Before you read this, check out Today’s Storage: Same As It Ever Was for a bit of background... For the past few decades, some of the best minds in computer science have been drawn to the question of storage. How can data be better protected, shared, and exploited? Given the price and performance profiles of various storage devices, how can we maximize benefit for a given … [Read more...] about Waves of Storage Innovation
caching
VMware-Integrated Caching? Not So Fast!
It seems like every other startup I talk to is pitching VMware-integrated caching, and a spate of acquisitions and announcements from flash companies are legitimizing the idea. Even VMware has gotten in on the game with vFlash Read Cache (vFRC). But integrating caching with VMware vSphere isn't nearly as easy and effective as everyone is making it sound! A Whole Datacenter Of … [Read more...] about VMware-Integrated Caching? Not So Fast!
The I/O Blender Part 1: Ye Olde Storage I/O Path
Back in the day, when data was smaller and servers were machines, I/O followed a predictable pattern. Storage arrays could anticipate requests and RAID was beautiful. Then came virtualization, and with it an end to ye olde storage I/O path. Server = HBA = LUN It was a simpler time back in the 1990's. Each server had a SCSI host bus adapter (HBA) of its own. Maybe two, if … [Read more...] about The I/O Blender Part 1: Ye Olde Storage I/O Path
Storage Arrays Do A Few Things Very Well
Storage arrays are big, expensive, and difficult to manage. Plus, concentrating storage in a single device puts everything at risk if there is an outage. So why buy a storage array at all? Arrays do a few things very well, and this often makes up for the difference, on balance. Storage Arrays Accelerate Performance One of the most important advancements in data storage in … [Read more...] about Storage Arrays Do A Few Things Very Well
EMC VFCache (aka “Project Lightning”) Is One Small Step, But an Important One
EMC will today unveil a new product, and will no doubt attract a great deal of press. The modest technical capabilities of VFCache 1.0 limit its use case, but the announcement is big news, since it marks EMCs first foray into the hot server-attached storage market. EMC VFCache is a Simple Read Cache I was not pre-briefed on this product, and I'm not all that thrilled at the … [Read more...] about EMC VFCache (aka “Project Lightning”) Is One Small Step, But an Important One