Ask the Experts

Ask the Experts

• Comparing scale-out and object-based storage systems

  Scale-out and object-based storage systems are both built for scaling, but metadata characteristics are the difference maker.  Continue Reading

• Comparing SLC SSD with DRAM SSD when it comes to IOPS

  Find out how DRAM SSD and SLC SSD compare when it comes to IOPS and if you need a DRAM solution in this Expert Response from Marc Staimer.  Continue Reading

• Windows Storage Spaces: Thin provisioning for Windows Server

  In Windows Server 2012, Windows Storage Spaces allows for thin provisioning and brings RAID-like features to improve virtual hard disk resiliency.  Continue Reading

• 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

• 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

• Why you should care about SSD program/erase cycles

  Dennis Martin, president of Demartek, explains why you should care about SSD program/erase cycles 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

• SSD cost vs. traditional hard drives

  Dennis Martin, president of Demartek, discusses SSD cost vs. traditional hard drives 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

• How are e-discovery tools used and what are some good tools for SMBs?

  Greg Schulz explains how e-discovery tools are used and what options are available to SMBs in this expert response.  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

• Network File Sharing vs. Common Internet File System

  Storage expert Greg Schulz explains what you need to know when choosing between Network File Sharing and Common Internet File System.  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

• FC-AL topology in a SAN environment

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

• SATA port multiplier vs. SATA multilane

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

• Connecting a hard drive to NAS

  Our NAS expert Randy Kerns answers this question, posed by one of our readers: "How would I take an ordinary hard drive and create a network attached storage (NAS) hard drive instead of buying an external hard drive?"  Continue Reading

• Director vs. switch

  Storage expert Greg Schulz outlines things to consider when choosing switches for a SAN.  Continue Reading

• Active/active vs. active/passive arrays

  Storage expert Greg Schulz outlines the pros and cons of active/active and active/passive arrays.  Continue Reading

• Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop or switched disk?

  Storage expert Greg Schulz offers advice to a reader considering buying high-end storage from two different vendors -- one uses Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop technology and one uses a switched-disk interface.  Continue Reading

• NICs in NAS systems

  NAS expert Randy Kerns answers the question: "Is it typical, when using a NAS appliance, that a host/server would have 2xNICs installed?"  Continue Reading

• NAS: How does a client access files?

  NAS expert Randy Kerns offers advice to a reader who asked: "How does NAS appear to machines accessing files from it?"  Continue Reading

• HBAs: Are dual HBAs worth the investment?

  Storage networking expert Greg Schulz offers advice to a reader debating whether to invest in dual HBAs for their SAN.  Continue Reading

• Creating NAS partitions

  NAS expert Randy Kerns offers important advice about creating partitions in a NetApp NAS system.  Continue Reading

• iSCSI, iFCP and FCIP: How do they stack up?

  iSCSI, iFCP and FCIP are compared in this Q&A.  Continue Reading

• FATA vs. FC disk drives

  Storage expert Greg Schulz compares FATA and FC disk drives.  Continue Reading

• NAS permissions

  NAS expert Randy Kerns offers advice to a reader who asked: "How are permissions controlled on NAS?"  Continue Reading

• NAS appliance vs. homegrown file server

  NAS expert Randy Kerns outlines why he believes purchasing a vendor offering of a NAS product has advantages over rolling your own file server.  Continue Reading

• NAS checkpoints for NFS and CIFS file systems

  NAS expert Randy Kerns discusses NAS checkpoint best practices for NFS and CIFS file systems.  Continue Reading

• Decreasing I/O latency in RAID array

  Greg Schulz offers troubleshooting advice for a reader looking to decrease I/O latency in a RAID-5 array.  Continue Reading

• Backing up a LUN snapshot

  SAN expert Marc Staimer offers a detailed description of what you need to consider when making a snapshot of a LUN and then performing a backup.  Continue Reading

• Server-based RAID vs. controller-based RAID

  SAN expert Greg Schulz discusses the difference between server-based RAID and controller-based RAID.  Continue Reading

• SATA port: Can you run multiple drives off of one?

  Storage networking expert Greg Schulz discusses how to run multiple drives off a SATA port.  Continue Reading

• Wavelength vs. dark fiber for SAN

  SAN expert Chris Poelker compares connecting a SAN with wavelength cabling and dark fiber and discusses the pros and cons of each.  Continue Reading

• LUN expansion with Microsoft cluster server

  SAN expert Chris Poelker discusses how to change the size of a LUN in a Microsoft cluster server environment.  Continue Reading

• Why do HBAs in a SAN have same base?

  Storage expert Chris Poelker outlines WWN basics in order to answer the question: "Why do HBAs in a SAN have same base?"  Continue Reading

• SATA and SCSI compatibility

  Storage expert Chris Poelker discusses SATA/SCSI compatibility issues in this expert advice article.  Continue Reading

• How to minimize I/O latency

  Storage expert Greg Schulz details how to minimize the latency between a server and a storage device.  Continue Reading

• DWDM, SONET/SDH or IP based technologies for SAN extension?

  Storage expert Greg Schulz offers advice on how to choose the right SAN extension technology for your environment.  Continue Reading

• How many disk drives do you need for RAID 10?

  What is the minimum number of disk drives you can have in a RAID 10 array? I have read you must have at least four, but our server admin said it is HP's default, and he can do it on just two drives. This is on a Window Server 2003 with a total of ...  Continue Reading

• Software vs. hardware RAID

  Storage expert Evan Marcus compares software and hardware RAID and outlines the benefits and drawbacks of each.  Continue Reading

• Using iSCSI for clustering

  Storage expert Christopher Poelker offers insight on setting up clustered storage with iSCSI.  Continue Reading

• RAID striping or concatenation

  Designing storage for performance is a very esoteric effort by nature. There are quite a few variables that need to be taken into account.  Continue Reading

• Calculator for disks per usable space or how much space from each disk

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• Which is the best platform for a storage subsystem management tool?

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• RAID 10 and RAID 01: Same or different?

  The differences between RAID 10 and RAID 01 are explained.  Continue Reading

• Can multiple people work against the same NAS?

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• What is block I/O?

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• Most popular NAS apps

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• What does I/O stand for?

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• Creating LUNs to allocate storage on a SCSI target

  This advice explains the purpose of creating LUNs and details reasons for creating multiple LUNs.  Continue Reading

• Best practices for offsite storage

  There is not a lot of best practices information available about distance requirements for offsite storage, because those requirements vary based on the region and the specific threats associated with a particular geography.  Continue Reading

• CIFS benchmarks, please

  Learn more about why there isn't a good benchmark tool to measure CIFS performance in a meaningful manner like IOPS over the network and what currently is being done to develop CIFS benchmarks.  Continue Reading

• LUN sharing

  This advice discusses whether a LUN actually be used by two or more servers and a common application like Oracle at the same time and maintain data integrity.  Continue Reading

• SCSI vs. iSCSI -- features, functionality and architecture

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• FC or iSCSI for SAN-based backups?

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• SATA disk drive duty cycle

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• Hot-hot replication with EMC's SRDF?

  Storage expert Evan Marcus offers an answer to the question: "Is hot-hot replication possible with EMC's SRDF?"  Continue Reading

• What is NAS gateway?

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• RAID groups and parity groups

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• FC-AL port protocol for storage

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• Connecting a SAN in the DMZ

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• Sharing a LUN between windows and making it a cluster

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• SATA vs. SCSI performance

  Is SATA disk better than SCSI disk? Which has better performance? This reader is given an answer by storage expert Greg Shulz.  Continue Reading

• IDE NAS solution for home network

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• NAS box data movers

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• Disk space for data snapshots

  Backup expert Pierre Dorion offers advice about how much disk space is necessary for data snapshots.  Continue Reading

• How many backup administrators?

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• Replication of OS and applications

  Backup expert Pierre Dorion offers advice on setting up a DR site for existing critical servers at a remote place using Legato's Replistor.  Continue Reading