Essential Guide
A look back at the 2014 data storage market
Use this roundup of content on top products and major acquisitions to review the most talked about aspects of data storage in 2014.
Introduction
How will 2014 be remembered? The year of solid-state drives, cloud backup and all-flash arrays? Or maybe it will be known for the year hyper-converged systems hit their stride and vendors like Hitachi and Unitrends got in on the backup appliance game.
In case you missed any of the highlights, we’ve collected all of our top news and trends in 2014 in one spot to give storage pros a full view of the year -- just as they get started planning the next.
1Trends-
Emerging and expanding tech in 2014
In 2014, all-flash arrays and hyper-converged systems made a splash with significant acquisitions, partnerships and product offerings. The cloud dominated disaster recovery (DR) trends in 2014, with new product releases from vendors like Axcient, IBM and VMware. Enterprise file sync and share (EFSS) saw some advancement, with more than 100 vendors adding EFSS capabilities. Read the stories below to see the major trends and changes in 2014.
Cloud disaster recovery tops DR trends in 2014

Cloud disaster recovery became the overarching theme for DR in 2014, dominating products and services from new and established vendors. Continue Reading
New technologies emerge to ease data protection pains
The lines between backup, DR, archive, file sync and primary storage blurred in 2014 to streamline processes, reduce redundant copies and help with protecting and restoring data. Continue Reading
All-flash arrays stand out in a year of flash highlights
Startups and legacy vendors alike rolled out all-flash platforms to highlight 2014 in flash, underscoring solid-state's steadily increasing footprint in the enterprise. Continue Reading
Enterprise file sync and share heats up in the data storage market
The crowded enterprise file sync-and-share market is poised for change, as functionality increasingly becomes a feature of larger products, analysts predict. Continue Reading
2Mergers and acquisitions-
Flash and cloud see biggest purchases in 2014
Cloud acquisitions and mergers were numerous in 2014, with EMC alone snapping up four cloud storage companies. However, flash technology made up the bigger buys of the year, with SanDisk's billion-dollar acquisition of Fusion-io, and large purchases for Samsung and Seagate.
Backup trends, acquisitions and spinoffs in 2014
Backup got a lot of attention, with companies such as Hitachi and NetApp making big acquisitions. Backup software spinoffs from Symantec and CA Technologies also made headlines. Continue Reading
2014 brought major acquisitions in cloud and flash storage
Cloud storage acquisitions were common in 2014 with EMC, NetApp and Microsoft getting into the act, but flash brought in the big bucks. Continue Reading



AI or Big Data, What’s the Better Fit for Your Business?
Though similar in some ways, the two play vastly different roles in your storage system. Do you know what’s the best option for your business, or how you can put it into practice? Read this guide to find these answers, as well as a framework for finding success with AI in your storage architecture.
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3A year in the cloud-
Cloud providers duke it out
Cloud technology continued to evolve in 2014, with Microsoft, Amazon and Google duking it out for the top public cloud vendor title. Cloud providers confronted outages while releasing new features, and companies like EMC and NetApp got into the cloud game with their own acquisitions.
Google's public cloud storage slim on updates in 2014
Google Cloud Storage rolled out its Cloud Storage Connector in 2014, but not much else. The connector and price cuts were the biggest announcements for the year. Continue Reading
Outages overshadow new features for Azure cloud
Microsoft Azure added redundancy features and a new StorSimple hybrid array in 2014 -- but outages held it from the top cloud spot. Continue Reading
AWS holds No. 1 cloud spot despite stiff competition
AWS adds Amazon Zocalo, upgrades to Amazon Glacier and EBS in 2014 as it tries to defend its No. 1 position in cloud storage. Continue Reading
Top five cloud news stories in 2014
This year was a big one for cloud storage, with new product innovations and emerging trends. See what stories made the biggest impact on SearchCloudStorage. Continue Reading
4Hyper-converged market-
VMware VSAN makes a big splash
Hyper-converged infrastructure dominated virtual storage news in 2014. The most talked about products were VMware's Virtual SAN (VSAN) and EVO: RAIL, which brought the server virtualization vendor into the storage spotlight. Startups Nutanix and SimpliVity also made headlines with upgrades to their hyper-converged products.
VMware VSAN and EVO: RAIL top virtual storage news
We take a look back at the most-read content on SearchVirtualStorage during 2014 to see what trends are shaping the industry. Continue Reading
What we learned about VMware VSAN in 2014
Now that VMware's VSAN has been generally available since March, we take a look back at analyst and customer feedback to see what we know about the software-defined storage. Continue Reading
Hyper-converged, flash and cloud dominate storage news

Hyper-converged, all-flash and cloud storage formed a three-legged stool of dominant storage news in 2014, while the Symantec breakup stunner added an element of surprise. Continue Reading
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