Tips

  • Tech Roundup: Enterprise arrays

    Enterprise arrays are big storage boxes designed for big companies -- and the competition among vendors keeps getting more intense.

  • Midrange arrays get a makeover

    Two fixtures of the midrange modular array scene have received substantial makeovers, and more are on the way.

  • Encrypting tape: Software vs. hardware and key manageme

    Encrypting data is a high priority for businesses these days. This tip will help you become familiar with the formats of encryption and the importance of key management.

  • The myths and realities of SATA

    There's a lot of rumors out there about SATA. This tip will clarify what is true and what is mere folklore, and details the proper usage of SATA drives.

  • New backup strategies

    If your backup requirements include remote, unattended data centers; a five-minute RTO; a 15-minute RPO or a non-existent backup window, this tip is for you.

  • Not too small for SAN

    Not too long ago, SANs were exclusively enterprise technology. Most SMBs had storage requirements that were easily satisfied by server-resident disk drives. Times have changed.

  • A failed RAID drive needs immediate attention

    This tip emphasizes the importance of replacing a failed RAID drive immediately and the possible consequences of not doing so in a timely manner.

  • Got system recovery? Maybe you should

    Bare metal restores can be frustrating. But, there are a number of products that make bare metal restoration less of a headache for you and your organization.

  • Troubleshooting your SATA drive

    Use this checklist to help troubleshoot your SATA drive connection problems, and find out what to do with the jumpers and how to check the SATA BIOS drive.

  • Eight steps to buying storage

    This checklist will help you make storage-related decisions and purchases based on a simple process used by the Evaluator Group.

  • File services frenzy

    Recently, storage vendors that have lagged behind in the NAS market are displaying sudden bursts of energy and playing catch-up.

  • Choosing storage technologies

    This tip offers an overview of storage technologies divided into two parts, one for the personal or small business user and another for the enterprise user.

  • How to troubleshoot your storage

    This guide outlines steps you can take to prevent a storage shutdown, and offers troubleshooting tips for recovery.

  • Build a winning storage budget

    This tip offers advice on taking a business-plan approach to the process of building a storage budget.

  • Incremental and differential backup

    This tip details the differences between incremental and differential backups and the benefits and drawbacks of each type.

  • Boot from the SAN with iSCSI

    This tip details the advantages of booting from the SAN instead of locally.

  • CDP: Super snapshots -- eventually

    This tip details two different definitions of CDP, the offerings from vendors in each camp and how continuous data protection differs from snapshots.

  • RAID-53: What is it?

    RAID 53 has a much higher transaction rate than RAID 3, which is achieved by striping the data across multiple RAID 3 arrays.

  • What SRM means to you

    Vendors have just about given up on monolithic SRM applications, but that doesn't mean that companies aren't using SRM.

  • SMI-S: Gaining acceptance among users

    SMI-S is gaining acceptance among users, but until vendors offer products with complete capabilities, full-scale adoption could be a way off.