Ask the Experts

Ask the Experts

• How are FCoE switches used in the data center?

  Adoption of FCoE switches is dependent on Data Center Bridging Capability Exchange Protocol (DCBx) switch technology, says storage expert Marc Staimer.  Continue Reading

• Offloaded Data Transfer speeds up reads and writes in Hyper-V

  Storage expert Brien Posey explains how Offloaded Data Transfer, a new feature of Hyper-V 3.0, works to perform tasks quicker.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-V 3.0's Virtual Fibre Channel: Direct connection to FC storage

  Hyper-V 3.0's Virtual Fibre Channel allows VMs to directly connect to FC-based storage, facilitating clustering and allowing broader virtualization.  Continue Reading

• How Hyper-V storage migration has improved in version 3.0

  Storage expert Brien Posey compares VMware Storage vMotion and Hyper-V Live Storage Migration, with a look at how they work.  Continue Reading

• Virtual machine storage simplified in Hyper-V 3.0

  Hyper-V 3.0 simplifies virtual machine storage by eliminating Cluster Shared Volumes requirement and adding option to use file servers for storage.  Continue Reading

• Shared-nothing live migration eliminates Hyper-V shared storage rule

  Introduced in Hyper-V 3.0, shared-nothing live migration eliminates the need for shared storage in live migration, simplifying the building of clusters.  Continue Reading

• VDI infrastructure and storage platform choices: SAN vs. NAS, Fibre Channel vs. iSCSI

  Read up on how SAN and NAS compare in terms of their ability to support a VDI infrastructure, and then drill down for details on Fibre Channel SAN vs. iSCSI SAN.  Continue Reading

• Solving VDI performance issues with flash cards, SSD and software options

  Find out how to address VDI performance issues that occur during boot storms or login storms with flash cards; SSD; or software solutions, such as Atlantis Computing’s ILIO.  Continue Reading

• How to perform VDI storage sizing

  Find out what factors are involved in VDI storage sizing, including typical desktop operating system, version numbers, application virtualization and user data.  Continue Reading

• Persistent VDI vs. non-persistent VDI and their effect on storage resources

  Learn the difference between persistent VDI and non-persistent VDI, how they affect storage and which one carries advantages in terms of capacity and backup requirements.  Continue Reading

• Consumer SSDs vs. enterprise SSDs

  Dennis Martin, president of Demartek, discusses the differences between consumer and enterprise SSDs in this Expert Response.  Continue Reading

• SSD caching vs. tiering

  Dennis Martin, president of Demartek, discusses SSD caching vs. tiering for SSDs in this Expert Response.  Continue Reading

• SSD form factors today

  Dennis Martin, president of Demartek, discusses the variety of SSD form factors available today in this Expert Response.  Continue Reading

• How 3D NAND flash works and why it is important

  Dennis Martin, president of Demartek, discusses how 3D NAND flash works and why it is important in this Expert Response.  Continue Reading

• What type of centralized data storage should I use for 1.5 TB of data across multiple locations?

  Greg Schulz explains centralized data storage options for an SMB with 1.5 TB of data across several locations.  Continue Reading

• What are the best ways to control RAID rebuild times?

  Greg Schulz explains what factors can have the biggest impacts on RAID rebuild times in this ATE.  Continue Reading

• What are multiprotocol storage arrays and how can they benefit SMBs?

  Greg Schulz explains what multiprotocol storage arrays are and how they can benefit an SMB environment.  Continue Reading

• What is a clustered storage system?

  Discover the differences between clustered storage systems, distributed computing systems and mainframe systems as they relate to enterprise data storage environments.  Continue Reading

• iSCSI storage: How to leverage RAID and ensure server uptime

  Learn how RAID can be used with iSCSI storage, as well as how iSCSI storage systems can be configured for high availability to eliminate single points of failure.  Continue Reading

• What are the pros and cons of working with a storage VAR for small businesses?

  Greg Schulz explains the pros and cons of working with VARs in SMB environments in this expert response.  Continue Reading

• What high-availability storage options are available for small businesses?

  Greg Schulz discusses different high-availability options that are available to SMBs in this expert response.  Continue Reading

• What is thin provisioning and how does it work?

  Greg Schulz explains what thin provisioning is and how it works in this ask the expert response.  Continue Reading

• What's the difference between SMB data storage and enterprise data storage?

  Greg Schulz discusses the difference between SMB data storage and enterprise data storage in this ATE repsonse.  Continue Reading

• How do I choose the right RAID level for my SMB?

  Greg Schulz explains how to choose the right RAID level for your SMB in this Ask the Expert response.  Continue Reading

• Server-based operating systems vs. PC-based operating systems

  Greg Schulz explains the differences between server-based operating systems and PC-based operating systems in this ATE response.  Continue Reading

• Security benefits of storage area networks

  Jeff Boles explains some of the security benefits of storage area networks (SANs) in this Ask the Expert question.  Continue Reading

• SATA vs. SCSI in RAID

  Storage expert Greg Schulz answers a reader's question: "How does SCSI in RAID compare to SATA in RAID?"  Continue Reading

• How to calculate available disk space on a RAID 5

  Storage management expert Ashley D'Costa answers a reader's question: "How do I calculate the disk space available on my RAID 5?"  Continue Reading

• Why does my EMC 45 TB drive yield only 41 TB of usable storage?

  Storage expert Ashley D'Costa answers a reader's question: "When is a 300 GB drive not a 300 GB drive?"  Continue Reading

• RAID 4 vs. RAID 5

  Storage management expert Ashley D'Costa discusses RAID 4 vs. RAID 5.  Continue Reading

• RAID-5 configuration

  Storage management expert Ashley D'Costa answers a reader's question about RAID-5.  Continue Reading

• What is unstructured data and how is it different from structured data in the enterprise?

  Expert Pierre Dorion talks about unstructured data and its impact on the data enterprise.  Continue Reading

• Offsite vs. onsite storage

  Storage expert Greg Schulz discusses offsite vs. onsite storage.  Continue Reading

• RAID configuration with three hard drives

  Storage expert Greg Schulz discusses the possibility of configuring a RAID-1 with 3 total hard drives.  Continue Reading

• Double drive failures in a RAID-10 configuration

  Storage expert Greg Schulz discusses the possibility of recovering data after a double drive failure.  Continue Reading

• SATA controllers

  Storage expert Greg Schulz answers a reader's question: "Is a dual-channel SATA controller the same as a two-port SATA controller?"  Continue Reading

• NAS vs. PC-based file server

  Business continuity expert Pierre Dorion discusses NAS vs. a PC-based file server.  Continue Reading

• SATA port multiplier vs. SATA multilane

  What is the difference between a SATA port multiplier and SATA multilane?  Continue Reading

• FC-AL topology in a SAN environment

  SAN expert Greg Schulz describes the FC-AL topology in a SAN environment.  Continue Reading

• Difference between parity groups

  SAN expert Greg Schulz discusses the differences between parity groups.  Continue Reading

• Hard zoning vs. soft zoning

  SAN expert Greg Schulz explains the difference between hard and soft zoning.  Continue Reading

• NAS gateway versus SAN-attached server

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