Features

Features

• A primer on SSD response time, other performance benchmarks

  Consider several SSD performance benchmarks, including SSD response time, as key units of measurement. Also, note the difference between benchmarks and load generators.  Continue Reading

• Flash memory vs. RAM: What's the difference?

  Even though vendors refer to flash memory and conventional RAM -- the main memory of a PC or server -- as solid-state memory, these two memory types are significantly different.  Continue Reading

• Distributed blockchain storage survives Web3 hype

  Storage vendors selling distributed blockchain storage continue to make an enterprise pitch for Web3 technology, despite a wary market following the Web3 hype cycle.  Continue Reading

• 5 NAND flash manufacturers balance performance, reliability

  NAND flash manufacturers Kioxia, Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix and Western Digital offer varying levels of capacity. They also provide an assortment of uses.  Continue Reading

• How to purchase SSDs during a NAND flash price drop

  Although NAND prices are collapsing, that doesn't mean they will pop back up at some future date. It's rarely a good idea to purchase SSDs well before they are needed.  Continue Reading

• How CXL 3.0 technology will affect enterprise storage

  Understand CXL 3.0 technology before its impacts on storage take serious effect. While the specification improves on previous generations, it could also demand more from storage.  Continue Reading

• What lies beyond the yottabyte?

  Once data is measured in yottabytes, the world will need new terms for data projections. That's where two new terms -- the ronnabyte and the quettabyte -- come in.  Continue Reading

• Choose between NAND vs. NOR flash memory

  When comparing NAND flash memory to NOR, it's important to examine the structural differences to understand which type of non-volatile memory is best suited for some applications.  Continue Reading

• Compare DRAM vs. DRAM-less SSDs for cost, performance

  Are DRAM-less SSDs the way of the future? While they're a great fit for hyperscale data centers, other organizations may also find benefits, such as cost.  Continue Reading

• 2023 data storage conference lineup spotlights memory, cloud

  While the previous three years featured a majority of virtual or hybrid events, in-person shows dominate the 2023 storage conference calendar. Emerging memory tech is a key focus.  Continue Reading

• Data hoarding and the role of storage

  The promise of future insights drives companies to store data. But there are potential drawbacks when storing data and better management methods than keeping everything.  Continue Reading

• Understand how the CXL SSD can aid performance

  Although CXL SSDs are only in the research phase, their performance shows promise. When used as simple memory extensions, they should improve programs that manage large data sets.  Continue Reading

• How SSD data reduction can help enterprises

  Data reduction techniques have been difficult to achieve on SSDs, but vendors appear to be making progress. The more effective the data reduction, the more affordable SSDs become.  Continue Reading

• Volatile times for non-volatile memory as NAND sales decline

  All the major NAND vendors are seeing poor earnings as the demand for flash storage has dried up over the last two quarters.  Continue Reading

• 6 best practices for metadata storage and management

  Metadata is crucial to getting the most out of data, so organizations should store it properly. Best practices include protection and understanding the IT architecture.  Continue Reading

• Storage vendors look to make case for sustainability

  Energy costs are rising, and sustainability is all the rage. But storage vendors may struggle convincing customers to combat climate change during an economic downturn.  Continue Reading

• The best enterprise data storage products of 2022

  Backup, cloud, disk and storage system vendors vied for top honors in the TechTarget Storage Products of the Year competition. Find out which won gold, silver and bronze.  Continue Reading

• Data growth to help storage vendors weather slowing economy

  The economy may be slowing down, but reliance on data isn't -- a reality that might help enterprise storage vendors wade through economic turbulence in 2023.  Continue Reading

• The future of data storage must handle heavy volume

  Storage manufacturers have an eye on the future with investments in technologies, but it's unclear if they will be able to effectively counter the exponential rise in data volumes.  Continue Reading

• Explore 5 secure data storage best practices

  From access control to air gapping and beyond, IT administrators should employ several technologies and procedures to help ensure they have secure data storage.  Continue Reading

• Prep school uses Wasabi storage to protect student data

  A Connecticut prep school with a massive amount of data to protect chose a combination of cloud storage providers to get the job done within a tight budget.  Continue Reading

• Automation company swaps Isilon for software-defined storage

  The Swedish automation company Hexagon needed super scale and performance for its files. The new SDS upgrade speeds up customer response times.  Continue Reading

• A primer on CXL technology uses

  The Compute Express Link, an open source memory interconnect, is gaining traction. Take a deep dive into why it's important and how it improves performance.  Continue Reading

• Filmmaker uses NAS storage for better collaboration

  With normal workflows out the window, horror filmmaker Damien LeVeck eased the collaborative movie editing process by going all-in with Blackmagic Cloud Store.  Continue Reading

• State tax agency nixes slow HDD backup for speedier flash

  The Mississippi Department of Revenue chose an all-flash storage and backup setup to maximize app performance and minimize headaches after a spinning-platter disaster.  Continue Reading

• TGI Fridays dishes up modern hybrid cloud storage

  TGI Fridays' corporate IT team traded business headaches from end- of-life hardware to a modern hybrid cloud storage system using Nasuni and Microsoft Azure.  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

• The storage administrator is dead; long live the storage admin

  IT employers still see the value of keeping storage administrator jobs in house despite the allure of savings with managed services.  Continue Reading

• Data storage interview questions for your next storage role

  Data storage administrators must be able to adapt and optimize storage for evolving workloads and business needs. Here are some questions to prepare for in an interview.  Continue Reading

• TechTarget Storage Products of the Year judging criteria

  This article discusses how products are judged for the TechTarget Storage Products of the Year awards.  Continue Reading

• What to know about SMART SSD use

  This overview of SMART attributes in SSDs explains how organizations can put them to good use. SMART SSDs provide peace of mind about device life span.  Continue Reading

• Tips to plan storage elements of artificial intelligence

  Author and data engineer Chinmay Arankalle explores how organizations can manage storage for AI. Management and storage options include data lakes and high-performance storage.  Continue Reading

• How to plan for a potential data storage shortage

  Try saying 'data storage shortage' five times fast. Hopefully you won't need to say it often in the near future, but with escalating data volumes, planning is key.  Continue Reading

• Considerations to plan AI storage architecture for big data

  This chapter from 'The Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Workshop' examines how to plan for AI data storage. Plan for factors like volume and scale for long-term success.  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

• How supply chain issues affect data storage and what IT can do

  Supply chain issues challenge IT teams and data storage administrators. It's important to be as proactive as possible when managing storage in an era of such uncertainty.  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

• What sustainable data storage means for your data center

  Storage sustainability requires commitment from the entire organization. Don't put it on the back burner -- these tips can help the environment and keep the issue top of mind.  Continue Reading

• TGen saves time and expands research using MemVerge

  TGen needed more memory to get over HPC analysis issues; the nonprofit used MemVerge's Big Memory software to create larger memory pools and get research and analysis done faster.  Continue Reading

• Hammerspace connects virtual studio of Jellyfish Pictures

  The Hammerspace Global Data Environment enables collaboration and savings for Jellyfish Pictures, a U.K.-based animation studio with artists working across the world.  Continue Reading

• School district sheds Dell EqualLogic for DDN

  Simsbury Public Schools brought in two DDN arrays that helped the district speed up its VDI environment and reduce its IT footprint at a better cost.  Continue Reading

• Ways to add enterprise NVMe drives to your infrastructure

  Organizations can benefit from faster data transport between applications and storage through NVMe. When looking at enterprise NVMe, remember management and cost considerations.  Continue Reading

• OpenDrives key to remote editing of Dave Grohl documentary

  Jim Rota and Dean Gonzalez lacked high-performance storage needed to make and edit their new music documentary, so they turned to a vendor born out of Hollywood movie-making.  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

• 6 enterprise data storage startups to watch in 2022

  Storage startups continue to innovate despite supply chain sluggishness. Here are six we'll be keeping an eye on in 2022.  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

• Pure Storage enables healthcare org's cloud Kubernetes

  Pure Storage's Portworx products and AWS managed EKS service creates digital infrastructure for CHG Healthcare, enabling faster app development and portability across clouds.  Continue Reading

• Vast Data solves high-performance computing challenge

  When DUG began to supply high-performance computing as a service, it discovered its storage was not up to the task, sending the company on a years-long journey.  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 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

• 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

• Web3 use cases for storage flimsy for now

  The marketing lingo of Web3 is slinking into the storage industry, but the use cases are few and the technology immature.  Continue Reading

• CyArk migrates digital archive to Seagate's Lyve Cloud

  On a mission to create 3D digital blueprints of cultural heritage sites, CyArk discovered its storage infrastructure was too brittle for the task. It turned to Seagate for help.  Continue Reading

• Illinois college uses Wasabi cloud storage to cut ties with tape

  Moraine Valley Community College's IT department replaced its tape backup system with modern cloud storage using Rubrik and Wasabi, saving on time and costs.  Continue Reading

• Hard disk drives to remain dominant storage media in 2022

  Hard disk drives are increasing in density and maintaining a lower price point than alternatives, but flash is gaining ground. Here, experts sound off on the fate of HDDs in 2022.  Continue Reading

• Enterprise data storage 2021 Products of the Year finalists

  The 20th anniversary of the 'Storage' magazine and SearchStorage Products of the Year contest showcases 39 finalists in backup, cloud, disk, hyper-converged and management.  Continue Reading

• Top 10 storage stories highlight trends of 2021

  The top 10 storage stories of 2021 highlight both large vendors and startups and demonstrate reader interest in performance, better pricing and new features.  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

• Panzura tackles disaster recovery, cloud storage for Saints

  The New Orleans Saints IT team expands its disaster recovery and cloud storage with Panzura and Google Cloud to save on hardware and storage refreshes at Caesars Superdome.  Continue Reading

• RPO vs. RTO: Key differences explained with examples, tips

  The recovery point objective and recovery time objective enable an organization to know how much data it can lose and how long it can be down, key elements of a backup and DR plan.  Continue Reading

• Look for PCIe 5.0, NVMe 2.0 to boost storage performance

  Enterprises that need high-performance storage for AI and ML workloads can keep an eye out for new products based on the latest PCIe 5.0 and NVMe 2.0 specifications.  Continue Reading

• Flash memory guide to architecture, types and products

  Flash memory, a staple of consumer electronics, is playing a wider role in enterprise storage. This guide offers an overview of flash, from current use cases to future directions.  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

• New HPE Alletra extends cloud console to Primera, Nimble

  Hewlett Packard Enterprise's new Alletra storage brand will bear striking similarity to Primera and Nimble arrays on the operating system and management front.  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

• Cubbit offers 'green' distributed cloud storage option

  New EU startup aims to offer alternative to major cloud storage with a distributed model, offering increased security and potentially less environmental waste for a lower cost.  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

• Cloud storage market calms after historic year

  While 2020 became an unpredictable year for companies with regard to storage needs, analysts are predicting a much quieter and standard outlook for the rest of 2021.  Continue Reading

• Portworx brings storage solution to LogDNA's Kubernetes need

  LogDNA wanted to reduce its cloud storage costs and bring Kubernetes-based software to on-premises servers. Portworx provided a Kubernetes-native solution and ongoing support.  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

• Data storage management: What is it and why is it important?

  Effective data storage management is more important than ever, as security and regulatory compliance have become even more challenging and complex over time.  Continue Reading

• Pure Storage CEO zones in on enabling digital transformation

  Pure Storage's CEO said the company will probably pursue acquisitions beyond its 2020 Portworx purchase to further assist customers in their digital transformation efforts.  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

• An overview of Microsoft Project Silica and its archive use

  Microsoft's Project Silica stores data in silica glass, similar to the crystals in 'Superman' films. In fact, 'Superman' already played a major role in the forward-looking project.  Continue Reading

• StorCentric CEO Mihir Shah eyes more acquisitions

  StorCentric CEO Mihir Shah discusses the company's 2021 plans, future acquisitions and more.  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

• Quobyte CEO says customers need a scale-out mindset

  In order to tackle AI, machine learning and other demanding workloads, enterprises need to break out of their appliance-centric approach to storage, according to Quobyte's CEO.  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

• COVID-19 research spurs IHME to 18 TB HDDs in Qumulo storage

  Seattle's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation opts for 18 TB HDDs in Qumulo hybrid storage appliances to handle massive data sets generated through COVID-19 research.  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

• 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

• Hyperscale shift to 18 TB, SMR HDDs top '21 hard disk trends

  New 20 TB energy-assisted and SMR hard disk options are starting to ship, but experts predict the top 2021 trend in data center hard drives will be the transition to 18 TB HDDs.  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

• New Infinidat CEO discusses storage transition

  Ex-Western Digital exec Phil Bullinger replaces founder Moshe Yanai as CEO of storage vendor Infinidat. Bullinger says Infinidat surpassed 6 exabytes under management last year.  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

• 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

• 7 cloud storage and file-sharing services to consider

  Cloud-based file-sharing services enable teams that are working remotely to share files and collaborate with colleagues and clients all over the world.  Continue Reading

• Managing unstructured data to boost performance, lower costs

  Is unmanaged, unstructured data clogging up your primary storage? Get control of this costly, performance-sapping situation and start managing unstructured data cost-effectively.  Continue Reading