RSSTapes and Disks Channel
News and Analysis
EMC Delivers On Server-Based Flash Storage
Originally unveiled last May and scheduled to ship in 2011, EMC's PCIe/flash-based server cache technology, code-named Project Lightning, is now available under the name of VFCache. The enterprise storage giant has been the leader in enterprise flash drive capacity since entering this market in 2008, shipping more than 24 petabytes in 2011, an eight times increase in customer shipments since 2009, says Mark Sorenson, senior VP and general manager of EMC's Flash Business Unit.
More News and Analysis
- IDC: SSDs Reshaping Enterprise Storage
- Marvell's New SSD Strategy: One Size Can Fit All
- 2012: Flash To Supplant Disk?
- Year In Review: Flash Comes of Age
More News and Analysis in Tapes and Disks Channel »
Architectures
Hard Rock Cafe Replaces Tape Backup With Disk
Since opening its doors in 1995, the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas has been on a growth spurt. It expanded in 1999 and is now undergoing another expansion that will more than triple its current size. But it's not just the Hard Rock's footprint that has grown substantially. So has its data, and the time it takes to back it all up. In fact, it was taking Hard Rock's IT department more than 24 hours to do full backups, which had to be done once a week. The rest of the week was spent doing incremental backups, which was also time-consuming.
More Architectures
- SSDs Speed Up Online DBMS Performance
- MySpace Finds Unique Use For SSD Technology
- Poor Performance Leads To Deployment Of SSD Technology for Aspirus
- Full Disk Encryption Evolves
More Architectures in Tapes and Disks Channel »
Reviews & Workshops
Wave Embassy Trusted Drive Manager Simplifies Encrypted Drive Management
Securing data on laptops protects your company's data in the event the laptop is lost or stolen. According to the DatalossDB, which is maintained by the Open Security Foundation, by November 22, 2010, 12 million personal records have been exposed because of lost or stolen computers, laptops, disks, and other media. That tally doesn't include data loss such as intellectual property and other company secrets. Losing data is a risk most companies can't afford. Encrypting hard drives is one critical step to ensure lost or stolen computers, laptops, and media aren't exposing your company.
More Reviews & Workshops
Blogs
EMC's Lightning Strikes
February 07, 2012 9:00 AM
Posted by Howard Marks
The storage cognoscenti have been all atwitter this morning as EMC announces the details of Project Lightning, the flash-based server cache solution it previewed last May at EMCworld. The first version of the renamed VFCache is now available, and it's clearly a version 1.0 product. Hopefully, EMC will get some of the road map items out the door, as well as the just announced Thunder, soon.
See all blogs by Howard Marks
HP Storage Tech Day
January 31, 2012 9:45 AM
Posted by Howard Marks
Last week I joined a dozen or so fellow bloggers and storage industry gadflies for a storage field day at HP's Fort Collins, Colo., facility. Much like the more ecumenical Gestalt IT Tech Field Days run by our own Stephen Foskett, HP Tech Days let vendors show off their shiny new products while the street-wise delegates asked tough questions and took no marketing speak for an answer.
See all blogs by Howard Marks
Dell Moves Ahead Fluidly in Storage
January 20, 2012 12:32 PM
Posted by David Hill
The IT industry is always adapting to new trends, from client-server and the PC revolution of the '80s and '90s to cloud computing and big data today. These trends inspire successful new vendor entrants, but they can also be problematic for established IT vendors. Over time, some leaders don't adapt and die (see Digital Equipment Corporation), while others swoon and survive in a reduced state by being acquired by larger saviors (see Sun Microsystems).
See all blogs by David Hill
Thai Flooding Drives Disk Prices Up, Warranties Down
January 17, 2012 11:00 AM
Posted by Howard Marks
The effects of fall's record-setting flooding in Thailand continue to reverberate throughout the storage industry. The flooding put several factories that made both completed disk drives for Seagate and Western Digital and components like platters, spindle motors and heads under several feet of water for weeks. The estimated production shortfall of 20 to 50 million drives in the fourth quarter has had a significant impact on the storage industry.
See all blogs by Howard Marks
GridIron Systems: Mining Big Data 'Gold' in a Flash
January 12, 2012 9:27 AM
Posted by David Hill
Trends in the IT industry sometimes resemble gold rushes as vendors pan for revenue "nuggets." The use of solid state devices (SSDs)--most notably, flash memory--is the central point of one of these, but just as with the real 19th century gold rushes in California and Alaska, not all prospectors (that is, vendors) will be successful. Where the claims are staked can make all the difference in the world, and GridIron Systems is staking one with a focus on accelerating big data analyses.
See all blogs by David Hill
Crossroads' StrongBox: Securing the Future of Data Archiving
December 09, 2011 8:33 AM
Posted by David Hill
If you were asked which storage product--hard disk drives (HDDs) or tape--would decline precipitously in market share during the next five to 10 years, you would probably be one of the vast majority of people who said tape. You would also be wrong. Winning storage technologies have to excel on at least one dimension, either performance or capacity, and tape excels on capacity.
See all blogs by David Hill
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On Resilience of Spit-Architecture Networks
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