Storage: Page

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.

By Carol Sliwa • Sept. 27, 2013

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.

By Carol Sliwa • Sept. 26, 2013

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.

By Carol Sliwa • Sept. 26, 2013

What to consider when storing data in the cloud

Storage administrators who want to keep data in the cloud need to consider collaboration regulations, cost factors and performance requirements.

By Marc Staimer • Sept. 25, 2013

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.

By Phil Goodwin • Aug. 28, 2013

Fact or fiction? Flash SSD storage is faster than HDD storage

The general perception of SSD storage is that it's always faster than HDD storage. Marc Staimer examines whether that's actually true.

By Marc Staimer • Aug. 23, 2013

How does storage thin provisioning work with Hyper-V automatic trim?

Learn how Windows Server 2012 R2's automatic trim feature frees up capacity from thinly provisioned virtual hard disks.

By Brien Posey • Aug. 7, 2013

Problems with using SSDs for write caching and how to avoid them

Marc Staimer looks at using SSDs for write caching and explains why most storage SSD caching is write-through and not write-back.

By Marc Staimer • July 24, 2013

Why is persistent cache important?

Leah Schoeb, partner with Evaluator Group, discusses the importance of persistent cache in this Expert Answer.

By Leah Schoeb • July 10, 2013

Use Windows Server 2012 R2’s Storage QoS feature to boost performance

Learn how the new Storage QoS feature in Windows Server 2012 R2 can boost storage performance and make the best use of capacity.

By Brien Posey • July 9, 2013

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.

By Dennis Martin • July 5, 2013

How cloud providers are using NAND flash technology today

Leah Schoeb, senior partner with Evaluator Group, discusses how cloud providers are using flash today in this Expert Answer.

By Leah Schoeb • July 2, 2013

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.

By Brien Posey • June 21, 2013

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.

By Brien Posey • June 21, 2013

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.

By Carol Sliwa • June 7, 2013

How to align laptop flash drive partitions in Windows

Marc Staimer outlines how to ensure that your laptop flash drive partitions are aligned properly in this Expert Answer.

By Marc Staimer • May 29, 2013

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.

By Jon Toigo • May 23, 2013

Data durability guarantees shouldn’t be big concern with cloud storage

Data durability guarantees of cloud storage providers shouldn't be a big point of concern for customers; they're too tough to measure and enforce.

By Carol Sliwa • May 22, 2013

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.

By George Crump • May 16, 2013

How can host-based and array-based data replication techniques be compared?

Learn the benefits and drawbacks to host-based and array-based replication methods to determine which one better suits your environment.

By George Crump • May 15, 2013

As a backup target, when is VTL better than NAS?

Eric Slack of Storage Switzerland says that, as a backup target, a VTL might be a better choice than NAS.

By Eric Slack • May 14, 2013

Storage thin provisioning: Comparing implementation types

Analyst Erick Slack explains how to create a thin volume, migrate from thick to thin provisioning and determine when to use thin provisioning.

By Eric Slack • May 14, 2013

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.

By David Davis • May 3, 2013

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.

By Carol Sliwa • May 1, 2013

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.

By Brien Posey • April 30, 2013