Storage has never been simple, and transparency is not synonymous with storage management. Could it be that the latest-generation storage startups have finally cracked that challenge? Scott D. Lowe asks the question, after...
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What Is a Blade Server?
In the server space, one of the biggest shifts was the form factor of the servers: From tower to rack-mount to blades. But what makes a blade server anyway? Let's consider this for a moment, as we watch another shift in progress.
“Our Storage Array Is Compatible with VMware…” Says Who?
I talk to dozens of companies every week, and every one says the same thing: “Our product is compatible with VMware!†But not everyone's definition of “compatible†is the same, and some are not compatible with the...
EMC VFCache (aka “Project Lightning”) Is One Small Step, But an Important One
EMC VFCache (née Project Lightning) is a fairly simple offering: A server-based PCIe flash card that acts as a read cache with no integration with storage arrays or hypervisors. But EMC's entrance into the host-based flash...
ReFS — a new and improved approach
I was looking through some email today and saw a newsletter from ZDNet at the top of my inbox. Normally these don’t get my immediate attention, but for some reason, today… it did. There was a post from Mary Jo Foley...
PCoIP Log Viewer 2.0
This is a tool I've been using almost daily in my current project and for the past few months. Now It's finally been released to the public! The tool has been created by Chuck Hirtsius – one of the EUC...
Nimbus E-Class: The First Big, Redundant, All-Flash Enterprise Array
The new Nimbus Data E-Class comes just at the right moment, with 500 TB of capacity, a fully redundant “dual active†controller architecture, massive performance (even InfiniBand), and complete feature set (once VAAI is...
Virtual Machine Mobility: Of What, and to Where and in What State?
Moving cold virtual machine images from system to system, or even across great distances, is one of the main selling points of server virtualization. But it becomes much more difficult to manage movement of virtual machines that...
HP’s Mighty Stumble
HP stumbled mightily in 2011, and it had nothing to do with product or people. Even sales remained strong, though the PC business is changing. HP's mighty stumble was a crisis of confidence due to a chain of shenanigans at the...
Why Should Anyone Take Dell Seriously in Enterprise Storage?
For a massive IT company, Dell sure doesn't get the kind of respect given their competitors. Time and again, I'll hear the sneers about Dell being little more than a “box shifter†who doesn't “get†real enterprise IT...