Storage

File, block and object: Storage fundamentals in the cloud era

We look at the three basic ways that storage accesses data – via file, block and object – as well as the ways in which the rise of the cloud and distributed systems have brought changes to them Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

ICO to cut back on fines for public sector data breaches

Information commissioner John Edwards sets out a revised approach to how the ICO handles data breaches in the public sector, saying fining victims risks punishing the public twice over Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Backup maintenance: Five key points to consider

Effective backups need to ensure all data is protected, and to track media and software changes. We look at five key things to consider Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Veritas aims at autonomous backup discovery and provisioning

Veritas bets on a backup platform that can discover all enterprise data – on-premise and in the cloud – and make its own decisions about the optimal place to store copies Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Weka scale-out NAS v4 goes beyond just AWS to go multicloud

Weka v4’s multicloud capability means the scale-out NAS file system can work across customer datacentres and public clouds that include AWS, Azure, GCP and Oracle Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

What will the Data Reform Bill mean for UK businesses operating in the EU?

Following the government’s response to the Data Reform Bill consultation, Peter Galdies of DQM GRC looks at what might lie ahead for UK organisations working in the European Union Continue Reading

By

• Peter Galdies

Global file systems: Hybrid cloud and follow-the-sun access

We look at global distributed file systems that put enterprise data under a single file access namespace so that enterprises and branch offices can get to data from anywhere Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Podcast: The legacy and modern apps that drive object storage

We talk to object (and file) storage vendor Scality about the ways the application and development environment is changing and how that is driving object storage Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Data gravity: What is it and how to manage it

Data gravity can attract increasing amounts of data, and brings with it onerous management overheads. We look at how to mitigate data gravity in datacentre and cloud Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Government responds to Data Reform Bill consultation

Westminster claims its new data laws will boost British benefits, protect consumers, and seize the ‘benefits’ of Brexit Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Unified file and object storage: Three suppliers and their approaches

We look at unified file and object storage products from NetApp, Pure Storage and Scality, the differences, the workloads aimed at, and how unified they actually are Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Podcast: SaaS data protection vulnerability and how to manage it

We talk to backup and data management supplier Cohesity about the added vulnerabilities of software-as-a-service data in a hybrid cloud environment and how best to manage multiple data sources Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Dell server, storage, PC sales grow despite component supply chain woes

Dell executives cite the company’s use of “alternative” component supply chains as server, storage and PC sales grow despite difficulties for most of the market sourcing parts Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Health data strategy to exorcise ghosts of GPDPR

Government publishes a revised data in health strategy, with an emphasis firmly on preserving the integrity and privacy of patients’ confidential information Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

round robin

A round robin is an arrangement of choosing all elements in a group equally in some rational order, usually from the top to the bottom of a list and then starting again at the top of the list and so on. Continue Reading

By

• Katie Terrell Hanna

Cloud-to-cloud backup: When native cloud protection is not enough

There is a certain amount of protection built into cloud services, but it has its limits and full data protection requires that cloud data is secured with cloud-to-cloud backup Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

China using top consumer routers to hack Western comms networks

An advisory from US cyber authorities shares details of multiple vulnerabilities exploited by Chinese state actors to hack into Western telecoms networks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Pure FlashBlade//S and Evergreen//Flex boost as-a-service push

FlashBlade//S brings two new arrays in which customers can upgrade controllers and capacity, while //Flex allows capacity to be bought and moved across any QLC or TLC Pure array Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Amazon

Amazon (Amazon.com) is the world's largest online retailer and a prominent cloud services provider. Continue Reading

By

• Kinza Yasar, Technical Writer
• Ivy Wigmore

Weak IT and SecOps collaboration in ANZ opens doors to cyber attacks

The weak collaboration between IT and security teams in Australia and New Zealand is exposing their organisations to data loss, business disruption and other potential consequences of cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Kubernetes backup products and 10 key players

We look at 10 key players in Kubernetes backup, why they are needed, what they offer and why you need to watch out for duplication between application teams and the IT department Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

APAC buyer’s guide to backup and recovery software

In this buyer’s guide, learn more about the market for backup and recovery software and key data protection capabilities to look for Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Time to act on the DCMS Select Committee 2016 Recommendations

Prepare for when losses from impersonation replace whiplash and PPI as the target income stream of ambulance-chasing lawyers, so that you can rapidly sort the genuine claims from the rest. Continue Reading

By

• Philip Virgo, Winsafe Ltd

solid

A solid is a state of matter that retains its shape and density when not confined. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Zola

volatile memory

Volatile memory is a type of memory that maintains its data only while the device is powered. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

Four obstacles to hybrid cloud storage – and possible solutions

We look at obstacles to hybrid cloud storage, such as complexity, a need for object storage, application suitability, and cost, with potential ways to mitigate the problems Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Podcast: How to get truly portable Kubernetes storage

We talk to NetApp CTO Grant Caley about what is needed from storage to really deliver in a world of Kubernetes containerisation and microservices portability in hybrid cloud working Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

contingency plan

A contingency plan is a course of action designed to help an organization respond effectively to a significant future incident, event or situation that may or may not happen. Continue Reading

By

• Paul Kirvan

Analysts weigh in on Broadcom-VMware deal

VMware customers in APAC will need to assess their exposure amid uncertainty over the impact of the mega deal on the market Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

SoftIron readies Sydney manufacturing facility

Software-defined storage supplier SoftIron is making hardware appliances in Australia to improve supply chain resilience and address security concerns of government customers Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Withers

Rubrik charts data security path

Backup and recovery software provider Rubrik now sees itself as a cyber security company that helps organisations recover from ransomware and other data security threats Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

litigation hold (legal hold, preservation order or hold order)

A litigation hold -- also known as legal hold, preservation order or hold order -- is an internal process that an organization undergoes to preserve all data that might relate to a legal action involving the organization. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon
• Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor

CW APAC: Trend Watch: Datacentres

Firms should keep their data storage setups under frequent review to ensure their goals are being met effectively. In this handbook, focused on datacentres in the Asia-Pacific region, Computer Weekly looks at the shift towards colocation facilities, the projected change in spending patterns, nuclear power’s potential to reduce carbon emissions and the importance of infrastructure as code in edge datacentres Continue Reading

Veeam to continue growth momentum in APAC

Veeam expects its backup offerings that protect ‘strategic workloads’ such as Microsoft 365 and Salesforce to continue driving its growth momentum in the region Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Portworx adds anti-ransomware to PX-Backup for Kubernetes

Pure’s Kubernetes storage and data protection platform adds object locking to combat ransomware Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Veeam outlines data protection vision

Veeam is looking to achieve an “outsized market leading position” by tapping its strengths in data protection and doubling down on innovation to help enterprises secure emerging workloads Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Video effects firm cuts costs by 20% and goes hybrid with Hammerspace

Jellyfish Pictures saves on rising power and office space costs, as well as Brexit difficulties, by using Hammerspace to allow access to large files from any geographic location Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Hammerspace the ‘missing link’ for a cloud still lacking

The cloud can’t enable true multi-region working so Hammerspace helps make data visible globally and aggregate it as needed between locations with workflows set via customer policy Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Digitally transforming UK power networks for renewable energy

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how the UK’s power networks need to be digital transformed to be ready for renewable energy – and the role of open source. Wi-Fi 6 was meant to give a boost to wireless connectivity – we examine why adoption has stalled. And we look at what a quantum datacentre might be like. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Europol gears up to collect big data on European citizens after MEPs vote to expand policing power

The European Parliament has voted to expand Europol’s role, legalising its processing of bulk datasets containing personal information and endorsing research into predictive policing technologies Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Pro-competition data sharing will not include users’ personal info, says minister

UK government proposals to improve competition in digital markets by making tech giants share data with smaller firms will not include consumers’ personal information, says digital minister Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

GPDPR data scrape a ‘mistake’, says leading scientist

Giving evidence to the Science and Technology Committee, academic, physician and science writer Ben Goldacre has expressed serious misgivings about the on-hold GPDPR NHS data scrape Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The limits and risks of backup as ransomware protection

Backups can provide a sound means of recovery from ransomware infection, but they are not 100% certain to foil attackers. We look at the limits and risks of depending on backups Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory)

EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory) is a user-modifiable ROM. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

Pure to offer on-prem object storage as Snowflake data source

Pure Storage partnership with Snowflake will see the cloud data warehousing platform make use of on-prem FlashBlade fast file and object storage as a source for analytics data Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

‘Spy cops’ inquiry delves into police relationship with MI5

There was ‘no filter’ on the information that undercover police officers were collecting on activists throughout the 1970s, despite senior managers and officials involved in directing the surveillance questioning the appropriateness of the information gathering and sharing Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

NetApp’s cloud-era storage competitors in ‘world of hurt’

NetApp is busily reinventing itself as a cloud services provider, with its competition years behind, according to its public cloud vice-president Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

program/erase cycle (P/E cycle)

A solid-state storage program/erase cycle (P/E cycle) is a sequence of events in which data is written to a solid-state NAND flash memory cell, such as the type found in a flash or thumb drive, and is subsequently erased and rewritten. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

Ctera opens up its storage to third-party analytics via APIs

File system software builds pools of NAS-like storage accessible from anywhere, with APIs to third-party tools to interrogate data for business processes, anomaly detection and more Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

IT infrastructure used to launch DDoS attack on Russian targets

Organisations could unwittingly be participating in hostile activity against the Russian government as compromised IT infrastructure is used without their knowledge to launch denial of service attacks Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Disaster recovery is an essential service for EDF with Phenix-IT

EDF has built disaster recovery tracking, planning and testing software on a six-month upgrade cycle based on governance, risk and compliance functionality in Mega’s Hopex platform Continue Reading

By

• Alain Clapaud
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

PeerGFS to add AI/ML anomaly detection to distributed file system product

Peer will add AI/ML-based anomaly detection as it ramps up security protection in its PeerGFS distributed file management software, with Linux server support also to come in 2022 Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Podcast: War, geo-political risk, data storage and compliance

We talk to Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust, about impacts on compliance and data storage from instability in geo-political events, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Russia-supporting cyber crime gang claims Coca-Cola as victim

Stormous cyber crime collective claims to have stolen 161GB of data from Coca-Cola, and says it plans to sell it off Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ransomware victims paying out when they don’t need to

Sophos’s annual State of Ransomware report shows dramatic increases in the impact of ransomware attacks, but also finds many organisations are paying ransoms when they don’t need to Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

queue depth

Queue depth, in storage, is the number of pending input/output (I/O) requests that a storage resource can handle at any one time. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

RAM-based solid-state drive (SSD)

A RAM-based solid-state drive (SSD) is a storage device made from silicon microchips that has no moving parts and stores data electronically instead of magnetically. Continue Reading

By

• Todd Erickson
• Robert Sheldon

solid-state drive (SSD) capacity

Solid-state drive (SSD) capacity is the maximum amount of data that can be stored on a solid-state drive. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

Snapshots vs backup: Use both for optimum RPOs

We look at snapshots and backup, the key difference, their pros and cons and how best to use the two approaches in an integrated data protection strategy for optimal RPO Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

How Veeam helped grocery chain Franprix escape its backup hell

French supermarket chain had backup windows that ran well into the next working day and restoring deleted files could take days. It chose Veeam in a contest with Cohesity Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Hammers sign Acronis as backup and security in one

West Ham United set to replace separate backup from Veeam and a variety of security products with Acronis Cyber Protect to have backup, data protection and file share on a single platform Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Network File System (NFS)

Network File System (NFS) is a networking protocol for distributed file sharing. Continue Reading

By

• Peter Loshin, Former Senior Technology Editor

overprovisioning (SSD overprovisioning)

Overprovisioning, in a storage context, is the inclusion of extra storage capacity in a solid-state drive. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

Kyndryl kindles cyber incident recovery pact with Dell

IBM spin-out Kyndryl hops into bed with Dell Technologies in a joint cyber resilience proposition Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

flash solid-state drive (SSD)

A flash solid-state drive (SSD) is a non-volatile storage device that stores persistent data in flash memory. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

Storage requirements for AI, ML and analytics in 2022

We look at what is needed for artificial intelligence and machine learning, and the pros and cons of block, file and object storage to store and access very large amounts of often unstructured data Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

CW Middle East: UAE and UK researchers work on ‘trustworthy’ cloud OS for datacentres

Imperial College London is embarking on a three-year project with an Abu Dhabi-based group of researchers to find ways for datacentre operators and cloud providers to secure their infrastructure. Also read how Dubai is positioning itself to reap the benefits of a promising global market for drone technology. Continue Reading

Pure says unstructured data needs storage scale and performance

Podcast: Pure Storage says huge growth of unstructured data and its diversity means storage has to be able to scale with it and offer performance to gain insights Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Snapshots best practice: Five key things you need to know

We look at snapshots best practice, including the way they work, why they are not the same as backups, how to avoid heavy processing overheads and key user permissions tweaks Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

oversubscription

Oversubscription in a storage area network (SAN) is the practice of committing more network bandwidth to devices connected to that network than what is physically available. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon
• Stephen J. Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor

Backup types explained: Full, incremental, differential, synthetic

We look at backup – on-prem and cloud – and the key variants available, from full backup to synthetic full, via incremental, differential, incremental forever and reverse incremental Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Ten years of the Raspberry Pi

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the Raspberry Pi reaches its 10th anniversary, we look back on how the low-cost computing device went from schools to supercomputers and even into space. Gartner offers tips on how to motivate IT staff in a hybrid working environment. And we meet the Dutch hackers helping to secure the internet. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Backup: N-able emerges from white box to aim at enterprise customers

It spent years integrated with Solarwinds and as a re-sold product, but now it plans to target enterprise customers with a backup product that aims at granular file protection and restore Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

PA-DSS (Payment Application Data Security Standard)

Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS) is a set of requirements intended to help software vendors develop secure payment applications for credit card transactions. Continue Reading

By

• Katie Terrell Hanna
• Maggie Sullivan, SEO/Content Specialist

write amplification factor (WAF)

Write amplification factor (WAF) is a numerical value that represents the amount of data a solid-state drive (SSD) controller writes in relation to the amount of data that the host's flash controller writes. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

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

By

• Brien Posey

Ad agency slashes NetApp costs with Datadobi data migration

US-based branding agency needed to migrate 20TB of large files to new NetApp hardware, but unwilling to stomach the vendor’s migration costs it chose Datadobi instead Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Biden issues warning about Russian cyber attacks

President Biden has said that US companies running critical infrastructure should immediately harden their defences in anticipation of potential cyber attacks from Russia Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

NetApp Cloud Insights gets AI monitoring and ransomware detection

Cloud Insights adds artificial intelligence-based continuous audit and monitoring of entire IT estate and generates impact assessments from performance events, plus anomaly alerting for ransomware Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

cloud storage API

A cloud storage API is an application programming interface that connects a locally based application to a cloud-based storage system so that a user can send data to it and access and work with data stored in it. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

How 2022’s most significant data privacy trends affect your organisation

Data privacy and protection are now core responsibilities for most, but as we all know by now, compliance is a moving target. Here, expert Alan Calder looks ahead at what to expect in the coming months Continue Reading

By

• Alan Calder, IT Governance

CW APAC: Trend Watch: Storage management

Storage management is a key consideration for organisations of all shapes and sizes. In this handbook, focused on storage management in the Asia-Pacific region, Computer Weekly looks at the benefits of open source, why MediaHub opted for object storage, this year’s emerging cloud supplier trends and how the hyper-converged infrastructure market is changing. Continue Reading

TV provider MediaHub boots SAN and NAS for Scality object storage

Sydney-based TV content provider MediaHub got tired of performance issues and scaling difficulties with SAN and NAS, so it powered its as-a-service offer with Scality object storage Continue Reading

How open source is shaping data storage management

Open source data storage offers a great deal of flexibility, but unlocking its benefits demands strong technical resources to meet requirements such as stability, high availability and security Continue Reading

Storage suppliers put Kubernetes platforms centre stage

How to orchestrate the orchestrator? Storage suppliers’ Kubernetes management platforms aim to meet storage and data protection challenge in containerised application environments Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Quantum launches ‘scale-out’ i6H rackmount tape library

Aimed at hyperscalers and enterprises, the LTO-9 system comes in a rackmount form factor that can be deployed anywhere in the datacentre as part of a common pool of storage Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

How the tech sector is supporting Ukraine

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine the global tech sector response to the invasion of Ukraine, and how hackers are responding to calls for an IT army to target Russia. Our latest buyer’s guide looks at cloud-based ERP and other business applications. And IBM’s UK chief tells us how Big Blue is reinventing itself. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

NAND flash wear-out

NAND flash wear-out is the breakdown of the oxide layer within the floating gate transistors of NAND flash memory. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon
• Carol Sliwa

Police EncroChat cryptophone hacking implant did not work properly and frequently failed

Surveillance operation against EncroChat encrypted phone network had repeated technical failures Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Cloud-era disaster recovery planning: Maintenance and continuous improvement

In the final article in this four-part guide to disaster recovery planning, we look at how and when to update, maintain, audit, review and continually improve the DR plan Continue Reading

By

• Paul Kirvan

Five key points on file locking vs object locking

We look at file vs object storage locking mechanisms, how different forms of storage ensure data consistency, and especially how object storage is tackling the challenge Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

clustered network-attached storage (NAS) system

A clustered network-attached storage (NAS) system is a scale-out storage platform made up of multiple NAS nodes networked together into a single cluster. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon
• Marc Staimer, Dragon Slayer Consulting

Cloud-era disaster recovery planning: Assessing risk and business impact

In the first in a series on cloud-era disaster recovery, we provide a step-by-step guide to building firm foundations for the disaster recovery plan, with risk assessment and business impact analysis Continue Reading

Using technology to protect human rights

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we investigate how technology is being used to tackle human rights abuses worldwide. We offer a step-by-step guide to disaster recovery in the cloud era. And we examine the vital, and successful, role of digital and data in the UK Covid-19 vaccine roll-out. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Micron 7450 aims its 176 TLC layers at QLC flash use cases

New 176-layer tech brings densely packed flash cells in drives that come in 2.5”, M.2 and EDSFF form factors, aimed at datacentre workloads from archive to database storage Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

solid-state storage garbage collection

Solid-state storage garbage collection, or SSD garbage collection, is an automated process by which a solid-state drive (SSD) improves write performance. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

LUN masking

LUN masking is an authorization mechanism used in storage area networks (SANs) to make LUNs available to some hosts but unavailable to other hosts. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

Direct action is a risky business for Ukraine's volunteer hackers

Hackers have been responding to Ukraine’s call to create an IT army, but there are many reasons why taking direct action in a kinetic conflict is a bad idea Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

virtual LUN (virtual logical unit number)

A virtual LUN (virtual logical unit number) is a representation of a storage area that is not tied to any physical storage allocation. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

Software firm saves storage array costs with Nutanix hyper-converged

Banking SaaS provider Vialink needed more IOPS when its NetApp arrays slowed up, but Nutanix hyper-converged proved a better package than Pure Storage and Dell EMC, too Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor