Everyone wants to be the best, so outrageous claims of supremacy are as old as time. In IT, these claims often revolve around synthetic benchmarks chosen to highlight a system's performance. Buyers have grown wary of these claims, smartly asking to try before they buy. But predictability is even more important than real-world testing, and this is particularly difficult for … [Read more...] about Predictable Performance Beats Maximum Speed Any Day
IOPS
Why Are PCIe SSDs So Fast?
The world of storage can be confusing, with obscure terms hiding massive differences in technology and performance. Such is the case for the latest PCI express SSDs: They are much faster than traditional SAS or SATA SSDs, but many aren't sure exactly why. In this article, I will try to explain the real difference. Let's get it out of the way from the start: All SSDs are fast … [Read more...] about Why Are PCIe SSDs So Fast?
Storage and WiFi are the Overlooked Keys to VDI
Virtual desktop designs tend to overlook two key infrastructure components: Storage responsiveness and wireless network availability and performance. Yet without these two ingredients, VDI is doomed! VDI Issues? It's the Storage… I despise pat answers and rules of thumb, but one truism has emerged from my experience with virtual desktop deployments: Storage I/O … [Read more...] about Storage and WiFi are the Overlooked Keys to VDI
Storage Developer Conference, Santa Clara CA
This week I'm attending the Storage Developer Conference in Santa Clara, CA. This event always includes fantastic content for storage nerds like me, and I'm glad to be bringing along a few friends as well! We'll be holding live Tech Field Day Roundtable discussions at the event, and I'll be posting videos as well! What is SDC? The Storage Developer Conference is a unique … [Read more...] about Storage Developer Conference, Santa Clara CA
When Pricing Gets Squishy Competition Heats Up
I stepped into a hornet nest this week when I posted a write-up about a new flash storage array from Pure Storage. The controversy had nothing to do with the underlying technology, which seems quite sound. Rather, it was all about pricing, with Pure's competitors calling foul on their price comparisons. You're Not Buying Gigabytes In a world of 3 TB drives, storage capacity … [Read more...] about When Pricing Gets Squishy Competition Heats Up