Data protection, backup and archiving

Cloud archive pros and cons and the questions to ask providers

A cloud archive offers a flexible and cost effective alternative to in-house archiving where maintenance is outsourced, but what are the key questions to ask a potential supplier Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

Cloud storage options in Scandinavia

It has never been faster or cheaper to store data in the cloud and Scandinavian businesses have taken up cloud storage with gusto Continue Reading

By

• Jane Ruffino

Survey: Virtualisation the engine for key storage projects

Server virtualisation drives key storage projects for European and UK IT departments, with disaster recovery and virtual server backup high on to-do lists Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Investec CISO warns that legacy tapes will fail on new hardware

Many organisations may find that years of irreplaceable tape backups are inaccessible because modern machines cannot handle legacy format Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

School gets Nimble hybrid flash and Barracuda hybrid cloud backup

Berkshire private college has revamped data protection with Nimble hybrid flash storage and Barracuda hybrid cloud backup Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Business-defined storage will help reconnect businesses with IT, says Forrester

Business-defined storage and datacentres will make IT more business-centric, according to Forrester Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

NTT Europe saves time with Sepaton data deduplication VTL deployment

NTT Europe was sick of tape libraries “shoeshining” so went for a $2.5m deployment of Sepaton data deduplication virtual tape libraries to slash backup and restore times Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Array-based or vSphere Replication for VMware SRM?

What’s the best replication method for VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM)? GlassHouse Technologies’ Paul Grimwood runs the rule over array-based replication and vSphere Replication Continue Reading

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• Paul Grimwood, GlassHouse Technologies (UK)

Nirvanix failure – a blow to the cloud storage model?

Cloud storage firm Nirvanix has given customers a deadline to retrieve their data. Are the reasons for its failure specific to Nirvanix or a real blow to cloud storage overall? Continue Reading

By

• Simon Robinson, Principal Analyst

Cloud file-sharing for enterprise users

Cloud file-sharing services have become near-ubiquitous among enterprise users. We survey the risks, benefits and alternatives to Dropbox Continue Reading

By

• Manek Dubash

The data fragmentation challenge

Few organisations have policies to guide where data should and should not be stored. The result: data fragmentation Continue Reading

By

• Tony Lock, Freeform Dynamics

Essential guide to disaster recovery and business continuity

Everything you need to know about business continuity and disaster recovery, planning and prevention. Continue Reading

Avamar and NetWorker to merge for 'backup-less backup'

EMC looks forward to backup as an embedded process, with apps and hypervisors copying versioned replicas in native format Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Podcast: Virtual server backup fundamentals

Virtual server backup is different to traditional backup. This podcast looks at the differences and examines key choices in selecting backup products Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

The challenges of information governance in our increasingly litigious age

Formulating the right enterprise-wide information governance policies is essential in heading off potential legal and compliance costs Continue Reading

By

• Doug Miles

SSD RAID essentials: What you need to know about flash and Raid

With the advent of flash and high-capacity HDDs, what do today’s storage professionals need to know about Raid and its new variants? Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

Big data security: getting a grip on multiple data sources

Big data analyses multiple data points, but how do you ensure that ecosystem is secure? In this podcast, Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust, outlines the key steps in achieving big data security Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Storage Through the Looking Glass

This analyst report aims to help you take a much needed step away from the technical detail of storage to create some strategic perspective. Continue Reading

Real-life disaster recovery boost at video firm with HDS clustered NAS

Special effects video firm The Mill boosts HDS/BlueArc clustered NAS capacity to cope with HD movies and build disaster recovery site at London’s Docklands Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Best practice in enterprise storage

Sean Sadler, head of infrastructure solutions at Kings College London, gives best practice advice on enterprise storage for big data. Continue Reading

How to tackle big data from a security point of view

Before leaping into big data, companies must be clear what they are trying to achieve, otherwise their investment will be wasted Continue Reading

By

• Peter Wood, First Base Technologies LLP

IT budgets to grow in 2013 as economy bumps along

UK IT departments are planning to spend more on IT in 2013 despite the downturn, a worldwide survey of IT managers has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

In-house tape vs cloud archiving: What are the pros and cons?

Have cloud archiving services reached a tipping point that makes them cheaper and easier to manage than in-house tape archives? Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

Businesses wasting billions storing unnecessary data

CIOs are urged to rethink their backup strategies following warnings that companies are wasting billions on unnecessary storage Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Top 10 storage stories of 2012

Top storage stories from 2012 reflect the rapid pace of virtualisation, big data, the proliferation of mobile devices and new twists on storage technologies such as tape and RAID Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Data to grow more quickly says IDC’s Digital Universe study

IDC’s annual Digital Universe study finds data set to expand to 40 Zettabytes by 2020. Emerging markets and machine-generated data will account for increasing proportions of it. Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Deduplication and single instance storage cut primary data storage costs

Data deduplication and single instance storage can cut costs in primary data environments, but implementations vary between suppliers. Continue Reading

By

• Manek Dubash

Digitising the BFI National Archive

The BFI has the largest film archive in the world, with 200,000 films and nearly 900,000 TV shows in its collection. Of that, 75% is British. The institute is undergoing a major digitisation programme in under to preserve its wealth of social history and bring the archive’s treasures to millions. Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

10 robust USB drive security tools for India Inc

USB drives are ubiquitous in Indian businesses, but pose security threats as they are easily lost/stolen. Here are 10 tools to ensure robust USB security. Continue Reading

By

• Karthik Poojary, Amazon

Storage briefs: Tape library just the ticket for car park firm

Tape library for car park firm; IT departments fail on email compliance; Record HDD shipment after Thai floods; Veeam supports Hyper-V Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

The future of computing at IBM Zurich research labs

Chips powered by the sun and cooled by water are just some of the long-term research projects at IBM's Zurich labs Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

VMware backup and the VMware snapshot

The VMware snapshot is a critical component of VMware backup. In this guide to the basics of VMware backup, we walk you through the key processes and suggest some best practices. Continue Reading

By

• Michelle Laverick

Cloud backup options: Pure cloud vs hybrid cloud backup

Cloud backup is increasingly being seen as a flexible and cost-effective option by many organisations, but what are the pros and cons of pure cloud backup and hybrid cloud backup? Continue Reading

By

• Martin Taylor

Cloud storage boom as users rush to outsourcers

The Spring 2011 edition of IDC’s Storage User Demand Survey says 40%of enterprise storage users plan to outsource some of their storage needs in the next twelve months, with “an average of over 250TB will be acquired” by each user. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

Encryption techniques and products for hardware-based data storage security

Encryption techniques can be applied to data on the drive or array, at the host or in the fabric. We survey the key hardware-based methods and products available for data storage security. Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

Veeam brings virtual server backup for NHS trust

Storage roundup: Hospital cuts restoration times to minutes using Veeam Backup & Recovery; Buffalo launches Windows NAS family; Coraid partners with The Blueprint IT; Dot Hill appointments; and more. Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Maritime museum backs up with HP LeftHand, Microsoft

The Australian National Maritime Museum has revamped its storage infrastructure, selecting HP LeftHand and Microsoft. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

Block vs file for Hyper-V and VMware storage: Which is better?

Is block- or file-based storage better for Hyper-V and VMware virtual server environments? The answer depends on the precise needs of your virtual server environment. Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

Backing up virtual servers vs physical servers

Find out about the differences between backing up virtual servers vs physical servers, best practices in virtual server backup and how to avoid crash-consistent database backups. Continue Reading

Backup appliance: Backup software and hardware in one box

A backup appliance provides the backup app, processing power and disk to give all you need for SMB or branch office backup pre-packaged into one easy-to-manage box. Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

Synchronous vs asynchronous replication: Order of events during data writes

Learn about the order of events during data writes in synchronous vs asynchronous replication. Continue Reading

By

• Steve Pinder, GlassHouse Technologies

Remote replication: Comparing data replication methods

Learn how remote replication fits into a disaster recovery plan, as well as the various data replication methods available, such as host-based, array-based and network-based replication. Continue Reading

How virtual machine backup differs from traditional backup

Virtual machine backup can be accomplished with traditional backup tools but can be better effected with snapshots and dedicated virtual server backup products. Continue Reading

Snapshot technology: The role of snapshots in today's backup environments

We've collected our top resources on snapshot technology. Gain more insight on snapshots before you decide to use them in place of your data backup system. Continue Reading

HDS and EMC's unified plans ridiculed by 3Par, Pillar, NetApp labelled "NotApp"

The storage blogosphere has adopted some wonderfully plain speech to describe the current mania for "unified storage" as EMC, HDS, NetApp, Pillar and 3Par sound off. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

Managing enterprise data storage more efficiently: Part 1

Storage managers must learn to improve storage efficiency though smarter spending, while taking steps to reduce operating expenditures during budget crunches. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

NAS Backup: What are my options?

 Continue Reading

By

• Brian Sakovitch, Symantec

Incremental vs. differential backup: A comparison

In this Storage Basics on incremental vs differential backup, we explore the benefits and drawbacks of each of these backup strategies Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Podcast: Data deduplication on primary storage

What should a storage administrator know before using data deduplication on primary storage? Eric Burgener, senior analyst and consultant at the Taneja Group, discusses the impact data deduplication on primary storage will have and the things to consider before using it. Continue Reading

NetApp dedupes data on rivals' primary storage

NetApp extends its free data deduplication to its V-Series gateways, making it possible for its customers to dedupe their primary storage. But users say what's missing is a GUI and data dedupe for VTLs. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

SNW Roundup: Sun adds data deduplication to VTL

Sun comes out with VTL Prime, a virtual tape library with FalconStor's data deduplication; Attune gets into file archiving; and SGI, Fujitsu and Dot Hill launch storage systems. Continue Reading

By

• Dave Raffo

Disk-based backup vs. tape

Get advice on choosing disk versus tape for small businesses. Continue Reading

By

• W. Curtis Preston

CDP platform purchase considerations

Busy IT organizations are employing continuous data protection (CDP) technologies to guard data on the fly, essentially eliminating the backup window and allowing granular file and system restoration -- sometimes down to the individual disk write operation. Several CDP appliances are available, but many are implemented in software, and all require careful consideration before purchase. This article focuses on the specific purchase considerations for CDP products. Continue Reading

Gartner: Existing business continuity plans will fail in a pandemic

Existing business continuity plans will not protect a company during an avian flu pandemic, says a Gartner analyst. Business continuity plans assume a geographically specific disaster, while a pandemic will strike everywhere nearly simultaneously. Continue Reading

By

• Shamus McGillicuddy, Enterprise Management Associates

CDP overview

Storage volumes are growing at an alarming pace, and tape-based backups are not always possible within an available backup window. Today's businesses are increasingly focused on tighter RTO and RPO. Faster restorations and more recent recovery points that minimize the threat of lost data. Disk storage technologies are systematically replacing tape, spawning specialized storage systems that bring better performance and reliability to the backup process. One emerging data protection technology that has attracted significant attention is CDP. Continue Reading

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• Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor

CDP: Super snapshots -- eventually

This tip details two different definitions of CDP, the offerings from vendors in each camp and how continuous data protection differs from snapshots. Continue Reading

By

• Rick Cook

How to create a business continuity plan

In today's business environment, the only acceptable data loss is none at all. Find out how to create a business continuity plan that really works. Continue Reading

By

• Doug Owens, ScaleMatrix

Pros and cons of remote mirroring for DR

Remote mirroring takes place over MAN or WAN distances. It's usually between storage arrays or storage appliances, and can be synchronous or asynchronous. Continue Reading

By

• Marc Staimer, Dragon Slayer Consulting

Pros and cons of disk-to-disk backup

Some of the characteristics of disk-to-disk can make it a poor choice for your only form of backup. Continue Reading

By

• Rick Cook