viperagp - stock.adobe.com
Top 10 cloud storage stories of 2018
Top trends in cloud storage in 2018 included key enablers of hybrid- and multi-cloud such as native cloud storage, array makers’ cloud appliances and distributed file systems
Cloud storage has visibly come to the fore this year, with hybrid- and multi-cloud storage becoming a viable strategy for organisations.
A few key drivers are pushing the trend, and we look at them in Computer Weekly’s top 10 cloud storage stories in 2018.
On the one hand, the big three cloud providers – Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform – provide a rich and generally trusted set of cloud services that span native file, block and object storage.
These are supplemented by cloud-resident third party storage appliances, such as from Dell EMC, NetApp and Pure Storage, which offer virtual cloud versions of their products.
At the same time, the hybrid/multi-cloud model has been pushed forward by the emergence of file and object systems that can span customer datacentre and public cloud storage, although seamless interoperability between the two may be some way off.
And, from the on-premise storage end of things, storage array makers often now provide the ability to use the cloud as an external tier of storage.
1. Microsoft purchase of Avere marks a hybrid cloud-y start to 2018
Microsoft’s acquisition of Avere was a significant purchase that sparked off a year marked by an upsurge in activity around hybrid and multi-cloud storage.
2. Cloud on the rise as hybrid cloud storage shows real maturity
By February in the early part of the year provided a firm impression of the increasing prominence of the cloud, and in particular of attempts to harness the public cloud and private datacentre in hybrid operations.
3. Hybrid cloud file and object pushes the frontiers of storage
A single environment across on-premise and cloud environments is possible with a new class of product that builds file systems and object stores with hybrid cloud.
4. Cloud storage: Amazon vs Azure vs Google vs IBM Softlayer
Computer Weekly looks at the biggest four cloud storage providers, how they stand in the market, the products they offer, and which offers the widest range of products and features.
5. Hybrid cloud mainstream, but seamless operations hard to achieve
Survey by 451 Research finds most organisations use a mix of on-premise and cloud locations but truly seamless hybrid cloud operations are very difficult to achieve.
6. Cloud NAS offers file access across on-site and in cloud
We run the rule over cloud NAS products that allow customers to build single namespace file systems including between in-house datacentres and public cloud storage.
7. How the big five storage array makers tier data to the cloud
We look at the big five storage array makers efforts to connect on-premise hardware with cloud storage and find automated tiering, on-ramps and backup and archive capability.
8. Cloud HCI survey: Cloud functionality in hyper-converged infrastructure
We look at how you can use hyper-converged infrastructure to build private clouds and link up with public cloud services to develop hybrid and multi-cloud working.
9. How to implement a multi-cloud storage strategy
We look at how to build a multi-cloud storage strategy and benefits such as performance, availability and features as well as potential limitations such as data mobility.
10. Storj: Can uberization of cloud storage succeed?
Decentralised storage pioneer Storj seeks to be the AirBnB of cloud storage, but whether it can deal with trust issues and availability will be the key tests of its viability.
