAC) to plan for a disaster as a preventive measure.

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2010-06-16T08:00:00.001-06:00

Verizon Cloud Storage service lets customers choose data location

Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications Inc., this week launched its Verizon Cloud Storage service that gives customers on-demand storage capacity; the ability to isolate their data in one or more of Verizon's five storage locations; and an application programming interface (API) to embed the service in third-party applications, such as backup and Web solutions.

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2010-06-14T08:00:00.002-06:00

Sepaton adds data erasure technology for virtual tape libraries with Secure Erasure

Virtual tape library (VTL) vendor Sepaton Inc. today moved to beef up security for long-term data retention and regulatory compliance by adding secure data erasure technology.

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2010-06-08T08:00:00.003-06:00

RainStor 4 data archiving adds record-level management and legal hold capabilities

RainStor today launched RainStor 4, the latest version of its data archiving software, adding record-level management, legal hold and deletion capabilities for compliance, as well as increasing its ingestion rate and retrieval performance.

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NFS alternative meets Los Alamos National Laboratory's high-performance computing needs

2010-06-07T08:00:00.008-06:00

The high-performance computing (HPC) team at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is looking for a NFS alternative to benefit its supercomputing processing.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory is home to the federal government's weapons research facility, which uses Panasas Inc. network-attached storage (NAS) for its research data.

However, the laboratory can't use NFS for weapons research because it doesn't scale high enough, said Gary Grider, deputy division leader for high-performance computing. So the lab uses Panasas' proprietary DirectFlow parallel client technology, as well as IBM's General Parallel File System (GPFS) and Oracle Corp.'s Lustre parallel file system.

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2010-06-07T08:00:00.005-06:00

NFS Version 4.1 update: pNFS spec approved

NFS Version 4.1 (NFSv4.1) is on the horizon -- again. It has been years of predictions and promises for data storage managers, but NFS Version 4.1, which supports parallel NFS, is getting closer to shipping in NAS systems now that the pNFS spec has been approved.

What's next for NFSv4.1? How can pNFS benefit data storage administrators? Will pNFS be worth the wait? Find answers to these and other questions in this SearchStorage.com three-part tutorial on NFS Version 4.1.

pNFS spec for faster file service arrives, but NAS systems lack capable clients

pNFS and NFSv4.1 adoption still on hold with most storage array vendors

NFS alternative meets Los Alamos National Laboratory's high-performance computing needs

2010-06-07T08:00:00.004-06:00

Version 10 of Asigra cloud backup app gains mobile support, better tiering

Asigra Inc. rolled out a new version of its cloud backup software today, adding support for mobile devices while expanding its tiering options and server virtualization platform support.

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2010-05-23T08:00:00.001-06:00

Digital data created in 2020 forecasted at 35 zettabytes; cloud computing will manage data growth

There was no global recession in data growth in 2009, according to a Digital Universe study by Framingham, Mass.-based IDC. The technology research and consulting firm estimates the worldwide volume of digital data grew by 62% between 2008 and 2009 to nearly 800,000 petabytes (PB). IDC claims this 'Digital Universe' will grow to 1.2 million PB, or 1.2 zettabytes (ZB) in 2010 and reach 35 ZB by 2020.

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2010-04-15T08:00:00.001-06:00

Nine Technology opens doors for cloud backup managed IT services

Nine Technology is getting into the crowded cloud backup service market with a platform for managed IT service providers that handles data deduplication and compression for PCs, and plans to expand to back up data on servers and eventually provide disaster recovery.

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2010-04-06T08:00:00.001-06:00

Quantum Scalar i6000 enterprise-class tape library is aimed at data archiving

Quantum Corp. today launched a new high-end tape library aimed largely at enterprises with vast data archiving needs. The Scalar i6000 features an archive-tape integrity monitoring technology, higher-capacity LTO-5 Scalar i2000 tape drives, and support for larger bulk exports than the model it replaces, the Scalar i2000.

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2010-04-02T08:00:00.002-06:00

Storage resource management services offer visibility and optimization advice

While storage resource management (SRM) tools have yet to catch on in a big way, providers are starting to push them as managed services to improve storage utilization,capacity planning, monitoring, and reporting.

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2010-04-01T08:00:00.001-06:00

NAS management improves with scale-out NAS, file virtualization and cloud storage services

Network-attached storage (NAS) has many benefits for storing and managing files, and is becoming increasingly important as unstructured data outgrows structured data across large and small organizations. But NAS management gets complicated as the number of devices increases, resulting in what has become known as "NAS sprawl." Jeff Boles, senior analyst and director, validation services at Hopkinton, Mass.-based Taneja Group, discusses how NAS sprawl occurs and how it can be curbed through scale-out NAS, management tools, file virtualization and cloud storage services.

2010-03-19T08:00:00.001-06:00

SMBs look to cloud storage services for data compliance and e-discovery

Small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) facing e-discovery requirements are beginning to use cloud storage services and other Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings for data compliance needs such as email and collaboration, experts say.

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2010-02-25T14:47:00.001-07:00

Local area network disaster recovery tutorial: Redundant power systems and planning key for LAN DR

The coordination and preparation of a disaster recovery (DR) plan can be a complex operation that spans departments and facilities, and affects every IT system including applications, data storage, and telecommunications. One critical system that you may overlook is your local area network (LAN). Ensuring that your networking infrastructure is up and running so your users have access to critical IT applications and data as quickly as possible is a key component of a comprehensive network disaster recovery plan.

In this LAN DR planning tutorial, you will learn how to recognize the events that should trigger your LAN DR plan, how to prevent and mitigate those networking disasters, and the key elements of a solid LAN DR plan.

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2010-02-22T08:00:00.001-07:00

Information technology governance and the role of the storage manager

No company wants to get dragged into a lengthy e-discovery process or be penalized for avoiding government compliance regulations. That's why information technology governance, which focuses on the performance and risk management of information technology systems, is so important.

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2010-02-09T08:00:00.001-07:00

iSCSI storage system implemented by University of Alaska Fairbanks

After confronting scalability problems with NFS, the Bioinformatics Core at the University of Alaska Fairbanks adopted an iSCSI storage system and has some lessons to share from its implementation.

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2010-01-19T08:00:00.016-07:00

Alternative approach to I/O virtualization: PCIe bus extenders

While Xsigo Systems Inc. takes a software virtualization approach to I/O virtualization, the majority of vendors in the I/O virtualization space take a different path – implementing on the server a PCI Express (PCIe) bus extender to a "card cage" device that houses standard, off-the-shelf I/O cards and adapters. This method has been adopted by companies such as Aprius Inc., NextIO Inc. and VirtenSys Inc.

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2010-01-19T08:00:00.012-07:00

I/O virtualization products, standards reduce network infrastructure headaches

Virtualization and blade server technologies have enabled a generation of consolidated computing devices capable of cramming extraordinary computing power into smaller form factors. But the increased processing power per square inch has brought about a new I/O problem: The pipes can't move data fast enough to keep up with today's processors. To address that problem, new I/O virtualization products and standards are emerging to extend PCI Express (PCIe) pathways to separate I/O devices. This allows multiple physical servers and virtual machines (VMs) to share I/O resources.

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2010-01-19T08:00:00.011-07:00

I/O virtualization: Approaches and implementations

There's a lot of hardware with lots of processing power in today's data center and, as a result, a server I/O bottleneck problem and a glut of cabling to support all of the hardware. I/O virtualization promises to solve the problem, but there's no consensus on the best approach. The PCI Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG) has offered up two I/O virtualization specifications to help standardize I/O virtualization implementations, but vendors for the most part are developing products independent of the standards.

With those kinds of dynamics at play, you'll need to study the landscape closely before wading into an I/O virtualization project. Check out our tutorial to find out about the approaches different vendors are taking to I/O virtualization, the pros and cons of each product, how I/O virtualization differs from Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and how the PCI-SIG standards work.

I/O virtualization products, standards reduce network infrastructure headaches
Virtualization and blade server technologies have enabled a generation of consolidated computing devices capable of cramming extraordinary computing power into smaller form factors. But the increased processing power per square inch has brought about a new I/O problem: The pipes can't move data fast enough to keep up with today's processors. To address that problem, new I/O virtualization products and standards are emerging to extend PCI Express (PCIe) pathways to separate I/O devices. This allows multiple physical servers and virtual machines (VMs) to share I/O resources.
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Xsigo's I/O virtualization approach: Software virtualization via I/O Director
Xsigo Systems Inc.'s approach to I/O virtualization is similar to Microsoft Corp.'s and VMware Inc.'s server virtualization methods. Xsigo's VP780 I/O Director consolidates multiprotocol I/O server traffic via high-speed InfiniBand links. This software I/O virtualization approach -- one of two basic methodologies -- heavily favors server virtualization environments. Jon Toor, Xsigo's vice president of marketing, said that approximately 90% of the company's 60 or so production deployments are virtualized server environments, mostly VMware shops.
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Alternative approach to I/O virtualization: PCIe bus extenders
While Xsigo Systems Inc., takes a software virtualization approach to I/O virtualization, the majority of vendors in the I/O virtualization space take a different path – implementing on the server a PCI Express (PCIe) bus extender to a "card cage" device that houses standard, off-the-shelf I/O cards and adapters. This method has been adopted by companies such as Aprius Inc., NextIO Inc. and VirtenSys Inc.
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I/O virtualization and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE): How do they differ?
Since I/O virtualization and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) technology both aim to reduce the physical infrastructure at the server/network interconnect, users may be confused about how Cisco Systems Inc.'s Unified Computing System (UCS) and FCoE support in the company's Nexus switches play in this space. In addition, many IT organizations may find the choice between the Xsigo Systems Inc. and PCIe approaches a difficult one.
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2010-01-19T08:00:00.010-07:00

Xsigo's I/O virtualization approach: Software virtualization via I/O Director

Xsigo Systems Inc.'s approach to I/O virtualization is similar to Microsoft Corp.'s and VMware Inc.'s server virtualization methods. The Xsigo VP780 I/O Director consolidates multiprotocol I/O server traffic via high-speed InfiniBand links. This software I/O virtualization approach – one of two basic methodologies -- heavily favors server virtualization environments. Jon Toor, Xsigo's vice president of marketing, said that approximately 90% of the company's 60 or so production deployments are virtualized server environments, mostly VMware shops.

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2010-01-18T08:00:00.001-07:00

Improve storage utilization rates with storage optimization, capacity reduction techniques

There are a growing number of tools and techniques on the market to help IT organizations improve their data storage utilization rates. Arun Taneja, founder and consulting analyst at Hopkinton, Mass.-based Taneja Group, details the storage optimization and capacity reduction products available from a range of enterprise data storage vendors. Read about which tools you might be missing in this FAQ interview.

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Symantec Veritas Storage Foundation V5.1 has solid-state drive auto-discovery, thin volume reclaim

2009-12-07T08:00:00.001-07:00

Symantec Corp. is beefing up its storage resource management software by enhancing visibility for solid-state drives (SSDs), strengthening its thin provisioning capabilities, adding integration with Microsoft Corp.'s Hyper-V and improving application recovery in the Veritas Cluster File System.

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Data migration tools take SMBs to the next tier: Data migration and tiered storage tutorial

2009-11-03T08:00:00.001-07:00

As small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) become more comfortable with data storage systems, they will look for ways to use that storage more efficiently. Storage tiering is one strategy that allows organizations to use lower performance and inexpensive storage equipment to hold less-frequently used data while high-performance equipment is used for frequently used information.

To organize existing storage into tiers, SMBs can use a myriad of available data migration tools and strategies. While these tools aren't nearly as numerous or sophisticated as enterprise-grade tools, they will move your data without draining your bank account.

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Email archiving strategies: A tutorial on email archiving for smaller businesses and SMBs

2009-10-01T08:00:00.003-06:00

Ask any small- to medium-sized business (SMB) owner how they archive email and you are likely to get one of four answers:

* What's email archiving?
* I just keep the messages on the email server.
* That's what my data backup application is for.
* I have to use a special program and it's a royal pain.

In this tutorial on email archiving strategies for smaller businesses and SMBs, learn about in-house vs. outsourced email archiving, backup vs. archiving, email archiving strategies for smaller businesses and what to look for in an email archiving product.

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NEC upgrades Hydrastor data backup/archiving system, expands deduplication support

2009-09-15T21:42:00.003-06:00

SearchDataBackup.com
September 15, 2009

NEC Corp. of America is upgrading its Hydrastor grid-based data backup and data archiving system by bumping up performance, adding WORM capability, and expanding its application-aware data deduplication support. Full story

Maximizing your enterprise data storage capacity: Improve efficiency and utilization

2009-09-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

SearchStorage.com
September 2, 2009

Maximizing your enterprise data storage capacity is more important than ever before. With the majority of storage budgets unable to keep pace with data growth rates, most storage administrators need to find ways to reduce capital and operating expenses to survive the economic downturn. In general, before adding new capacity, you should focus on making better use of your already installed capacity. And while there's no simple checklist to accomplish this, you can improve the efficiency of your storage systems using tiered storage; storage resource management (SRM), data classification and data migration tools; and techniques such as thin provisioning and data reduction. Full Story

IBM beefs up midrange storage arrays with 8 Gig FC, iSCSI, self-encrypting drives

2009-08-25T08:00:00.002-06:00

SearchStorage.com
August 25, 2009

IBM has upgraded its midrange disk array storage systems, rolling out the IBM System Storage DS5020 Express with support for 8 Gbps Fibre Channel (FC), iSCSI and self-encrypting drives. Full Story

Vendors take steps to lock down cloud storage services

2009-08-24T08:00:00.004-06:00

SearchStorage.com
August 24, 2009

Cloud storage services offer virtually unlimited capacity, no infrastructure installation or support, and flexible payment options for organizations large and small. But these positives are often overshadowed by cloud security issues, whether perceived or real. Before signing up with managed services, organizations therefore want to be sure they're as secure as in-house solutions. Full story

Virtual tape libraries: A tutorial on managing VTL technology

2009-08-07T08:00:00.004-06:00

SearchDataBackup.com
August 7, 2009

If you are saturating your Fibre Channel (FC) network links to complete disk-to-tape data backup jobs in smaller and smaller timeframes, it may be time to consider installing a virtual tape library (VTL) to implement a disk-to-disk data backup and recovery environment. A VTL can complement your legacy tape archive system by introducing disk-to-disk backup time and speed advantages.

In this tutorial on virtual tape library technology, learn about buying and managing a VTL, VTLs and data deduplication, and virtual tape library vendors and products. Full story

Overland Snap Server NAS watches over Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC exhibits

2009-08-04T08:00:00.000-06:00

SearchStorage.com
August 4, 2009

The IT staff that set up the tech infrastructure at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC consider their storage system a key piece of the building's security plan. While the Overland Storage Inc. Snap Server 620 network-attached storage (NAS) appliance doesn't actually handle any security, it does store data from the IP camera system the Annex relies on to keep its valuable exhibits safe. Full Story

2009-07-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

Coraid Inc. EtherDrive gives North Canton, Ohio, school district a lesson in AoE storage

Coraid Inc.'s EtherDrive products provided the City of North Canton, Ohio, with a lesson in ATA over Ethernet (AoE) storage when it was trying to deal with the increased demands of a growing school district and capacity-sucking multimedia files.

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Blade storage adds virtualization and data services to overcome management limitations

2009-06-09T08:00:00.001-06:00

SearchSMBStorage.com
June 9, 2009

The latest generation of blade storage products offer data management features such as thin provisioning and data deduplication that previously have only been available in external storage systems. Also, the introduction of virtualization technologies to blade storage systems may increase its popularity among SMBs that seek easy installation, easy administration and advanced data services features. However, blade storage products come along with some inherent limitations. Full Story

2009-06-08T08:00:00.002-06:00

Plan data protection strategy around business case: Storage Decisions speaker

CHICAGO -- Storage organizations need to plan their data protection strategy around a solid business case instead of buzzword technologies, Jon Toigo told Storage Decisions attendees during his keynote speech on the final day of the show.

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Stretching computer budgets remains high priority with storage administrators at Storage Decisions Chicago conference

2009-06-02T08:00:00.001-06:00

SearchStorage.com
June 2, 2009

Surviving the economic downturn is at the top of storage administrators' priorities lists at the first Storage Decisions conference of 2009. Full Story

2009-05-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

Iomega portable USB 2.0 eGo hard drives get more capacity and better data protection

Iomega, the consumer and small business products division of EMC Corp., introduced the newest version of the company's eGo portable hard drives. The consumer, home office, and SMB-targeted storage devices are now USB 2.0 compliant and include a data protection software suite.

2009-05-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

Tips for protecting data on VMware virtual machines

Backing up data is a lot more complex in VMware virtual machine environments. Jeff Boles, senior analyst and director, validation services at Hopkinton, Mass.-based Taneja Group, discusses the challenges of protecting data in virtual environments and the best technologies available from VMware and third-party challengers. This podcast is also available below as an MP3 download.

Read transcript
Listen to mp3 podcast

EPA begins long process to green storage specification

2009-05-13T08:00:00.001-06:00

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is looking to develop standards for making data storage devices more energy efficient, although it's probably years away from having an industry-standard green storage specification.

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i365 takes storage appliance route

2009-05-05T08:00:00.003-06:00

SearchStorageChannel.com
May 5, 2009

i365, Seagate Technology LLC's storage services subsidiary, today launched a disk appliance with storage, backup and other data protection features built in for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Full Story

ONStor embraces ZFS, goes multiprotocol

2009-04-24T08:00:00.002-06:00

SearchStorage.com
April 24, 2009

ONStor Inc. introduced its first integrated storage system built on the open-source Zettabyte File System (ZFS) this week. The Pantera LS 2100 series supports iSCSI and network-attached storage (NAS), as well as solid-state drives (SSDs), and is targeted at small and mid-sized enterprise (SME) customers. Full Story

Iomega goes multiprotocol with StorCenter Pro ix4-200r for SMBs

2009-04-17T08:00:00.001-06:00

SearchSMBStorage.com
April 17, 2009

Iomega, the small business and consumer division of EMC Corp., introduced the StorCenter Pro ix4-200r four-drive rackmount data storage system this week with iSCSI support for block storage as well as network-attached storage (NAS). Full Story

2009-04-13T08:00:00.008-06:00

SandForce seeks to improve SSD controllers

SandForce Inc., a silicon provider for solid-state drive (SSD) OEMs, emerged from stealth mode today with a line of processors for SSD controllers it claims will improve the reliability and endurance of NAND Flash-based drives.

Tiered storage tutorial

2009-03-17T08:00:00.001-06:00

SearchStorage.com
March 17, 2009

Storage administrators are increasingly revisiting tiered storage strategies to lower asset and operational costs, and to improve application performance. This is accomplished by establishing and assigning tiers according to drive cost and performance. In its simplest form, this means assigning non-critical data to higher-capacity and lower-cost drives. Full Story

2009-02-04T08:00:00.005-07:00

LegalTech: Putting together e-discovery pieces

The LegalTech trade show is going on this week in New York City, and that means plenty of e-discovery and compliance-related product rollouts.

2009-01-20T08:00:00.003-07:00

Digital Reef adds support for FAST Enterprise Search Platform and Office SharePoint Server 2007

Data classification startup Digital Reef Inc. is adding support for Microsoft Corp.'s FAST Enterprise Search Platform (ESP) and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 through a new technology partnership with Microsoft.

On the Road Post

2009-01-06T00:09:00.000-07:00

January 2 Bumper Sticker:
"Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Republican"

2008-12-15T08:00:00.005-07:00

Mimosa NearPoint module automates email retention, data classification

Mimosa Systems Inc. is adding a module to its NearPoint email management platform to automate content retention by classifying, tagging and applying policies to incoming and archived mail.

2008-12-03T08:00:00.001-07:00

Survey says SMBs need better backup policies

According to a survey conducted by Rubicon Consulting Inc. and funded by Symantec, half of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have lost important business data, and nearly a third of those companies lost sales or customers as a direct result of the lost data.

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2008-11-21T08:00:00.001-07:00

iQstor bulks up its rack-mounted SAN storage system

IQstor Networks Inc. introduced a high-density SAN storage system for small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) at Supercomputing '08 this week in Austin, Texas.

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2008-10-22T08:00:00.001-06:00

Kazeon introduces federated electronic discovery tool for remote data

Kazeon Systems Inc. has added the ability to collect, preserve, hold, analyze and review data for electronic discovery at remote sites with its Information Center unified management system. Information Center allows organizations to conduct e-discovery in remote sites without leaving the data center or VPN connection.

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2008-10-15T08:00:00.001-06:00

EMC offers SMB and home office NAS appliance

EMC Corp.'s Iomega small business and consumer product division made its first significant move into the small and medium-sized business (SMB), home office and digital home market with the release of the StorCenter ix2 network storage appliance.

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LifeHacker Blog Five Best . . . Series

2008-07-16T16:03:00.004-06:00

The LifeHacker Hive Five blog is in the middle of an interesting series, surveying readers for their top five tools in various categories including.

I've already downloaded a number of the tools. Good stuff.

About Me

2000-01-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

I am a news and features writer based in Denver, Colorado. I work for the TechTarget Storage Media Group, which is based in Needham, Mass.

I also moonlight as a sports and business writer.

I obtained my B.A. from The Colorado College in 1988, and a J.D. from the University of Denver College of Law in 1991. I practiced law for 6 years.