Problem solve
Get help with specific problems with your technologies, process and projects.
Problem solve
Get help with specific problems with your technologies, process and projects.
Can multiple people work against the same NAS?
What is block I/O?
Most popular NAS apps
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What does I/O stand for?
Zoning 101: Why zone?
Zoning can offer a number of benefits for your SAN. This tip details the advantages of zoning and offers an explanation of the different methods. (This tip is part of our Storage 101 tip series.) Continue Reading
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
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
Questions to ask before building a NAS system
Questions and considerations when building a NAS system.Continue Reading
Data classification: Getting started
Classifying data and knowing how its value changes over time will improve service levels, create a better working relationship with business units and reduce costs. (This tip is part of our Storage 101 tip series.)Continue Reading
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SCSI vs. iSCSI -- features, functionality and architecture
Securing data at rest vs. data in transit
Kevin Beaver offers insight on why transit is not where the security risk lies and provides recommendations on what you should focus your time, money and effort on instead.Continue Reading
Controlling the storage sprawl
Consolidation, automation and cost control are key to managing storage across multiple data centers.Continue Reading
FC or iSCSI for SAN-based backups?
SATA disk drive duty cycle
Encrypting tape: Software vs. hardware and key management
Encrypting data is a high priority for businesses these days. This tip will help you become familiar with the formats of encryption and the importance of key management.Continue Reading
How DBAs view storage
Storage magazine's exclusive poll gives you the lowdown on how DBAs and storage pros view storage. We detail each group's areas of concern, spotlight their differences and find some common ground.Continue Reading
How to troubleshoot SATA drive connection problems
Use this checklist to help troubleshoot your SATA drive connection problems, and find out what to do with the jumpers and how to check the SATA BIOS drive.Continue Reading
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?
RAID groups and parity groups
FC-AL port protocol for storage
Connecting a SAN in the DMZ
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
Incremental and differential backup
This tip details the differences between incremental and differential backups and the benefits and drawbacks of each type.Continue Reading
RAID-53: RAID by any other name
RAID 53 has a much higher transaction rate than RAID 3, which is achieved by striping the data across multiple RAID 3 arrays.Continue Reading
IDE NAS solution for home network
NAS box data movers
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?
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
Differences between a two-switch fabric and a full fabric
Storage expert Arun Taneja discusses the differences between a two-switch fabric and a full fabric.Continue Reading
Checklist: Zone your SAN in five steps
Learn how to develop an effective zoning plan and implement it with a minimum of hassle.Continue Reading
CAS vs. Snaplock Volume
This advice details the difference between content addressed storage (CAS) and storage on NetApp's SnapLock Volume.Continue Reading
How to select storage management tools
This tip offers information about various types of storage management tools, and how to choose the right ones for your needs.Continue Reading
SAN disaster recovery planning
Disaster recovery expert Pierre Dorion offers advice to a reader looking for a feasible and cost effective disaster recovery plan for a SAN environment.Continue Reading
RAID-3: What is it good for?
You don't hear much about RAID-3, but it has its uses. Find out when to use RAID-3 and why.Continue Reading
SAS disk drive advantage?
Five ways to secure iSCSI
Storage expert Stephen Foskett outlines five specific ways to secure an iSCSI SAN.Continue Reading
SATA connectivity issues
The business case for storage networks
The business case for storage networksContinue Reading
Checklist: How to troubleshoot your LUN
LUN issues are difficult to diagnose, because they usually arise from specific features of a specific system's hardware and software.Continue Reading
Storage and memory: What is their relationship?
Bye, bye RAID? Storage moves into networked information services
The storage game has undergone a radical change, with storage hardware and software now being transformed into a networked information service.Continue Reading
Pros and cons of remote mirroring for DR
Remote mirroring takes place over MAN or WAN distances. It's usually between storage arrays or storage appliances, and can be synchronous or asynchronous.Continue Reading
Checklist: How to set up HBAs
Host bus adapters are one of the most time-consuming parts of a SAN to install.Continue Reading
Evaluating hardware: Price, capacity, port count and more
How to choose the best SAN or LAN switch
Looking to buy a SAN or LAN switch? Here are key questions to ask before you make a product choice.Continue Reading
How many devices can be attached to an IDE cable?
Finding the WWN for a storage device
Daily data volatility rates
File-based replication vs. volume-based replication
Backup expert Pierre Dorion offers advice about the pros and cons of file-based replication vs. volume-based replication.Continue Reading
Does Veritas NetBackup support BCV backup?
How to plan for a firmware upgrade
Many storage administrators don't manage drivers or firmware until something happens, such as an upgrade or new hardware implementation.Continue Reading
Checklist: Five ways to boost iSCSI performance
There are several things you can do to boost the performance of your iSCSI storage system -- some are easy, and fairly inexpensive.Continue Reading
Calculating available disk space in a RAID-5 set
Learn how to calculate disk space availability for five 36 GB disks using RAID-5.Continue Reading
Calculating space for parity in RAID-5
Brett Cooper offers advice to a reader who asked: "What are the calculations for RAID-5 in regards to the amount of space parity will consume? For instance, if I have a RAID-5 with 10 146 GB drives, what is the percent factor of space used for ...Continue Reading
Checklist: Ten steps to troubleshooting SAN/NAS performance problems
Learn how to isolate the cause of performance problems in your storage system, fix what's broken and learn from your mistakes.Continue Reading
Overhead for RAID 0+1 is too high ... should I use RAID-5?
HSM products from Veritas, Legato and HP
How to choose the right RAID level for your disk array
Cut through vendor hype and determine which RAID level (or levels) is right for your disk array.Continue Reading
Mysterious formatting on a NAS hard drive
SAN vs. LAN network integrity
How to design a core/edge SAN
Use the SPICE algorithm to simplify the process of designing a large core/edge SAN.Continue Reading
Heterogeneous vs. homogeneous SANs
Storage expert Greg Schulz explains the differences between heterogeneous and homogeneous SANs.Continue Reading
Pros and cons of iSCSI arrays
ISCSI arrays will save you a pretty penny, but at a slight cost in terms of performance.Continue Reading
A quick and dirty way to increase a RAID 5 array
You can quickly and easily increase the storage capacity of a RAID 5 array in Windows by using RAID 5's redundancy to sequentially add larger disks.Continue Reading
Preventing common RAID errors
There's a reason we still make backups of data stored in RAID arrays: Things can still go wrong that can cost you all or most of the data stored on the array.Continue Reading
How do you defrag a hard drive on NAS?
There are some situations when you need to defrag a hard drive, but it depends what type of NAS you are using. Learn more in this expert tip.Continue Reading
Ten best practices for moving data files to a SAN
How to defrag a hard drive on NAS to fix unusual hard drive formatting
If a drive is used in a NAS device, you should never have to defrag it. Read one expert's take on why and how to fix unusual hard drive formatting.Continue Reading
Checklist: Ten steps to data replication
Christopher Poelker has assembled the following tips and best practices to help your team devise a data replication architecture that reduces downtime and saves money.Continue Reading
Can a Maxtor One Touch USB transfer data from one PC to another?
Expert Brett P. Cooper tells users how to share a Maxtor One Touch USB between personal computers and how to safely remove the unit before disconnecting it.Continue Reading
Do I have a RAID implementation?
What is a DASD?
Why aren't you using iSCSI HBAs?
If you have an iSCSI SAN, chances are that you aren't using iSCSI HBAs. But maybe you should be.Continue Reading
Maximum number of drives in a RAID-5 set
Four examples of NAS architecture
Separate HBAs for tape access
Is my SCSI controller compatible with my tape drive?
Connecting multimode fiber cable to single mode
Why do restores take longer than backups?
What is scratch media in Backup Exec and does it contain valid data?
What is scratch media? Learn what it is, how to create it and use it effectively with Backup Exec from Symantec.Continue Reading
Recommended distance for a DR site
How to isolate and solve performance bottlenecks
Find out how to determine whether your subsystem or application is the cause of I/O wait states -- and what to do about the problem.Continue Reading
NAS gateway versus SAN-attached server
How to scan your SAN
Trying to recreate SAN diagrams with no documentation to guide you? These scanning tools might help.Continue Reading
How do I connect a Fibre Channel switch to a router?
Connecting a Fibre Channel switch to a router
Point: Why does a SAN access data from the server faster than a hard drive?
How to test your UPS
Uninterruptible Power Supplies are extremely rugged beasts -- which is both good news and bad news for storage administrators who rely on them.Continue Reading
Point: Why is multimode fiber cable used more than single mode fiber cable?
Point: What's so great about block-level access?
Tools for scanning and mapping the SAN
How to prevent common problems in SATA drives
Problems in SATA drives generally stem from one of two causes. This tip will tell you how to prevent both.Continue Reading
The difference between SATA and FATA
How much information is 350 terabytes?
What is a storage group?
What is a host storage domain?
How to troubleshoot SANs using WWN zoning
Identifying devices by their World Wide Name (WWN) when setting up zones on a SAN makes configuration easier, but it also provides some maintenance and troubleshooting advantages.Continue Reading