Evaluate

Evaluate

Weigh the pros and cons of technologies, products and projects you are considering.

• NAS vs. cloud storage: Which is better for your business?

  On-site NAS and cloud-based NAS are the two main file storage options. Organizations need to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of each to make the best choice. Continue Reading

• Consider the advantages and disadvantages of NAS

  NAS devices provide file sharing that is easy to manage but may be harder to scale than other storage types. Get to know the advantages and disadvantages of NAS. Continue Reading

• NAS vs. object storage: What's best for unstructured data storage?

  There are advantages and disadvantages to using NAS or object storage for unstructured data. Find out what to consider when it comes to scalability, performance and workload type. Continue Reading

• Ride through racetrack memory and its storage implications

  IBM is working on a concept called racetrack memory, which is one of a few possibilities for the future of storage. But is it feasible, and when will it be commercially viable? Continue Reading

• NAS vs. server: Which storage option should you choose?

  NAS and server-based storage have unique attributes that support a variety of storage and DR applications, and each can be supplemented by cloud-based storage as needed. Continue Reading

• 7 guidelines to secure network storage

  These practices, including firmware and VPN guidance, protect NAS devices. Use these steps as standalone procedures or incorporate them into your overall security process.Continue Reading

• Understand the Intel Optane shutdown

  Intel's upcoming shutdown of Optane follows multibillion-dollar losses. However, some technology benefits came out of the IT giant's effort to improve storage performance.Continue Reading

• Differences in scale-up vs. scale-out storage

  Scaling up and scaling out are both approaches to increase storage capacity. To decide which approach to take, consider short- and long-term requirements.Continue Reading

• Explore top AWS storage types for file, block, object

  There are several AWS storage types, but these four offerings cover file, block and object storage needs. Explore how the cloud storage choices compare with each other.Continue Reading

• Storage certifications to bolster your skills

  Storage admins looking to gain new skills or make better use of their vendor-supplied storage systems can look to certification and qualification courses.Continue Reading

• Key features of a distributed file system

  Distributed file systems enable users to access file data that is spread across multiple storage servers. A DFS should uphold data integrity and be secure and scalable.Continue Reading

• Pure Storage's focus shines at Pure Accelerate 2022

  At Pure Accelerate 2022, Pure Storage displayed its continued investment in R&D, coupled with new product releases. The vendor should continue to make a splash in flash.Continue Reading

• Choose the best Azure Blob Storage tier

  Hot, Cool or Archive -- where should Azure Blob Storage go? Each tier has its challenges, but don't panic if data is in the wrong one, with step-by-step directions for moving tiers.Continue Reading

• Inside the plan to enhance optical storage

  It's going to take some outside-of-the-box technology to help make up for the escalating increases in stored data. Could colored digital characters be an answer?Continue Reading

• Explore 5 Microsoft Azure storage types before buying

  Some types of Azure storage are prevalent, such as Blob, but others are less well known. Your organization may have a use for each of the five detailed, so get to know each one.Continue Reading

• SSD vs. SSHD vs. HDD: Which one is best?

  Hybrid drives promise fast, cost-effective performance for primary and secondary storage. Here's what you need to know about the benefits and drawbacks compared to SSDs and HDDs.Continue Reading

• The role of NVMe network storage for the future

  This chapter excerpt from 'Building a Future-Proof Cloud Infrastructure' examines the role networking and storage protocols, like NVMe, could have in the remote storage market.Continue Reading

• Composable infrastructure providers tackle modern workloads

  Composable infrastructure vendors include titans in IT like Dell and HPE, but also startups such as Fungible and Liqid. Explore product features and the tech's pros and cons.Continue Reading

• The best enterprise storage systems and products of 2021

  Thirty-nine finalists competed for top honors in the annual 'Storage' magazine and SearchStorage Products of the Year awards. Find out which won gold, silver and bronze.Continue Reading

• The best enterprise cloud storage of 2021

  Judges in this year's Products of the Year competition tap the best cloud storage products for enterprises, with unstructured file storage and Kubernetes storage taking honors.Continue Reading

• The best enterprise storage arrays of 2021

  Tintri, Infinidat and Dell EMC enterprise arrays win top honors in the Products of the Year disk and disk subsystems category for their use of flash and automation.Continue Reading

• Predictions for the top data storage trends of 2022

  The constant need to organize, analyze and protect the hoard of data collected by organizations is pushing technology to new heights. Are these four predictions on your watch list?Continue Reading

• The top data storage and management tools of 2021

  Software focused on large-scale data management and storage in expanding environments won in this year's Products of the Year storage system and application software category.Continue Reading

• NVMe-oF over IP: A complete SAN platform

  NVMe/TCP or NVMe/RoCE are technologies that can now provide complete SAN platforms with multiple cost structures and are able to support different customer requirements.Continue Reading

• Understand NVMe 2.0 specification and its related features

  NVMe 2.0 added several features for storage administrators to consider, including domain support. The specification also made enhancements, such as to Endurance Group Management.Continue Reading

• Top 5 data storage best practices include Teams, containers

  From Teams storage limits and cloud security out to the edge and container-native storage, this roundup of best practices provides a review of recent advice articles.Continue Reading

• Holographic data storage: Next big thing or bust?

  The latest work in holographic storage development approaches its uses in a different way. Take a deep dive into the possibilities and potential of this 3D storage.Continue Reading

• How can organizations manage Microsoft Teams storage limits?

  Microsoft Teams storage limits can be complex for organizations to track. Learn the details and how to add Microsoft 365 storage to avoid capacity problems.Continue Reading

• Why QLC flash adoption now benefits the enterprise

  While enterprises must overcome some obstacles with QLC, there is a solid case for its use. 3D NAND has played a big part in enabling QLC use within the enterprise.Continue Reading

• Cache vs. RAM: Differences between the two memory types

  Cache memory and RAM both place data closer to the processor to reduce latency in response times. Learn why one can be faster, along with other key variables in cache vs. RAM.Continue Reading

• AWS Outposts vs. Azure Stack vs. Google Anthos hybrid storage

  Explore the essential buy-in, deployment, implementation and management factors organizations should consider when comparing these major hybrid cloud storage services.Continue Reading

• Explore the consumption-based IT and Opex storage landscape

  The evolving consumption IT, pay-as-you-go infrastructure and storage model is a hot trend. Explore benefits, challenges and five top vendors in the field.Continue Reading

• How the Container Storage Interface can aid Kubernetes use

  Compared to in-tree plugins, the Container Storage Interface simplifies Kubernetes integration with storage devices, but thorough testing of CSI drivers is a must.Continue Reading

• NVMe speeds vs. SATA and SAS: Which is fastest?

  The NVMe protocol is tailor-made to make SSDs fast. Get up to speed on NVMe performance and how it compares to the SATA and SAS interfaces.Continue Reading

• Next-generation PCIe key to composable infrastructure progress

  High-performance computing and AI environments are just two strong uses for composable architecture. Explore benefits and drawbacks of PCIe in composable systems.Continue Reading

• Boost array performance with Optane-ready products

  Explore a group of Optane-ready products to improve storage performance. In addition, there are other options beyond self-managed hardware for the same purpose.Continue Reading

• Work around NVMe storage controller drive limitations

  Innovation in the storage and memory market helps with the challenge of NVMe drive limits. Be sure to make the right comparisons and scale out effectively.Continue Reading

• Explore storage orchestration services, benefits, challenges

  Orchestration and automation can aid storage management. Here, dive into technical details of orchestration, including containers and Kubernetes, and how it can help.Continue Reading

• Build a cloud-ready, global distributed file system

  Organizations that want to extend traditional network file shares across data centers, branch offices and public cloud infrastructure have many options.Continue Reading

• Consider these container-native storage features, vendors

  Container-based applications have a major effect on storage. It's important to assess the benefits, functionalities and providers of container storage.Continue Reading

• Data storage management advantages and challenges explained

  Although establishing a data storage management strategy can be difficult, with increasingly distributed and complex systems, it offers several benefits to the organization.Continue Reading

• A primer on DNA data storage and its potential uses

  DNA storage isn't just a futuristic concept -- many companies are actively involved in its development and promotion. There's a major use case in data archiving.Continue Reading

• Explore the challenges, benefits of provisioned IOPS storage

  IT admins who want the flexibility to provision IOPS independently from capacity can turn to certain software-defined storage and cloud services offerings.Continue Reading

• How do data processing units support enterprise storage?

  While only a small number of hardware vendors offer DPUs, the technology has significant implications for IT storage systems -- and the admins who manage them.Continue Reading

• A close look at NetApp Cloud Volumes Service for Google Cloud

  Compared to other versions of the NetApp Cloud Volumes Service, the software-defined edition on Google Cloud has some key distinctions that IT admins should note.Continue Reading

• Set up persistent storage for containers in the cloud

  All the major cloud vendors offer containers as a service. There are various ways IT admins can enable persistent storage for these flexible environments.Continue Reading

• How can ransomware attack cloud storage?

  A ransomware attack on cloud storage can have catastrophic effects. Cloud storage is still online, which means it is susceptible to some cyberattacks, so users must be careful.Continue Reading

• 7 signs a small business should shift from NAS to SAN

  Take a deep dive into seven reasons, including performance issues and scalability demands, an SMB would want to ditch NAS in favor of entry-level SAN.Continue Reading

• How edge object storage aids distributed computing

  Object storage is living on the edge. Explore how edge object storage works, why vendors pair it with NVMe and flash SSDs, and the benefits it provides.Continue Reading

• Using the New EDSFF (E3) SSDs Effectively

  The new EDSFF form factors allow higher system density and more effective forms for high-performance racks. Here is an overview of the specifications and status of EDSFF E3.x and insights on effective use.Continue Reading

• CXL: A Basic Tutorial

  Here is a brief introduction to Compute Express Link (CXL). This is a new high-speed CPU interconnect that enables a high-speed, efficient performance between the CPU and platform enhancements and workload accelerators.Continue Reading

• Monitoring the Health of NVMe SSDs

  Many capabilities have been built into NVMe technology, including enhancing error reporting, logging, management, debug, and telemetry. Here are insights on how you can manage the status and health of NVMe SSDs (like notifying users when an SSD ...Continue Reading

• Compare entry-level SAN arrays for the SMB market

  Performance, capacity and data protection features are a few of the many factors SMB organizations should consider in their comparisons of entry-level SANs.Continue Reading

• The best enterprise storage systems and products of 2020

  Nearly 100 products and services competed for top honors in the 'Storage' magazine and SearchStorage annual Products of the Year awards. Find out which won gold, silver and bronze.Continue Reading

• The best enterprise storage arrays of 2020

  Vast Data, Dell EMC and Infinidat show that flash storage rules the data center in the 'Storage' magazine and SearchStorage Products of the Year 2020 disk and disk subsystems category.Continue Reading

• The best enterprise cloud storage of 2020

  Winners address cloud NAS, hosted cloud and cloud-native application management, highlighting the technology's growing importance in an evolving IT world.Continue Reading

• The top data storage and management tools of 2020

  These storage system and application software category winners all deal with the cloud, as organizations modernize their infrastructure and leave their data centers behind.Continue Reading

• Pay-per-use pricing model can boost digital initiatives

  Consumption IT shifts the burden of infrastructure support to vendors and expenditures from Capex to Opex. Can pay-per-use pricing keep pace with your digital business roadmap?Continue Reading

• Track these 4 emerging storage technologies in 2021

  As they seek to increase the efficiency and performance of data storage systems in 2021, administrators should keep these four emerging technologies in mind.Continue Reading

• 3D XPoint vs. NAND flash: Why there's room for both

  While there are key differences between 3D XPoint and NAND flash -- in terms of performance, cost and uses -- the two technologies will likely coexist for years.Continue Reading

• Compare 3 file and object storage products

  Looking for a product that supports both object and file storage? Explore the varying features of Dell EMC, NetApp and Pure Storage systems.Continue Reading

• Calculate HPC storage costs based on these 8 factors

  IT teams that want an accurate estimate of HPC storage costs must account not only for the technology itself, but for staffing, support and ongoing operational expenses.Continue Reading

• Enterprise data storage 2020 Products of the Year finalists

  The field of entrants in our 19th annual Products of the Year contest has been reduced to 47 contenders vying for gold, silver and bronze status in five data storage categories.Continue Reading

• Object storage systems: Benefits, alternatives and use cases

  Along with proving itself a reliable option, object storage has stood the test of time. It can tackle unstructured data and the cloud, and it's overcoming performance challenges.Continue Reading

• What the 4 PMem App Direct Modes mean for your organization

  Do you know the difference between the four Intel Optane persistent memory App Direct Mode types? Find out how you can use each of them most effectively.Continue Reading

• 7 ways data storage management in 2020 has changed

  2020 has been a year of storage management change, from the rush to the cloud to VDIs for all to more automation. Learn about the trends and post-pandemic expectations.Continue Reading

• How the computational storage drive is changing computing

  Take a closer look at computational storage technology and products, and how localized computation is changing storage architecture and the compute-storage dynamic.Continue Reading

• 4 sources of storage latency and PMem's emerging role

  Controllers, the software stack, and external and internal interconnects have an outsized impact on storage latency. Learn about their affects and how PMem is countering latency.Continue Reading

• Test your knowledge of object storage usage in the enterprise

  Do you know when and where to use object storage? Take our quiz to see which workloads it's best for and insight into how object storage fits into the overall storage picture.Continue Reading

• Big data vs. artificial intelligence: How they compare

  Artificial intelligence can help synthesize and analyze the large volumes of information provided by big data initiatives. The two are different, but they work well together.Continue Reading

• All-flash object storage makes its way into the enterprise

  Object storage isn't just for backups and archives anymore. All-flash offerings are being used for AI, machine learning and analytics. See what types of products are available.Continue Reading

• Lines blur between structured and unstructured data storage

  Open source tools like Presto persist low-cost unstructured object data stores while still making information accessible through structured data access tools such as SQL.Continue Reading

• Optimal architectures for intelligent storage systems

  Explore the best, most optimal architectures for intelligent storage and how these systems improve storage performance/utilization to help get more bang out of your data set buck.Continue Reading

• Amazon S3 vs. Google Cloud Storage vs. Azure pricing, features

  See how storage pricing and features stack up in this comprehensive look at the three major cloud service providers.Continue Reading

• High-performance data storage goes from NVMe to SCM

  Storage class memory and NVMe are bringing speed and lower latency to high-performance storage. See how the two technologies are shaking up enterprise data storage.Continue Reading

• NVMe and SCM: Implications for the future of storage

  Explore the various ways NVMe technology vendors are preparing the way for organizations to transition to storage class memory in their computing environments.Continue Reading

• Comparing 7 storage network protocols

  Compare characteristics of common storage network protocols, such as iSCSI, Fibre Channel, FCoE, NFS, SMB/CIFS, HTTP and NVMe-oF, to decide which one is best suited to your needs.Continue Reading

• Advantages and disadvantages of using a SAN

  SAN benefits include speed, scalability and fault tolerance, but the technology isn't without its drawbacks. Cost and complexity are big concerns for smaller organizations.Continue Reading

• 7 leading storage area network products and vendors

  Before selecting a SAN product, learn which features seven market-leading storage vendors provide organizations of all sizes and how they distinguish their products.Continue Reading

• 5 ways hybrid cloud storage is changing SAN management

  Increasing reliance on cloud storage is changing the way storage area networks are managed and the challenges that SAN admins face in responding to business requirements.Continue Reading

• High-performance interconnects and storage performance

  Should you use InfiniBand or RDMA over Converged Ethernet as an interconnect? We discuss each technology's effect on performance features such as latency, IOPS and throughput.Continue Reading

• Cloud VDI storage: Nasuni vs. Panzura and other competitors

  Data storage for distributed VDIs can be a challenge. Find out how Nasuni, Panzura and other vendors are overcoming obstacles with new approaches to cloud virtual desktop systems.Continue Reading

• Modern HDD technologies that are bringing hard disks back

  Don't write off HDDs just yet. Energy-assisted technologies such as MAMR and HAMR may keep hard disk drives competitive in an evolving secondary storage market.Continue Reading

• HAMR vs. MAMR, and the future of high-capacity hard drives

  Energy-assisted hard drive technology is here, and heat-assisted and microwave-assisted magnetic recording technologies are about to bring even more changes to the HDD market.Continue Reading

• 5 consumption models help simplify storage buying options

  Consumption-based pricing offers organizations flexible options to purchase storage and other infrastructure on-premises, just like they would cloud services.Continue Reading

• NVMe Zoned Namespace lowers costs and improves performance

  The new zoned storage interface capitalizes on NAND flash capabilities to let host software communicate with NAND storage to better align workloads with SSD storage.Continue Reading

• Container use and the implications for storage

  Knowing which type of storage to deploy when using containers is important. We look at the storage architectures enterprises are using, the features preferred and more.Continue Reading

• 5 signs it's time for a NAS or SAN upgrade

  It's easy to tell when it's time to modernize your storage infrastructure if you know the warning signs. Find out what they are and how Liberty Mutual Insurance handled its upgrade.Continue Reading

• The advantages of containers over virtual machines for storage

  Understanding the key advantages of containers vs. VMs is critical to knowing what storage features are needed for container-based application success.Continue Reading

• 6 basics of storage automation, predictive analytics and AI

  AI and predictive analytics are included in many storage offerings. See how this functionality helps automate storage, which features are useful and which products have them.Continue Reading

• 6 storage resource management tools offer insights, optimization

  Software for managing storage resources provides in-depth information on capacity and performance to help enterprises proactively manage their storage infrastructure.Continue Reading

• Pros and cons of composable architecture vs. traditional storage

  If traditional storage isn't meeting your organization's needs, composable infrastructure may be the answer. Get to know the pros and cons of both approaches.Continue Reading

• Computational storage fundamentals explained

  Computational storage is an emerging technology, but it isn't too soon to develop an understanding of how it can be used to address storage latency and performance issues.Continue Reading

• SNIA's NVM Programming Model and how it works

  The Storage Networking Industry Association spec provides a standardized approach to building a non-volatile memory-based storage system architecture. We take an in-depth look.Continue Reading

• What is the difference between memory and storage?

  Storage and memory, while connected, fulfill separate roles in a computer. Memory meets temporary data access needs and storage retains data and other files over the long term.Continue Reading

• Computational storage may ease edge storage efforts

  Before diving into storage at the edge, ensure your organization can meet the technology's lofty space and resource requirements. Computational storage can help.Continue Reading

• HCI vs. SAN: How to choose between them

  There are many factors to consider when deciding between a SAN and hyper-converged system. Learn how they differ, which might be best for your organization and more.Continue Reading

• How 6 new midrange storage arrays from top vendors stack up

  Leading storage vendors have recently released midrange all-flash arrays that provide the scalability, high performance and high reliability of enterprise-class offerings.Continue Reading

• How AI is changing the storage consumption landscape

  Deep learning, machine learning and neural networks are drastically changing how storage is consumed. Find out why this is happening and what products are helping meet this need.Continue Reading

• Flash vendors tap admin experience features to stand out

  Customers evaluating storage platforms are looking for a little something extra from vendors -- and it isn't necessarily the latest flash development.Continue Reading