Computer storage hardware
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News
26 May 2024
Nutanix beefs up AHV hypervisor, doubles down on AI
Nutanix takes aim at VMware with enhancements to its AHV hypervisor along with tighter integrations with Nvidia and Hugging Face to simplify AI deployments Continue Reading
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News
27 Feb 2023
How Dell is future-proofing its business
Dell Technologies is building a more resilient supply chain, investing in growth areas like edge and multicloud, and responding to shifts in consumption models to position itself for long-term growth Continue Reading
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News
15 Oct 2024
Google launches Parallelstore file storage at cloud AI training
Originally driven by Intel’s now-defunct Optane storage class memory, Parallelstore offers massive parallel file storage targeted at artificial intelligence training use cases on Google Cloud Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Oct 2024
Global file systems: A single view of on-premise and cloud data
Global file systems aggregate data into a single hybrid cloud from multiple locations using object storage with access that satisfies traditional application needs, like file locking Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Oct 2024
Azure storage: Key options in Microsoft cloud storage
We survey the key cloud storage options available from Microsoft Azure, which include Files, Blob, Elastic SAN, Managed Disk and NetApp files, for a range of use cases Continue Reading
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News
25 Sep 2024
NetApp E-series: Not part of the big message, but here to stay, says CEO
We asked NetApp about its high-performance computing-focused E-series block storage arrays and found inconsistent messaging but ultimately a commitment from CEO George Kurian to retain it Continue Reading
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News
24 Sep 2024
Pure punts raft of unifying features in FlashBlade file and object
Features are aimed at Pure’s file and object architecture with functionality based on software that aids management at system level Continue Reading
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News
24 Sep 2024
NetApp maintains push to data management for AI
From data storage to intelligent data infrastructure – that’s the plan from NetApp, which has announced data curation for artificial intelligence as well as additions to its ASA and FAS storage arrays Continue Reading
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News
18 Sep 2024
Europol provides detail on Ghost encrypted comms platform takedown
Law enforcement bodies from across the world have revealed how they collaborated to bring down encrypted network Ghost and the new ways of working that have been established with Europol at the centre Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Sep 2024
Kubernetes disaster recovery: Five key questions
We look at disaster recovery for Kubernetes environments, the key challenges to deployment of K8s DR, the risks we aim to mitigate, how to build a plan and the key infrastructure requirements Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Sep 2024
Storage technology explained: Vector databases at the core of AI
We look at the use of vector data in AI and how vector databases work, plus vector embedding, the challenges for storage of vector data and the key suppliers of vector database products Continue Reading
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Feature
04 Sep 2024
Cloud repatriation: How to do it successfully
The keys to reverse migration success include workload selection, how to prepare your on-premise infrastructure and future-proofing the decision to come back in-house Continue Reading
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Feature
03 Sep 2024
Key-value flash targets more efficient data storage
We look at key-value storage, which promises much greater I/O efficiency and longer flash drive lifespans, but may be constrained by limited use cases and lukewarm productisation efforts Continue Reading
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News
03 Sep 2024
Flash prices drop as drive production increases but demand lags
Flash prices were high in the early part of this year as a result of manufacturer production squeezes but have since dropped because demand has been slack, with flash now costing just under 10 cents per gigabyte Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Sep 2024
Storage technology explained: Kubernetes, containers and persistent storage
In this guide, we look at the market-leading container platform Kubernetes, how it works, the challenges with persistent storage and backup, and how they have been overcome Continue Reading
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News
28 Aug 2024
Cambridge Enterprise saves big with Keepit SaaS backup
University innovation body avoids hardware spend and saves management time as it switches from tape to cloud-to-cloud backup, instant recovery and decades-long retention from Keepit Continue Reading
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News
27 Aug 2024
AI innovation key to UK business, but obstacles threaten progress
AI is seen by IT leaders as essential, but it requires innovation, skills and infrastructure – all of which are under pressure from day-to-day firefighting, energy costs and cyber threats Continue Reading
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News
21 Aug 2024
QiStor flashes key-value storage software for hardware acceleration
US-based startup will develop storage software allied with FPGA chips to allow data storage to bypass spinning disk era block addressing to speed performance and cut energy use Continue Reading
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Podcast
21 Aug 2024
Podcast: Ransomware and what data storage can do about it
We talk to NetApp’s Chris McKean about ransomware attacks and the role of data storage in protecting against them Continue Reading
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Podcast
13 Aug 2024
Podcast: Storage functionality in Kubernetes 1.31
We talk to Sergey Pronin of Percona about new storage functionality in Kubernetes 1.31, including volume attribute class and changes to persistent volumes, as well as other long-term fixes Continue Reading
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News
13 Aug 2024
Oracle Exadata Exascale: Big architecture shift for small workloads
Exascale is multitenant architecture for Oracle Database that promises performance equal to dedicated infrastructure and savings compared with existing products, with AI workloads in mind Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Aug 2024
Kubernetes and storage in the enterprise: What the analysts say
We talk to analysts about Kubernetes adoption in the enterprise, how mature it is, deployment challenges and key obstacles to enterprises that want to go cloud-native with containers Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Aug 2024
Kubernetes at 10: CRDs at core of extensible, modular storage in K8s
We talk to VMware engineer Xing Yang, who saw Kubernetes storage evolve from the early days where its modular, extensible origins translated to Operators for storage and backup Continue Reading
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Definition
01 Aug 2024
What is a partition in computers?
A partition is a logical division of a hard disk drive (HDD) that's treated as a separate unit by operating systems (OSes) and file systems. Continue Reading
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Definition
25 Jul 2024
What is U.2 SSD (formerly SFF-8639)?
A U.2 SSD is a high-performance data storage device designed to support the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) interface using a small form factor (SFF) connector that is also compatible with standard SAS and SATA-based spinning disks and solid-state drives (SSDs). Continue Reading
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Definition
25 Jul 2024
What is parity in computing?
In computers, parity (from the Latin paritas, meaning "equal or equivalent") is a technique that checks whether data has been lost or written over when it is moved from one place in storage to another or when it is transmitted between computers. Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Jul 2024
Kubernetes at 10: The long road to mastery of persistent storage
Jan Safranek of Red Hat saw containers emerge as an exciting new way of deploying applications, but it took several additions to make it the mature enterprise platform it is today Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Jul 2024
Hybrid multicloud storage: Pros, cons and key workloads
We look at hybrid multicloud storage, making the best of on-premise and multiple cloud application locations, its key benefits, some pitfalls and the technologies to build it with Continue Reading
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Podcast
23 Jul 2024
Podcast: Sustainable data storage and how to achieve it
We talk to NetApp’s Grant Caley about data storage energy needs and how they can be reduced by use of QLC flash, efficient datacentre hardware and putting data on the right media Continue Reading
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News
22 Jul 2024
CrowdStrike chaos shows risks of concentrated ‘big IT’
The concentration of so much mission-critical technology in the hands of a few large suppliers makes incidents like the Microsoft-CrowdStrike outage all the more dangerous Continue Reading
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Feature
19 Jul 2024
Interview: Nvidia on AI workload demands and storage performance
We talk to Charlie Boyle of Nvidia about AI impacts on storage I/O, key performance metrics for storage for AI, and storage attributes required across differing AI workloads Continue Reading
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Feature
18 Jul 2024
Kubernetes at 10: From stateless also-ran to ‘platform to build platforms’
Sergey Pronin of Percona was all for ‘Kubernetes for stateless’ at a time when it was hard to provision storage and day-two services – then Operators and Stateful Sets came along Continue Reading
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Definition
16 Jul 2024
JEDEC
JEDEC is a global industry group that develops open standards for microelectronics. Continue Reading
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News
16 Jul 2024
Cloud spend trumps AI but data, security and cost a common headache
Nasuni-sponsored survey finds cloud projects higher on the to do list than AI, but data management, security and cost reduction are common themes in all areas of investment Continue Reading
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Feature
15 Jul 2024
Cloud repatriation: What it is and when you can benefit
We look at the growing trend of cloud repatriation, why organisations repatriate data, the pros and cons, who can most benefit, and how to decide which data to move Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Jul 2024
Kubernetes at 10: When K8s ‘won’ and life now as a ‘surly teenager’
We talk to Datastax’s Patrick McFadin about Kubernetes’ success against competitors and how StatefulSet and operators solved key challenges, but why there are still obstacles to clear Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Jul 2024
Hybrid cloud storage vs on-premise: What data goes where?
We look at hybrid cloud in storage strategy, key benefits of the cloud vs on-premise storage, key workloads that suit the cloud and how to decide which workloads work best where Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Jul 2024
Deep dive: How Pure Fusion plans to implement storage classes
We spoke to Pure Storage founder John ‘Coz’ Colgrove about how Pure Storage’s Fusion control plane will make its capacity available to applications via pre-defined storage classes Continue Reading
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News
09 Jul 2024
Fewer than half of organisations achieve GenAI efficiency gains
Research finds that many organisations lack the IT infrastructure needed to deploy generative AI applications Continue Reading
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News
09 Jul 2024
Tony’s Chocolonely gains Salesforce comfort with Own SaaS backup
Tony’s Chocolonely sometimes lost Salesforce.com data and often hit storage limits, but cloud-to-cloud SaaS backup from Own allows it to easily recover customer data and archive old data Continue Reading
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News
08 Jul 2024
Synnovis attack highlights degraded, outdated state of NHS IT
More cyber attacks against the health service are likely, and will succeed if something isn’t done to address the increasingly elderly NHS IT estate, experts are warning Continue Reading
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News
02 Jul 2024
Interview: Nvidia on AI workloads and their impacts on data storage
We talk to Charlie Boyle of Nvidia about data challenges in artificial intelligence, key practical tips for AI projects, and demands on storage of training, inferencing, RAG and checkpointing Continue Reading
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Podcast
28 Jun 2024
Podcast: Storage for AI needs scale, hybrid cloud and multiple integrations
We talk to NetApp’s Grant Caley about AI and data storage, the need for scale, performance and hybrid cloud, and to move, copy and clone data for wrangling for inference runs Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Jun 2024
Kubernetes at 10: Building stateful app storage and data protection
Google engineer Michelle Au was involved in Kubernetes storage early, as the container orchestration platform was developed to support data protection operations such as snapshots Continue Reading
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E-Zine
25 Jun 2024
A revolution in space
In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to astronaut Tim Peake about the imminent revolution in space tech and what it means for IT leaders. AI is set to transform the movie industry – we hear from the producers of the latest Mad Max film about how it’s already changed the process for them. And we find out about plans for Neom, the Saudi Arabian smart city in the desert. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Jun 2024
Pure’s storage as a service: We can offer what others can’t
All-flash storage vendor Pure makes bold claims about subscription pricing for storage, stating that the competition can’t offer what it can because its arrays are built for non-disruptive upgrades Continue Reading
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Definition
17 Jun 2024
bad block
A bad block is an area of storage media that is no longer reliable for storing and retrieving data because it has been physically damaged or corrupted. Continue Reading
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Definition
12 Jun 2024
erasure coding (EC)
Erasure coding (EC) is a method of data protection in which data is broken into fragments, expanded and encoded with redundant data pieces, and stored across a set of different locations or storage media. Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Jun 2024
Kubernetes at 10: Persistent storage matures, helped by Operators
Google engineer Saad Ali remembers the early days of Kubernetes, the storage challenges faced and overcome, and the revolution in application awareness that comes from Operators Continue Reading
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News
11 Jun 2024
Nuclear waste body cuts energy use by 20% as Pure replaces HPE
French nuclear waste agency Andra has cut storage energy use by 20% and strengthened its disaster recovery capabilities by deploying Pure Storage and 10-year controller upgrades Continue Reading
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Definition
07 Jun 2024
memristor
A memristor is an electrical component that limits or regulates the flow of electrical current in a circuit and remembers the amount of charge that has previously flowed through it. Continue Reading
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Feature
06 Jun 2024
Storage technology explained: Key questions about tape storage
We look at the benefits of tape storage – low cost, inherent security, excellent energy efficiency – the workloads it is best for, and how tape fits a wider storage strategy Continue Reading
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News
04 Jun 2024
Mad Max production company gets Dell PowerScale to leverage generative AI
One supplier enters, one supplier leaves: Australian film production company replaces HPE with Dell storage and compute as it leverages GenAI Continue Reading
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News
03 Jun 2024
Dell launches PowerStore Prime and hints at PowerScale AI boost
Array range launched at Dell World 2024 in Las Vegas as PowerScale gets OS upgrade and new Intel Xeon CPUs, while Dell CEO hints at acceleration for PowerScale NAS Continue Reading
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Feature
29 May 2024
Storage technology explained: File, block and object storage
We ask the key questions about file, block and object storage: how they work on-premise and in the cloud, global file systems, and file and object locking Continue Reading
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News
28 May 2024
Executive Interview: Why Dell wants to be your one-stop AI shop
At Dell Technologies World in Las Vegas, artificial intelligence was the talk of the town as Dell staked out an all-encompassing strategy ahead of an anticipated goldrush. Dell’s Nick Brackney explains why the tech giant believes it's onto a winner Continue Reading
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News
26 May 2024
Nutanix beefs up AHV hypervisor, doubles down on AI
Nutanix takes aim at VMware with enhancements to its AHV hypervisor along with tighter integrations with Nvidia and Hugging Face to simplify AI deployments Continue Reading
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Podcast
22 May 2024
Podcast: AI and its impact on data storage
We talk to Shawn Rosemarin, vice-president for R&D at Pure Storage, about the requirements of AI workloads, and what data storage needs to cope with AI Continue Reading
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News
22 May 2024
Infinidat adds smaller footprint G4 arrays with claimed 2x performance
Purveyor of triple-controller all-flash and hybrid flash arrays aimed at high-end customers tails and tops InfiniBox and InfiniBox SSA ranges, and adds Azure cloud storage to AWS Continue Reading
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News
20 May 2024
Dell Technologies World: AI at core of Dell’s next chapter
With a significant anniversary just passed, Dell CEO Michael Dell was in reflective mood as he looked ahead to the impact of artificial intelligence on the tech giant’s product stack Continue Reading
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News
20 May 2024
DataStax launches on-premise GenAI in ‘hyper-converged’ format
NoSQL database specialist adds generative AI for datacentre deployments where cloud is a no-no for cost, security or compliance reasons, with a focus on vector storage Continue Reading
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News
20 May 2024
Toshiba shows 32TB HDDs with heat-assisted and shingled drives
Drive maker demonstrates 32TB and 31TB capacity hard drives that boost write density by use of heat and microwave assistance plus shingled – overlapped – drive tracks Continue Reading
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News
14 May 2024
QStar launches tape access from anywhere with Global ArchiveSpace
Tape veteran provides file and object access to Exabyte scale archives aimed at AI, high-performance computing and hyperscaler storage. Single-site for now, multi-site to follow Continue Reading
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News
14 May 2024
NetApp upgrades AFF all-flash as it targets AI storage
New AFF arrays offer performance boost for artificial intelligence, while NetApp trumpets its advantages as a provider of sustainable and intelligent infrastructure for all kinds of workloads Continue Reading
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Feature
10 May 2024
Four key impacts of AI on data storage
We look at the key impacts of AI on data storage, including I/O and possible bottlenecks, how I/O differs across training and inference, plus data management and compliance concerns Continue Reading
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News
08 May 2024
Huawei launches exabyte-scale OceanStor A800 at AI workloads
Chinese storage array maker announces high-performance NAS that can build out to clusters in excess of 1 exabyte, plus NVMe flash drives of 128TB coming to market next year Continue Reading
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News
07 May 2024
French MSP saves 30% on cloud costs as it deploys Cubbit
Cubbit’s distributed object storage turns on-site capacity into a sovereign and secure cloud. CloudReso.com uses it to supply its customers and save on fees from big cloud providers Continue Reading
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Podcast
01 May 2024
Podcast: 32TB HDDs by 2029, but how much bigger can they get?
We talk to Rainer Kaese of Toshiba about the roadmap for conventional magnetic recording on hard disk drives, the roadmap to 32TB, and what it would take to get to 100TB or 200TB Continue Reading
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News
30 Apr 2024
Arcitecta offers file and object storage with huge transfer rates
Australian startup offers single namespace file and object storage with rapid access via a metadata database that puts the right data in the right place according to recent use Continue Reading
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Podcast
25 Apr 2024
Podcast: How to prepare your data for digital transformation
We talk to Chris Gorton, EMEA managing director at Syniti, about how to prepare data for digital transformation Continue Reading
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News
24 Apr 2024
AI firm saves a million in shift to Pure FlashBlade shared storage
AI consultancy Crater Labs spent vast amounts of time managing server-attached drives to ensure GPUs were saturated. A shift to all-flash Pure Storage slashed that to almost zero Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Apr 2024
Five reasons why – and when – cloud storage is the answer
We look at when cloud storage can be the best choice, with considerations that include performance, scalability and agility, cost, management simplicity, and security and resilience Continue Reading
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News
22 Apr 2024
Fujifilm plans to ‘make tape easy’ with Kangaroo SME appliance
Fujifilm to add 100TB SME-focused Kangaroo tape infrastructure in a box to existing 1PB offer, as energy efficiency and security of tape make it alluring to customers Continue Reading
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News
16 Apr 2024
Leil wants to revive MAID as green storage tape substitute
MAID sought to provide energy-efficient disk storage with quicker access times than tape. Estonian startup Leil wants to supplant tape with green storage spin-down SMR drives Continue Reading
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News
15 Apr 2024
Quickwit claims big advantage in log file search and index
When the logs are the data: Startup Quickwit claims late entrant advantage in log file search and index with bigger datasets and better analytics on reduced infrastructure Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Apr 2024
Storage technology explained: AI and data storage
In this guide, we examine the data storage needs of artificial intelligence, the demands it places on data storage, the suitability of cloud and object storage for AI, and key AI storage products Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Apr 2024
Seven ways to be sure you can restore from backup
Backups are no good if you can’t restore from them. We look at key elements of backup restoration, including backup audits, RPOs and RTOs, and how and when to test backups Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Apr 2024
Storage technology explained: Flash vs HDD
In this guide, we examine the differences between flash storage and HDD, the rise of NVMe and much denser formats such as QLC, and whether or not flash will vanquish HDD in the all-flash datacentre Continue Reading
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News
02 Apr 2024
Flash storage prices rise by 25% as manufacturers chase profitability
Analysis of 30,000-plus drive prices shows cost of flash drives per gigabyte rose sharply since October 2023, as memory manufacturers limit supplies and increase prices Continue Reading
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Definition
28 Mar 2024
IOPS (input/output operations per second)
IOPS (input/output operations per second) is the standard unit of measurement for the maximum number of reads/writes to noncontiguous storage locations. Continue Reading
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Podcast
28 Mar 2024
Podcast: What is distributed cloud storage and what are its benefits?
We talk to Enrico Signoretti of Cubbit about how distributed cloud allows customers to control their data in hybrid and multicloud storage and the workloads the company targets Continue Reading
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News
26 Mar 2024
Alletra MP hardware changes see HPE orient arrays towards AI
HPE doubles controller nodes, boosts capacity with denser drives, cuts caches and builds in 100Gbps links to bring denser, faster storage aimed at all parts of the AI/ML pipeline Continue Reading
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News
26 Mar 2024
GTC 2024: Storage suppliers queue up to ride the Nvidia AI wave
Storage supplier announcements at Nvdia conference centre on infrastructure integration, tackling the GPU I/O bottleneck and AI hallucinations by running Nvidia NeMo and NIM microservices Continue Reading
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Definition
19 Mar 2024
RAID 50 (RAID 5+0)
RAID 50, also known as RAID 5+0, combines distributed parity (RAID 5) with striping (RAID 0). It requires a minimum of six drives. Continue Reading
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News
19 Mar 2024
Vast targets AI checkpointing write performance with distributed RAID
AI checkpointing operations targeted by Vast Data as it touts QLC-based storage for AI workloads Continue Reading
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News
18 Mar 2024
Cohesity: We won’t abandon NetBackup customers or force migration
CEO promises no forced migration to Cohesity and not to abandon any NetBackup product while building new leadership in artificial intelligence and security around Cohesity Gaia Continue Reading
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News
12 Mar 2024
Hammerspace leverages smart metadata handling for AI/ML workloads
Software-defined storage maker separates metadata from files to provide view-from-anywhere file system visibility. It has now leveraged that for AI/ML workloads in Hyperscale NAS Continue Reading
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Podcast
11 Mar 2024
Podcast: Immutable storage essential against ransomware, but...
...not all immutable storage is created equal. That’s the message from Paul Speciale of Scality, who looks at immutable storage, its variants and what’s needed to secure data Continue Reading
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News
05 Mar 2024
Unexpected costs hit many as they move to cloud storage
A Wasabi survey of cloud storage customers finds more moving to the cloud, but they are experiencing busted budgets and unexpected fees, and expect big demands from artificial intelligence workloads Continue Reading
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News
05 Mar 2024
Keepit brings backup and restore to unprotected SaaS applications
SaaS backup specialist keeps data in its own cloud datacentres, protects cloud data across numerous platforms and aims to give customers the ability to rapidly add data sources Continue Reading
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News
05 Mar 2024
Own targets SaaS backup and offers analytics insight
Targeting a growing market – SaaS applications that lack backup – Own offers backup, fine-grained restores and analytics on data stores that can bring business insight Continue Reading
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Feature
01 Mar 2024
Pseudo-SLC flash storage: What is it, what’s it good for and what does it cost?
Pseudo-SLC takes MLC, TLC flash and changes data storage at cell level to get better endurance and performance, but it’s mostly aimed at edge applications and is costly Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Feb 2024
Storage technology explained: Ransomware and storage and backup
We look at ransomware attacks, and the importance of good backup practice as well as immutable snapshots, air-gapping, network segmentation, AI anomaly detection and supplier warranties Continue Reading
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News
27 Feb 2024
Hycu uses AI to develop APIs for SaaS application backup
SaaS applications don’t usually come with built-in data protection, but Hycu plans to tackle that gap in the market with AI to generate the connectors needed to backup user data Continue Reading
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News
26 Feb 2024
Storage and backup spend in 2024 targets risk and resilience
The TechTarget and ESG spending intentions survey finds big bias towards averting risk and building organisational resilience, but on-premise storage a significant planned outlay Continue Reading
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News
21 Feb 2024
NasuniIQ brings visualisation of massive unstructured datasets
Global file system provider adds visualisation of massive distributed unstructured datasets to allow customers to analyse data usage and prepare clean training data for artificial intelligence Continue Reading
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News
19 Feb 2024
Music agency halves space and energy costs with switch to Pure
SUISA handles billions of royalty payments, but had capacity and storage admin nightmares with its EMC hardware. It cued up Pure Storage for simple admin, space and cost savings Continue Reading
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Podcast
14 Feb 2024
Podcast: What is the impact of AI on storage and compliance?
Start now looking at artificial intelligence compliance. That’s the advice of Mathieu Gorge of Vigitrust, who says AI governance is still immature but firms should recognise the limits and still act Continue Reading
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Podcast
13 Feb 2024
Podcast: What are snapshots? Can they replace backup?
We talk to Shawn Meyers, field CTO at Tintri, who defines snapshots, why they are no substitute for backups, and the effect on recovery of snapshot granularity Continue Reading
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News
13 Feb 2024
What will result from Cohesity’s Veritas acquisition?
The $7bn backup giant will leverage huge assets in enterprise customer base, compliance and governance intelligence, AI, R&D, and Kubernetes backup and storage Continue Reading
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News
31 Jan 2024
Seagate uses HAMR to hit 30TB in Exos hard drives
HDD giant Seagate unveils 30TB Exos drives with higher areal density, aimed at hyperscaler customers, with products at 50TB promised for 2028 in its roadmap Continue Reading
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News
30 Jan 2024
We need backup! Pennsylvania police data loss shows why
Police evidence systems data was lost during ‘routine maintenance’, with human error blamed – the case clearly illustrates why data protection can’t be left to chance Continue Reading