Tips

  • Why you need to care about standards

    Here, Jamie Gruener discusses the Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S), what it means the storage pro, and what you should ask vendors about their support of SMI-S.

  • Five questions for your SRM vendor

    Which questions do you need to ask before spending on any SRM solution? This tip gives you the right questions and answers to seek out from any SRM vendor.

  • Data classification: Start with applic

    In this tip Rick Cook explains how classification by application, and not data type, allows Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) to start paying dividends almost immediately.

  • Can you really trust automation?

    Many users don't trust automation. Alan Earls says the uncertainty of automation products and immaturity of storage environments as the reasons, but better products are coming.

  • Set strategic storage management polic

    Author Stephen Foskett says Storage mgmt. policies are the internal laws of an organization. Here, Foskett divides universal policies into three categories and describes each.

  • Set up persistent binding on an HBA

    In this Ask the Expert Q&A, SAN expert Chris Poelker gives you the code to set up persistent binding on an HBA for a Unix host.

  • What causes slow startup Windows 2000

    Failure to keep your service packs up-to-date is one reason Win2000 can be slow to startup. Find out in this tip how the problem has been corrected.

  • NAS gateways get two thumbs up from IT

    This tip by Alex Barrett highlights what analysts and big players in the storage market are saying about NAS gateways.

  • All RAID is not created equal

    Although there is nothing wrong with using low-cost arrays, careful attention needs to be paid to the actual components of the arrays.

  • Make sense of SAN management software

    To help you select the right software to manage your SAN, Rick Cook lists important questions you need to ask to help make the best purchase.

  • Best practices for enabling compliance

    Join this webcast panel discussion on the best practices for enabling and maintaining compliance.

  • ISCSI bites into the price of FC

    In this interview, Randy Kerns, senior partner with the Evaluator Group Inc. shares some common misconceptions about iSCSI.

  • Bargain hunting for NetBackup

    In this interview, GlassHouse Technologies storage consultant Jeff Harbert offers some tips on how to swing a better price for your NetBackup software.

  • Serial Attached SCSI gains momentum

    Alan Earls lists future product plans for SAS, explains why many see momentum building for SAS and where this technology is headed.

  • Feeling the data migration pain

    The explosion in data is putting a hurting on migrating data from legacy HW/SW to newly installed products. Find out here what users and vendors can do to combat the problem.

  • Using NAS for database storage

    This tip takes a look at online yellow page company YP.Net, and shows how their CTO optimized the company's database for high performance, and why he chose NAS storage over SAN.

  • Will RFID strain your storage?

    Analysts predict that RFID technology will be pervasive in the next couple of years. But will RFID technology create a new glut of data for storage managers to contend with?

  • 12 critical disaster recovery teams

    This excerpt discusses the 12 types of teams you should identify and staff ahead of time, as part of efforts to develop an overall disaster recovery plan.

  • How many admins can manage a terabyte?

    In this tip, SearchStorage.com storage management expert Brett Cooper tells a reader if there's a rule-of-thumb on how many storage admins should be on staff per terabyte of data.

  • Which switches to use for iSCSI SANs

    Which switch is best for an iSCSI SAN? Chris Poelker helps you determine the options.