I recently worked with Druva to produce a series of videos documenting the installation and configuration of InSync. As part of this process, I went through the entire roll out myself using virtual machines and real data. The result was eye-opening: InSync really does install in under 10 minutes!
You Really Can Have a Complete Backup System Up and Running in 10 Minutes!
May 26, 2011 By 9 Comments
Local Snapshots in Mac OS X Lion Time Machine: Is It A Good Idea?
May 23, 2011 By 5 Comments
Although it is not a full-featured backup application, I heartily endorse Time Machine since its ease-of-use encourages average users to backup their data and enables them to recover lost files in a user-friendly environment. Time Machine local snapshots add another layer of protection for Apple users on the go. As long as they do not rely on local snapshots exclusively for data protection, I call that a win.
W. Curtis Preston Announces More Backup Central Live!
April 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
My friend W. Curtis Preston kicked off his Backup Central Live! event series earlier this year, and I was pleased to be able to attend in Santa Clara. Curtis has spent years educating IT pros about data protection, and let me tell you, although I’ve seen him present dozens of times, Curtis was really in his element here. He held the packed room enthralled, and the vendor sponsors I talked to were very pleased about the event!
How To Select a Virtual Server Backup Product?
March 8, 2011 By 7 Comments
I have been asked to write an article for TechTarget on the subject of selecting a virtual server backup product. I’d like to request input for this piece, and hope we can work together to produce a useful list of recommendations. Note that this isn’t a buyer’s guide like the DCIG effort: There will be no exhaustive lists of functions and features here. Instead, I’m writing about the options available in a more general sense.
See W. Curtis Preston’s Backup Central Live!
January 31, 2011 By 2 Comments
Last week, after the Exec Event in Palo Alto, I joined my friend W. Curtis Preston for his first Backup Central Live! event. Curtis has spent years educating IT pros about data protection, this was the first week of a new series of self-produced events. And let me tell you, although I’ve seen him present dozens of times, Curtis was really in his element here. He held the packed room enthralled, and the vendor sponsors I talked to were very pleased about the event!
CommVault Simpana 9 Takes Backup To A New Level
October 5, 2010 By 1 Comment
CommVault is one of those enterprise IT companies that likes to go their own way. A spin-out of AT&T’s famed Bell Labs, CommVault’s Simpana software integrates many aspects of data management, from backup to e-discovery, under one umbrella. Last year, the company impressed me by adding cloud storage as a backup target equal in status to disk and traditional tape. Now the company is doing the same for storage-based snapshots, accelerating data protection for virtual machines.
Stephen Foskett’s 50% Free Capacity Guarantee!
July 22, 2010 By 1 Comment
Since all the cool companies are offering capacity guarantees these days, I thought I might as well throw my hat into the ring and offer one, too. Starting now, I guarantee any takers an easy plan to write 50% more production data to your existing storage environment. Even better, I’ll do it with no additional hardware or software to purchase and install and no complicated terms and conditions. You won’t even have to delete anything, but if you do I’ll guarantee double your data! And I’ll only charge 50% of the deferred storage hardware and software spend, and if I can’t do it you pay nothing. What have you got to lose?
CommVault Gives Cloud Storage A Seat At The Adult Table
February 1, 2010 By 3 Comments
Only mature technologies are taken seriously and granted equal status when enterprise architectures are defined. That’s why I’m pleased to see today’s announcement that CommVault has completely integrated API-driven public cloud storage with Simpana, their impressive data protection and archiving suite. Now there are three equal backup targets: Tape, disk, and cloud.
Back From The Pile: May 30, 2009
June 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment
It was a week of HAM in the enterprise storage industry and angry arguments in the CloudCamp camp. But things looked up at the end with a productive discussion about backups. Google sent us a wave, but nobody was happy when GM threatened to collapse. Enterprise Storage HDS’ HAM-Fisted Announcement did not impress, with many wondering [...]
Back From the Pile: Interesting Content From the Week of May 2, 2009
May 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment
There were some interesting events and blog posts last week. This new weekly feature highlights those! Enterprise IT Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Your Reliance On Backup Tapes – What’s wrong with backup tapes? They’re inaccessible, making them unsuitable for most applications. My latest post for my Enterprise Storage Strategies blog. Is Licensing Turning vSphere Into [...]
