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• Networking server-based storage

  Direct-attached or server-based storage is gaining renewed attention as emerging techs offer ways to pool and share this scalable storage resource. Continue Reading

• Complete guide to Hadoop technology and storage

  Learn how Apache Hadoop works, some of its benefits and drawbacks, and what it means for big data and cloud storage. Continue Reading

• Erasure coding tradeoffs include additional storage, disk update needs

  Erasure coding tradeoffs include requirement for additional data storage, need to update extra disks for redundancy purposes, UC professor cautions. Continue Reading

• Future of data storage: Addressing traditional architecture problems

  Storage expert Phil Goodwin discusses the main issues with traditional primary storage options and how those issues are being addressed. Continue Reading

• Erasure coding brings trade-off of resilience vs. performance

  IT's decision on using erasure coding in storage rests on data importance, durability more than amount of data, says storage consultant Marc Staimer. Continue Reading

• Wikibon CTO: Erasure coding can help reduce data backup costs

  Erasure coding can help reduce the data needed for backups and lower the cost of backup and recovery over the traditional approach, Wikibon CTO says.Continue Reading

• Accelerate the performance of virtual machines with flash technology

  Learn where to implement flash in your environment to tackle virtual machine performance issues.Continue Reading

• How essential is a Hadoop infrastructure to a big data environment?

  Expert Jon Toigo explains why Hadoop and big data are frequently used together, but argues that Hadoop has a number of downfalls.Continue Reading

• Storage considerations for a big data infrastructure

  Jon Toigo discusses what big data is, the popularity of object storage and how to determine the best storage for a big data infrastructure.Continue Reading

• Big data storage architecture: Categories, strengths and use cases

  We explore distributed nodes, scale-out NAS, all-SSD arrays and object storage as choices for a storage architecture for big data.Continue Reading

• Managing storage for virtual environments: A complete guide

  Find best practices, top tips and the most effective tools for managing storage in virtual environments in this essential guide.Continue Reading

• How to allocate and configure virtual machine storage

  Two key tasks of a virtual server implementation are determining how much storage will be needed to support the system, and how to handle the initial provisioning and configuration of the virtual storage. The complexity of shared storage, ...Continue Reading

• Configuring Hyper-V storage

  New storage features in Windows Server and Hyper-V make storage configuration and maintenance easier for Microsoft–based virtual environments.Continue Reading

• Windows Storage Spaces

  Windows Storage Spaces is a feature in Microsoft Windows Server 2012 that is used to virtualize and provision storage.Continue Reading

• Best practices for SSD technologies

  No longer a luxury item for well-heeled data centers, SSD technologies are more affordable than ever and come in a variety of form factors with a choice of deployment options.Continue Reading

• Virtual data protection: Seeing is believing

  Virtual data protection is hard, but could be easier if you had a better view into what's going on. Learn how to increase visibility into your virtualization protection solution.Continue Reading

• How Windows Server 2012 R2 will change storage management

  Microsoft MVP Brien Posey explains how new features in Windows Server 2012 R2, such as native tiering and deduplication, affect storage management.Continue Reading

• Hadoop clusters: Benefits and challenges for big data analytics

  Brien Posey explains how Hadoop clusters can be extremely beneficial to large amounts of unstructured data, but aren't ideal for all environments.Continue Reading

• FlexPod architecture: Top five things you should know

  FlexPods may seem like an easy way to implement storage and a hypervisor at once, but Brien Posey explains there are several things to consider first.Continue Reading

• Does RAID have a place in object-oriented storage environments?

  Expert Brien Posey explains whether RAID technology can bring any benefits to an object storage environment.Continue Reading

• Top tips for OpenStack Swift object storage use

  Senior cloud architect Beth Cohen offers tips on how to use OpenStack Swift object storage in the most efficient and economical ways.Continue Reading

• Tiering storage: Best practices to promote efficiency

  Storage expert Jon Toigo explains how to effectively use storage tiering to boost efficiency and ultimately cut storage costs.Continue Reading

• RAID alternatives: Will erasure codes rule?

  Learn why the reliability of RAID technologies could be related to the increased use of erasure coding by both new and established storage vendors.Continue Reading

• Can object storage systems be used with file-based apps?

  Learn how to use applications such as Microsoft Exchange or SQL Server with object storage systems on the back end.Continue Reading

• Storage considerations for a Hadoop implementation

  Storage Switzerland analyst Colm Keegan explains how to determine whether a SAN or NAS should be used as primary storage with Hadoop.Continue Reading

• 10 ways to improve virtual server storage

  Virtual server storage operations can have a profound effect on the storage network. Here are 10 ways to help ensure that your storage yields its best I/O for the VMs it supports.Continue Reading

• Software-defined storage: Answering frequently asked questions

  Russ Fellows, a senior analyst at Evaluator Group, breaks down the concept of software-defined storage, its benefits and the vendors who offer it.Continue Reading

• Manufacturing NAND flash chips

  NAND flash chips are made in fabrication plants known as fabs. Market oversupply or undersupply can cause manufacturers to alter production plans.Continue Reading

• PowerShell tutorial: Managing Windows Storage Spaces

  This PowerShell tutorial shows users how to fully interact with Windows Storage Spaces, which will help them script the storage provisioning process.Continue Reading

• I/O contention (input/output contention)

  I/O contention (input/output contention), occurs when virtual machines compete for I/O resources because there is a limited storage bandwidth.Continue Reading

• Five LUN management basics

  IT expert Brien Posey discusses five fundamental ideas storage professionals must understand when dealing with LUN management.Continue Reading

• Streaming large video files in today's big data environments

  Solid-state drives are a good choice for streaming large video files. Other factors to consider include cost and how often video will be accessed.Continue Reading

• Expert offers top tips on Amazon S3 vs. Azure storage

  Consultant Marc Staimer offers practical advice on comparing Amazon S3 and Windows Azure Storage with use cases for enterprise IT shops in mind.Continue Reading

• IBM SmartCloud Enterprise–Object Storage cloud plans expansion

  IBM SmartCloud Enterprise–Object Storage cloud service plans to expand and offer customers 99.999% availability with three or more copies of data.Continue Reading

• How is Hadoop infrastructure improving?

  John Webster describes how changes to HDFS and the NameNode can help to improve Hadoop infrastructure.Continue Reading

• Can shared storage be used with Hadoop architecture?

  Storage expert John Webster discusses three ways to use shared storage together with Hadoop architecture in this Ask the Expert answer.Continue Reading

• Top tips for doing a cloud storage cost analysis

  Arun Taneja breaks the cloud storage cost analysis process into three categories: monthly storage pricing, transaction charges and cost of bandwidth.Continue Reading

• StorSimple set to boost Microsoft cloud strategy

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• Should you believe vendors’ jaw-dropping solid-state performance specs?

  The benefits of solid-state storage are clear -- cool running, space-saving and blistering performance. But just how “blistering” is that performance? Data storage vendors toss previously unheard of numbers around, like millions of IOPS, to show the...Continue Reading

• Download Storage Decisions 2012: Resource Guide

  Conquer 2013 with our most educational articles from 2012 including advice from expert Storage Decisions Seminars speakers.Continue Reading

• VDI image management: Combating performance and capacity problems

  Managing one VDI image makes sense, but unless the desktops are locked down, it creates capacity and performance problems over time.Continue Reading

• How will 10 GbE impact iSCSI speed?

  The adoption of 10 gigabit Ethernet has ramped up iSCSI speed and resulted in a smaller performance gap between iSCSI and Fibre Channel.Continue Reading

• Brian Madden: Why VDI performance improvements don’t rest on SSD alone

  VDI expert Brian Madden argues that SSD alone is not a panacea for VDI performance issues and that sharing images to save capacity is a bad idea.Continue Reading

• What to expect when using HDFS in Hadoop architecture

  Analyst John Webster details issues with Hadoop architecture and what users can expect from Hadoop Version 2.0.Continue Reading

• Understanding big data analytics and data warehousing

  Understanding big data analytics, and how it differs from data warehousing, depends on time to information, content complexity and cost.Continue Reading

• 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

• Data management techniques more important than ever

  In this Storage Decisions Chicago 2012 video, Jon Toigo discusses data management techniques that can help you control the data in your environment.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

• 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

• The storage-for-VDI equation: Capacity, IOPS, TCO, ROI and persistency

  A virtual desktop project can bring savings and efficiency to IT operations, but storage for VDI is a complex issue, and the wrong choices can hobble the project.Continue Reading

• Server virtualization and storage management: Better integration, specialized tools

  Virtualization and storage management still presents challenges, but nowadays it provides tighter integration and more effective management tools.Continue Reading

• I/O performance, storage infrastructure lead big data issues list

  ESG senior analyst Terri McClure looks at the latest big data issues relating to I/O, Hadoop and storage sprawl.Continue Reading

• Scalable storage systems: Examining scale-out NAS

  Scale-out NAS systems can accommodate data growth simply by adding more capacity and processing power.Continue Reading

• vSphere 5 storage: New storage management functionality, vSphere Storage Appliance

  In this interview, find out more about new vSphere 5 storage features and how they compare to vSphere 4’s, how the new vSphere Storage Appliance works, and the latest on vStorage APIs.Continue Reading

• Cloud Data Management Interface

  Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI) is a Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) industry standard that defines the interface that applications will use to create, retrieve, update and delete data elements from the cloud.Continue Reading

• Five data protection guidelines for business continuity

  Storage expert Jon Toigo offers data protection guidelines to help storage admins achieve the best possible results when protecting data in their care.Continue Reading

• Capacity allocation efficiency explained

  Jon Toigo provides tips on how to improve capacity allocation efficiency. Successful allocation prevents storage-related downtime and associated costs.Continue Reading

• Choose an integrated stack for efficiency, easy storage implementation

  An integrated stack bundles servers, storage and networking in a preconfigured product and is easy to install and manage.Continue Reading

• Configuring SSD storage for virtual desktops

  Learn what value can be gained from combining SSD storage with virtual desktop infrastructures in this tip from Mark Peters.Continue Reading

• Top 10 enterprise data storage terms from SearchStorage.com

  Our list of the top 10 data storage terms allows IT pros to dig deeper into popular storage industry terminology.Continue Reading

• Calculating ROI for storage virtualization is tricky

  Calculating ROI for storage virtualization is difficult because it’s tough to determine soft costs associated with migrating data and managing disk arrays.Continue Reading

• VMware Inc. vCenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM) 5

  vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5 is the first hypervisor-level replication product on the market. It can also automatically move virtual machines to a primary site after a failover.Continue Reading

• Managing storage in a Citrix environment

  In this podcast, find out how Citrix XenServer storage management functionality compares with that of VMware and Hyper-V environments.Continue Reading

• managed storage

  Managed storage is the process of offloading an organization’s data storage requirements to an outside managed service provider.Continue Reading

• “Big data” conspiracy theories abound

  Could the latest and greatest buzzword in the storage biz be killing off some of the most useful storage technologies around?Continue Reading

• vStorage APIs for Storage Awareness improve view into arrays in VMware environments

  The new vStorage APIs for Storage Awareness (VASA) improve visibility into storage arrays that support VMware environments. In this tip, find out how VASA can help admins better manage storage.Continue Reading

• storage capacity planning

  The goal of storage capacity planning is to predict how much storage an organization will require so that just enough disk space can be purchased to meet the needs of users and applications.Continue Reading

• Control VDI costs for storage by careful configuration planning

  Address virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) storage issues and costs by focusing on IOPS and configuration.Continue Reading

• Hospital system addresses IBM SVC performance, stability problems with alternative configuration

  Spectrum Health breaks up IBM SVC eight-node cluster, taking uncommon tiered approach to improve stability and performance of storage virtualization system.Continue Reading

• storage stack

  A storage stack, also called an integrated stack, is a bundled storage product that include servers, networking components and server virtualization software. Continue Reading

• Hyper-V storage: Managing storage for a Hyper-V environment

  In this podcast interview, Dennis Martin discusses Hyper-V storage best practices and tools and techniques to support and improve storage management in a Hyper-V environment.Continue Reading

• Best storage for virtual servers: Pros and cons of FC, iSCSI and NAS

  Virtual servers need a good shared data storage system. All major networked storage protocols work with virtual machines, but some are better than others in certain environments.Continue Reading

• Understanding Big Data analytics

  Explore the four technology regions associated with Big Data analytics in our technical report.Continue Reading

• VDI best practices: Making VDI cost-effective for SMBs

  Learn how to make VDI cost effective for your company and get VDI best practices in this tip.Continue Reading

• Storage performance management: 10 storage system performance tips

  Need some help with your storage performance management? These 10 effective, but often overlooked, tips will help you get the most out of your storage arrays and networks.Continue Reading

• vSphere Storage I/O Control: What it does and how to configure it

  vSphere’s Storage I/O Control enables segmentation of I/O demands by data store, to enable finer-grained I/O prioritization. Find out how Storage I/O Controls works.Continue Reading

• New trends in storage

  Storage technologies may sometimes seem a little stodgy and out of date, but there’s plenty of technical development going on at both the big storage vendors and smaller upstarts.Continue Reading

• Storage management solutions for efficient data storage

  Numerous techs promise more efficient use of storage resources. This guide highlights storage management solutions you can use in your environment.Continue Reading

• Storage management for virtualized servers

  Storage and virtual server management can now go hand-in-hand with new tools that offer single-console control of both storage and virtual servers.Continue Reading

• How to build an efficient data storage environment

  Explore the areas you should consider when it comes to building an efficient data storage environment and learn the latest developments in storage efficiency tools.Continue Reading

• Tips for implementing an automated storage tiering strategy

  Learn about the different vendors that offer inter-array tiering in their products, and determine if it is the right automated storage tiering strategy for your environment.Continue Reading

• 10 quick and easy ways to boost storage performance

  Don't let capacity concerns or virtualized servers bog down the performance of your storage systems. Here are 10 ways to pump up the performance of your storage arrays and networksContinue Reading

• SAN virtualization: Products and best practices for storage virtualization

  Learn how to best implement SAN virtualization in our collection of top articles on storage virtualization products and best practices.Continue Reading

• SAN booting alternatives for data storage managers

  SAN booting and server virtualization are fueling the trend toward diskless servers. Learn about the move from internal to external storage, as well as other booting alternatives.Continue Reading

• Managing storage in a VDI environment

  The success of a VDI environment is dependent on user experience, and storage may be the area that has the biggest impact on users. Find out what steps to take to properly manage your VDI environment.Continue Reading

• Data migration best practices for SMBs

  Learn about the data migration tools, techniques, and services available to small- and medium-sized organizations.Continue Reading

• NAS best practices: Tips on small business NAS devices

  We’ve gathered our top tips and articles to highlight some NAS best practices SMBs should keep in mind before decided to implement a NAS system.Continue Reading

• Efficient data storage: A guide for storage managers

  Our efficient data storage guide offers storage managers tips they can use to save money, reduce their data footprint and get more out of their data storageContinue Reading

• Virtual server tutorial: Managing a server virtualization environment

  This virtual server tutorial evaluates network storage options for virtual servers, describes the VMware vStorage APIs and discusses VMware virtual servers.Continue Reading

• Data management guidelines: Four records retention issues to address

  These data management guidelines will help you to determine what you should keep when implementing records retention for e-discovery and litigation purposes.Continue Reading

• SAN performance best practices: More ways to avoid bottlenecks

  There are several ways you can fine-tune and improve your SAN performance. Follow our five tips to avoid data storage bottlenecks and improve SAN efficiencyContinue Reading

• Five ways to improve your storage networks

  These five tips will help you fine-tune your storage networks. Learn what you can do to improve your storage network performance, efficiency and resiliency.Continue Reading

• Top five tips for managing storage in a virtual server environment

  Server virtualization and virtual desktops can make managing data in a virtual server environment hard. These five tips can help you manage virtual servers.Continue Reading

• Hybrid cloud storage

  Hybrid cloud storage products provide the best of both worlds -- local storage that's tightly integrated with off-site cloud storage services.Continue Reading

• Data storage best practices: Top five storage management answers

  We've collected our top five Ask the Expert answers of 2010 to help you learn about data storage best practices for data storage management.Continue Reading

• Data storage trends 2011: Predictions of hot data storage technologies

  Explore this expert FAQ as three analysts weight in and tell us what they think are the hottest data storage technologies and data storage trends for 2011.Continue Reading

• iSCSI SAN best practices for small businesses

  New to the world of iSCSI SAN storage or buying your first iSCSI SAN? Learn iSCSI SAN best practices in this guide for small businesses.Continue Reading

• Six tips for buying a used storage system

  Are you thinking of buying second-hand data storage equipment to save money? Read these six tips before you buy a used storage system.Continue Reading

• Records retention management: Arm yourself against regulatory scrutiny

  Learn how to build a records retention management system that protects you against regulatory scrutiny, satisfies e-discovery requests and manages capacity.Continue Reading

• Implementing ITIL: Getting started with ITIL v3 service management

  Are you implementing ITIL v3 service management? Discover five phases of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library process and the benefits of ITIL.Continue Reading