We Hold These (Storage) Truths…
Posted by Stephen in Computer history, Enterprise storage, Everything, Gestalt IT on 12. Oct, 2009 | Comments
I usually welcome discussion (and even argument) about the things I know best: There is always more to learn, and the best insights come through engaging those who disagree with us. But some ideas have been argued so well for so long that they deserve enshrinement. For example, although non-scientists like to argue about evolution [...]
Two New Storage Decisions Sessions for 2009: Capacity Management and Radical Tiered Storage!
Posted by Stephen in Everything on 24. Mar, 2009 | Comments
I’m pleased to announce that I will be presenting at all four of TechTarget’s excellent end user-focused 2009 Storage Decisions conferences in North America! I’m also very excited to be developning two entirely new sessions for the show:
Tools and Tricks to Manage Capacity – Knowing how much disk capacity you have allocated, how much is [...]
Changes in Technology Drive Changes in IT Organizations and Roles
Posted by Stephen in Enterprise storage, Virtual Storage on 03. Dec, 2008 | Comments
Lots of my IT infrastructure management clients are talking about how the advent of Ethernet/IP and virtualization is changing the roles of storage, server, and network administrators. The evolution of the storage role in particular in enterprise IT organizations has been a topic of particular interest to me for a while: I definitely remember thinking about [...]
Symantec’s Thin API: The Plot Thickens
Posted by Stephen in Enterprise storage, Virtual Storage on 24. Oct, 2008 | Comments
Last week, I lauded Symantec for introducing an API in Storage Foundation which will interact with the thin storage capabilities of supported arrays. Since then, I’ve learned more about this capability, and I am writing this update to share that knowledge. As I noted last week, the press release was a bit hard to follow and [...]
Granularity: The Hidden Challenge of Storage Management
Posted by Stephen in Computer history, Enterprise storage, Virtual Storage on 05. Oct, 2008 | Comments
Many storage challenges focus on the conflict between data management, which demands an ever-smaller unit of management, and storage management, which benefits most from consolidation. Developing data management capability that is both granular enough for applications and scalable enough for storage is one key to the future of storage.
We Need a Storage Revolution
Posted by Stephen in Apple, Computer history, Enterprise storage on 28. Sep, 2008 | Comments
Storage protocols continue to mimic direct attached storage, with the concepts of block and file at its core. No amount of virtualization, and no new protocol, will fix this – we need a storage revolution.
3PAR’s Thin Un-Provisioning is Slightly Less Bad
Posted by Stephen in Enterprise storage, Virtual Storage on 02. Sep, 2008 | Comments
3PAR just introduced their third-generation storage hardware, bringing a novel feature to the world of thin provisioning: Hardware-assisted “zero-detection” to convert standard storage to thin provisioning. Although only certain special-case users will benefit from this technology, it’s nice to see someone working on one of the pitfalls of the technology – that it’s really [...]
SAN School Podcast Series Posted
Posted by Stephen in Enterprise storage, Personal on 08. Jul, 2008 | Comments
TechTarget recently uploaded three podcast versions of my SAN School series from Storage Decisions last year. These are audio-only, but I might be able to dig up the accompanying slides. If you’re interested in this, please leave a note below or contact me through email.
So without further ado, I present three lessons on SAN storage:
SAN [...]
Where the SAN Stands
Posted by Stephen in Enterprise storage, Personal on 07. Jul, 2008 | Comments
Real Video: Where the SAN Stands
Curious about the current state of SAN technology? Stephen Bigelow of TechTarget interviewed me (last summer) about SAN options, and the video is now live on their BitPipe site.
Topics covered include combined iSCSI and FC SANs, ups and downs of modular storage and oversubscribed switches, next-generation SAN management applications, storage [...]
50% of UK IT Managers Must Be Crazy!
Posted by Stephen in Enterprise storage on 22. Aug, 2007 | Comments
OK, so let me get this straight. A recent study in the UK shows that 94% of IT managers in the UK regularly buy more storage than they need, 38% of all storage is unused, and 69% find storage management increasingly difficult. Yet only 44% feel that they shouldn’t have to do this? [...]
