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• content-addressed storage (CAS)

  Content-addressed storage (CAS) is a method of providing fast access to fixed content (data that is not expected to be updated) by assigning it a permanent place on disk. CAS makes data retrieval straightforward by storing it in such a way that an ... Continue Reading

• column address strobe

  In computer memory technology, CAS (column address strobe) is a signal sent to a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) that tells it that an associated address is a column address. A data bit in DRAM is stored in a cell located by the intersection of... Continue Reading

• HVD (holographic versatile disc)

  Holographic versatile disc (HVD) is a medium of holographic storage that looks like a DVD but is capable of storing far more data... (Continued) Continue Reading

• storage replication service

  A storage replication service is a managed service in which stored or archived data is duplicated in real time over a storage area network (SAN). Continue Reading

• Ghost

  Ghost is a software product from Symantec that can clone (copy) the entire contents of a hard disk to another computer's hard disk or to storage media. Continue Reading

• Definitions to Get Started

  • storage security
  • cloud storage
  • cloud data management
  • blockchain storage

  • cloud testing
  • storage virtualization
  • erasure coding
  • continuous data protection

  View All Definitions

• COLD (Computer Output to Laser Disk)

  COLD (Computer Output to Laser Disk) is a system for archiving data such as business records and reports to one or more optical disks in a compressed but easily retrievable format.Continue Reading

• virtual tape

  Virtual tape is an archival storage technology that makes it possible to save data as if it were being stored on tape although it may actually be stored on hard disk or on another storage medium.Continue Reading

• geek speak

  Geek speak is how the uninitiated refer to the jargon and special vocabulary used by those immersed in computers and other fields of information technology.Continue Reading

• DAT USB drive

  A DAT USB drive is a tape drive with digital audio tape (DAT) that can be plugged into a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection as a simple and relatively low-cost way to back up data routinely, especially on servers. DAT USB technology is expected ...Continue Reading

• buffer credits or buffer-to-buffer credits (BBCs)

  Buffer credits, also called buffer-to-buffer credits (BBCs), allow data communication in a Fibre Channelstorage area network (SAN) where there are long spans of fiber opticcable.Continue Reading

• information life cycle management (ILM)

  Information life cycle management (ILM) is a comprehensive approach to managing the flow of an information system's data and associated metadata from creation and initial storage to the time when it becomes obsolete and is deleted.Continue Reading

• bit padding

  Bit padding is the addition of one or more extra bits to a transmission or storage unit to make it conform to a standard size.Continue Reading

• SMI-S (Storage Management Initiative Specification)

  SMI-S (Storage Management Initiative Specification) is a standard developed by the Storage Network Industry Association (SNIA) that is intended to facilitate the management of storage devices from multiple vendors in storage area networks (SANs).Continue Reading

• failover

  Failover is a backup operational mode in which the functions of a system component (such as a processor, server, network, or database, for example) are assumed by secondary system components when the primary component becomes unavailable through ...Continue Reading

• storage distance extension

  Storage distance extension refers to any of several different technologies that allow data communication in Fibre Channel storage area networks (SANs) over long spans of fiber optic cable.Continue Reading

• SerDes (serializer/deserializer)

  A SerDes or serializer/deserializer is an integrated circuit (IC or chip) transceiver that converts parallel data to serial data and vice-versa.Continue Reading

• storage encryption

  Storage encryption is the use of encryption/decryption of backed-up and archived data, both in transit and on storage media.Continue Reading

• intelligent switch

  An intelligent switch is a high-level storage area network (SAN) routing switch that provides features such as storage virtualization, quality of service (QoS), remote mirroring, data sharing, protocol conversion, and advanced security.Continue Reading

• bare metal restore

  In disaster recovery, a bare metal restore is the process of reformatting a computer from scratch after a catastrophic failure.Continue Reading

• zoned-bit recording (ZBR)

  Zoned-bit recording (ZBR) is a method of physically optimizing the utilization of a hard drive by placing more sectors in the outer tracks than in the inner tracks.Continue Reading

• atomic storage (atomic memory)

  Atomic storage (sometimes called atomic memory) is a nanotechnology approach to computer data storage that works with bits and atoms on the individual level.Continue Reading

• AIT (advanced intelligent tape)

  AIT (advanced intelligent tape) is a magnetic tape and drive system used for computer data storage and archiving.Continue Reading

• RAMAC

  (IBM had an earlier system called RAMAC. See RAMAC (original).Continue Reading

• storage utilization

  Storage utilization is a measure of how well the available data storage space in an enterprise is used.Continue Reading

• storage area management (SAM)

  Storage area management (SAM) is a still-evolving set of procedures, services, and standards for comprehensively managing the infrastructure of a storage area network (SAN), including all components within all servers, the disk arrays, the tape ...Continue Reading

• address space

  Address space is the amount of memory allocated for all possible addresses for a computational entity, such as a device, a file, a server, or a networked computer.Continue Reading

• DDR SDRAM (double data rate SDRAM)

  DDR SDRAM (double data rate SDRAM) is synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM) that can theoretically improve memory clock speed to at least 200 MHz*. It activates output on both the rising and falling edge of the system clock rather than on just the rising ...Continue Reading

• recordable DVD (writable DVD)

  Recordable DVD (sometimes called writable DVD) is a DVD technology that allows a PC user to write data one or more times to a DVD with the PC's DVD drive.Continue Reading

• direct access

  In computer storage, direct access is the ability to obtain data from a storage device by going directly to where it is physically located on the device rather than by having to sequentially look for the data at one physical location after another.Continue Reading

• Mammoth

  Mammoth is a magnetic tape and drive system used for computer data storage and archiving.Continue Reading

• disk duplexing

  Disk duplexing is a variation of disk mirroring in which each of multiple storage disks has its own SCSI controller.Continue Reading

• 8-track tape

  An 8-track tape is a hard plastic cartridge about the size of an external modem that houses a continuous loop of non-digital (analog) audio data stored on magnetic tape.Continue Reading

• DVD-RAM

  DVD-RAM is a DVD(optical disc) technology for high-capacity data storage for computers.Continue Reading

• MrSID (Multi-resolution Seamless Image Database)

  MrSID (Multi-resolution Seamless Image Database) is an image compressor, viewer, and file format for extremely large raster graphics images.Continue Reading

• digital film

  Digital film is any storage medium (such as a memory card, diskette, or recordable CD) used in a digital camera to capture and store images.Continue Reading

• Serial Storage Architecture (SSA)

  Serial Storage Architecture (SSA) is an open standard for high-speed access to high-capacity disk storage.Continue Reading

• IP storage

  IP storage is a general term for several approaches to using the Internet Protocol (IP) in a storage area network (SAN) usually over Gigabit Ethernet.Continue Reading

• buffer flush

  A buffer flush is the transfer of computer data from a temporary storage area to the computer's permanent memory.Continue Reading

• Common Information Model (CIM)

  The Common Information Model (CIM) is a computer industry standard for defining device and application characteristics so that system administrators and management programs will be able to control devices and applications from different ...Continue Reading

• two-spindle system (twin-spindle system)

  A two-spindle system, also called a twin-spindle system, is a computer design with two internal storage drives.Continue Reading

• iFCP (Internet Fibre Channel Protocol)

  iFCP (Internet Fibre Channel Protocol) is an emerging standard for extending Fibre Channel storage networks across the Internet.Continue Reading

• compression artifact

  A compression artifact is the fuzz or distortion in a compressed image or sequence of video images.Continue Reading

• RIMM

  In a computer, a RIMM is a memory module developed by Kingston Technology Corp.Continue Reading

• pixie dust or antiferromagnetically-coupled (AFC) media

  Pixie dust is the informal name that IBM is using for its antiferromagnetically-coupled (AFC) media technology, which can increase the data capacity of hard drives to up to four times the density possible with current drives.Continue Reading

• International Standard Recording Code (ISRC)

  The International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) is an international code used to identify sound and audio-visual recordings on compact discs (CDs), music videos, and other media, primarily to ensure royalty payments.Continue Reading

• data availability

  Data availability is a term used by some computer storage manufacturers and storage service providers (SSPs) to describe products and services that ensure that data continues to be available at a required level of performance in situations ranging ...Continue Reading

• Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP or FC/IP)

  Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP or FC/IP, also known as Fibre Channel tunneling or storage tunneling) is an Internet Protocol (IP)-based storage networking technology developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).Continue Reading

• information architecture

  In technical writing, information architecture is the set of ideas about how all information in a given context should be treated philosophically and, in a general way, how it should be organized.Continue Reading

• VCD (video CD or video compact disc)

  VCD (also called video CD, video compact disc or "disc") is a compact diskformat based on CD-ROM XAthat is specifically designed to hold MPEG-1video data and to include interactive capabilities.Continue Reading

• White Book

  The White Book, which was released in 1993 by Sony, Philips, Matsushita, and JVC, is the specification document for Video CD (VCD).Continue Reading

• CD-RW (compact disc, rewriteable)

  CD-RW (for compact disc, rewriteable) is a compact disc (CD) format that allows repeated recording on a disc.Continue Reading

• CD-R (compact disc, recordable)

  CD-R (for compact disc, recordable) is a type of write once, read many (WORM) compact disc (CD) format that allows one-time recording on a disc.Continue Reading

• HD-ROM (High-Density - Read Only Memory)

  HD-ROM (High-Density - Read Only Memory) is a high-capacity storage technology developed at Norsam Technologies in conjunction with an IBM research group that enables a disk to store hundreds of times as much information as a CD-ROM. HD-ROM uses a ...Continue Reading

• CD burner (CD recorder)

  A CD burner is the informal name for a CD recorder, a device that can record data to a compact disc.Continue Reading

• Purple Book

  The Purple Book is the informal name for Philips and Sony's specification document for the double-density compact disk (DDCD) format.Continue Reading

• access method

  In computing, an access method is a program or a hardware mechanism that moves data between the computer and an outlying device such as a hard disk (or other form of storage) or a display terminal.Continue Reading

• Double-Density Compact Disk (DDCD)

  Double-Density Compact Disk (DDCD) is a CD format that increases the storage capacity of the disk through means such as increasing the number of tracks and pits (scores on the disk that are used to encode the data).Continue Reading

• storage service provider (SSP)

  Also see two related terms, application service provider and management service provider.Continue Reading

• multisession CD

  A multisession CD is a recordable CD format (like a CD-R) that allows the recording of a compact disk to be conducted in more than one recording session.Continue Reading

• CD-Bridge Disc

  A CD-Bridge Disc (sometimes just called a bridge disc) is a compact disc (CD) format that includes extra information on a CD-ROM XA (extended architecture) track, so that the disc can be played on either a CD-i (interactive) player attached to a ...Continue Reading

• DVD-Audio (DVD-A)

  DVD-Audio (DVD-A) is a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) format, developed by Panasonic, that is specifically designed to hold audio data, and particularly, high-quality music.Continue Reading

• Blue Book

  The Blue Book is the informal name for the standard specification document for stamped multisession (also known as the enhanced CD or E-CD) disk format, developed in 1995 from a supplement to Philips and Sony's 1988 Orange Book.Continue Reading

• enhanced CD (E-CD)

  Enhanced CD (E-CD) is a compact disc (CD) format that enables discs to be played on either a CD player or a multimedia-capable device, such as a CD-i player, or a DVD-ROM, or CD-ROM drive, where added material can be displayed.Continue Reading

• DVD Forum

  The DVD Forum is an international organization made up of companies using or manufacturing digital versatile disc (DVD)-related products.Continue Reading

• JBOD (just a bunch of disks)

  JBOD ("just a bunch of disks") refers to a computer's hard disks that haven't been configured according to the RAID system.Continue Reading

• Virtual Storage Portal (VSP)

  Another meaning for VSP is vertical solutions provider.Continue Reading

• Orange Book

  Orange Book is the informal name for Philips and Sony's Recordable CD Standard.Continue Reading

• Yellow Book

  The Yellow Book is the informal name for Philips and Sony's ECMA-130 standard specification for compact disc, read-only-memory (CD-ROM).Continue Reading

• Universal Disk Format (UDF)

  Universal Disk Format (UDF) is a CD-ROM and DVD file system standard developed as a means of ensuring consistency among data written to various optical media, by facilitating both data interchange and the implementation of the ISO/IEC 13346 standard.Continue Reading

• Red Book

  The Red Book is the 1980 document that provides the specifications for the standard compact disc (CD) developed by Sony and Philips.Continue Reading

• CD-i (Compact Disc - interactive)

  CD-i (Compact Disc - interactive) is the multimedia CD format specified in 1986 (in the Green Book).Continue Reading

• CD-ROM XA (Compact Disc - read-only-memory, extended architecture)

  CD-ROM XA (Compact Disc - read-only-memory, extended architecture) is a modification of CD-ROM that defines two new types of sectors that enable it to read and display data, graphics, video, and audio at the same time.Continue Reading

• packet writing

  Packet writing is a technology that enables the writing of data to a recordable compact disk (CD-R) incrementally, in multiple small blocks of data, rather than in a single block (as in disk-at-once recording), or in blocks defined by tracks (as in ...Continue Reading

• optical media

  Optical media - such as the compact disk (CD) - are storage media that hold content in digital form and that are written and read by a laser; these media include all the various CD and DVD variations, as well as optical jukeboxes and autochangers.Continue Reading

• RAS (row address strobe)

  In computer memory technology, RAS (row address strobe) is a signal sent to a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) that tells it that an associated address is a row address.Continue Reading

• defragmenter

  A defragmenter is a software utility that rearranges the fragments or discontiguous parts of each file stored on a computer hard disk so that the small, empty storage spaces adjacent to fragments can be used, effectively creating new storage space ...Continue Reading

• phase change

  Phase change is a type of compact disk (CD) recording technology that enables the disks to be written, erased, and rewritten through the use of a layer of a special material (called the phase change layer) that can be changed repeatedly from an ...Continue Reading

• FICON (Fiber Connectivity)

  FICON (for Fiber Connectivity) is a high-speed input/output (I/O) interface for mainframe computer connections to storage devices.Continue Reading

• CD-Magneto Optical (CD-MO)

  CD-Magneto Optical (CD-MO) is a compact disc format that uses magnetic fields for data storage.Continue Reading

• Super Audio CD (SACD)

  Super Audio Compact Disk (SACD) is a high-resolution audio CD format.Continue Reading

• bus

  In a computer or on a network, a bus is a transmission path on which signals are dropped off or picked up at every device attached to the line.Continue Reading

• holographic storage (holostorage)

  Holographic storage is computer storage that uses laser beams to store computer-generated data in three dimensions.Continue Reading

• ASPI (Advanced SCSI Programming Interface)

  ASPI (Advanced SCSI Programming Interface) specifies how an application program can communicate with a SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) device through a common SCSI device driver.Continue Reading

• switching fabric

  Switching fabric is the combination of hardware and software that moves data coming in to a network node out by the correct port (door) to the next node in the network.Continue Reading

• DVD (digital video disk)

  DVD is an optical disc technology with a 4.7 gigabyte storage capacity on a single-sided, one-layered disk, which is enough for a 133-minute movie.Continue Reading

• diskette (floppy disk)

  A diskette is a random access, removable data storage medium that can be used with personal computers.Continue Reading

• FPM DRAM (Fast Page Mode DRAM)

  Prior to newer forms of dynamic random access memory (DRAM), FPM DRAM (Fast Page Mode DRAM) was the most common kind of DRAM in personal computers.Continue Reading

• EDO RAM (extended data output RAM)

  EDO (extended data output) RAM is a type of random access memory (RAM) chip that improves the time to read from memory on faster microprocessors such as the Intel Pentium.Continue Reading

• access time

  Access time is the time from the start of one storage device access to the time when the next access can be started.Continue Reading

• WORM (write once, read many)

  In computer storage media, WORM (write once, read many) is a data storage technology that allows information to be written to a disc a single time and prevents the drive from erasing the data.Continue Reading

• depository

  A depository is a file or set of files in which data is stored for the purpose of safekeeping or identity authentication.Continue Reading

• storage filer

  A storage filer is a file server designed and programmed for high-volume data storage, backup, and archiving.Continue Reading

• BEDO DRAM (Burst Extended Data Output DRAM)

  BEDO DRAM (Burst Extended Data Output DRAM) is a type of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) that can send data back to the computer from one read operation at the same time it is reading in the address of the next data to be sent.Continue Reading

• magneto-optical drive (MO)

  The magneto-optical (MO) drive is a popular way to back up files on a personal computer.Continue Reading

• ATA over Ethernet (AoE)

  ATA over Ethernet (AoE) is an open source network protocol designed to connect storage devices and servers in a storage area network (SAN). ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) is a standard interface for communication between storage devices; it is...Continue Reading

• standalone dump

  A standalone dump is the copying of the contents of computer main storage (random access memory) to another storage device, usually for the purpose of debugging a programming problem.Continue Reading

• IPI (Intelligent Peripheral Interface)

  IPI (Intelligent Peripheral Interface) is a high-bandwidth interface between a computer and a hard disk or a tape device.Continue Reading

• zoning

  In a storage area network (SAN), zoning is the allocation of resources for device load balancing and for selectively allowing access to data only to certain users.Continue Reading

• capacity optimization (CO)

  Capacity optimization (CO) is a technique for getting more data on a storage medium by analyzing the data for unique repetitive patterns that can be stored as and reassembled from shorter symbols.Continue Reading

• sector

  On a computer diskette or hard disk, a sector is one of the "pie slices" the diskette or disk is divided into.Continue Reading