The evolution of data center storage architecture

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  Article

  SAN might not be what you need

  Hyper-convergence cuts the traditional costs and required skills associated with storage and compute. So if you've always used a storage-area network, it's time to reevaluate. Read Now

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  Article

  The ins and outs of storage in a converged architecture

  Storage I/O access should increase with converged infrastructure, but issues can arise. Consider creating a dedicated storage tier and a converged storage tier if predictable performance is a concern. Read Now

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  Article

  The storage benefits -- and quandary -- of HCI

  The ease with which you can scale-out hyper-converged systems means increasing storage capacity is a breeze. But the fact that you add nodes rather than slotting in disks to expand storage does produce some downsides. Read Now

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  Article

  VCE pivots to become EMC's converged division

  The once joint venture turned partially independent company VCE will now become the EMC Federation's Converged Platform Division , offering products like Vxblock. Read Now

1Data center storage architecture terms

Don't let data center storage terminology trip you up. Reference these definitions to glean a better understanding of data center storage architecture.

• Definition

  block storage

  Block storage is an approach to data storage in which each storage volume acts as an individual hard drive that is configured by the storage administrator. In the block storage model, data is saved to the storage media in fixed-sized chunks called blocks.  Read Now

• Definition

  cloud storage

  Cloud storage is a service model in which data is maintained, managed, backed up remotely and made available to users over a network (typically the Internet). Users generally pay for their cloud data storage on a per-consumption, monthly rate. Read Now

• Definition

  persistent storage

  Persistent storage is any data storage device that retains data after power to that device is shut off. It is also sometimes referred to as non-volatile storage. Read Now

• Definition

  open source storage

  Open source storage is data storage software developed in a public, collaborative manner that permits the free use, distribution and modification of the source code. Read Now

• Definition

  hypervisor-aware storage

  Hypervisor-aware storage, also called virtualization-aware or VM-aware storage, is a category of storage array that provides administrators with the ability to correlate an application on a virtual machine (VM) with the underlying physical storage.   Read Now

• Definition

  hyper-converged storage

  Hyper-converged storage is a technology that combines storage, compute, networking and virtualization technologies in one physical unit that is managed as a single system. Read Now

• Definition

  object storage

  Object storage, also called object-based storage, is an approach to addressing and manipulating units of storage called objects, in which files and metadata are combined. Read Now

• Definition

  data lake

  A data lake is a storage repository that holds a vast amount of raw data in its native format until it is needed. Read Now

2Make storage data-aware for intelligent Ops

Data-aware storage replaces regular storage arrays to manage and organize data automatically and efficiently. This awareness aids performance for the IT team, as well as for the business end users that rely on stored information.

• Article

  Out with the old, in with the new

  With companies looking to do more with the data they collect, data-aware storage provides them with insight into their data with minimal effort. Read Now

• Article

  Businesses benefit from data-aware storage

  Data-aware storage is an IT decision regarding vendors, storage management and data center storage architecture. The technology then helps companies make decisions, by turning data into business intelligence. Read Now

• Article

  Data-aware storage provide IT pros with insightful information

  Better regulatory compliance, stronger security of business information and easier management are some of the benefits that data-aware storage promises. Read Now

• Article

  On-site storage arrays gain major IQ points

  Companies considering switching to cloud storage may find the features of data-aware storage reason enough to keep them grounded. Read Now

• Article

  Data-aware storage vendor spreads support to Hyper-V

  In addition to supporting Microsoft Hyper-V, DataGravity added new file location monitoring, as well as security and support features. Read Now

3SSDs, object storage and increased flash resiliency

Innovations in storage pushed the technology to new standards for reliability, cost and speed. What type of storage, how much to buy and from whom, and how it changes your current data center storage architecture are all questions tackled below.

• Article

  HDD become obsolete in 2016

  The reasons for not migrating over to SSDs are tiny compared to the large lists of benefits, according to one expert in the field. Read Now

• Article

  Server-side flash puts storage even closer to the app

  Quell the "slow" complaints about more demanding applications with server-side flash, rather than an app rewrite. Read Now

• Article

  Object storage, SSDs push out traditional data center storage

  IT pros must change who, where and what they invest in when it comes to data center storage, as new technologies and advancements alter the decades-old landscape. Read Now

• Article

  Increase data protection with object storage

  Object storage provides a variety of data protection features, such as erasure coding to multicopy mirroring, which increases its value to businesses. Read Now

• Article

  How to choose the best flash storage for your data center

  While all-flash data centers are still far in the future for most enterprises, server-side and array-based flash storage allow you to deploy speedy storage at a variety of price and performance points today. Read Now

4A shakeup in storage architectures for big data, IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) and big data are already changing data center storage architectures to match their demands. See how varied and rapidly growing data sets influence data center and cloud storage choices.

• Article

  Which storage architecture best suits big data?

  High throughput, scaling and I/O balancing mechanisms are key features for big data storage architectures to perform at their best. Read Now

• Article

  Talena ActiveRx analyzes big data use

  The new storage software in Talena Big Data Availability Management software, ActiveRx, adds predictable intelligence analysis on backup storage to predict application use. Read Now

• Article

  Make sure the data center has room for IoT

  IoT produces a constant stream of data that places a strain on the data center storage architecture's capacity. How will it evolve to ease the pain? Read Now

• Article

  The importance of SSDs for big data analytics

  While SSDs can speed up analytics, this type of storage should only be used in specific big -data processing environments to see measurable returns on the investment. Read Now

• Article

  Everyone wants a piece of big data

  Legacy, as a service and multiple cloud vendors are all building infrastructure products to support big data. But who leads the pack? Read Now