Yesterday, Visuality Systems released the beta of their new NQ Storage stack, which brings Microsoft's SMB protocol to OEM storage arrays. This established company has been the main supplier of SMB support in the embedded device market for over a decade, but NQ Storage brings their technology to the enterprise. Eight well-known storage array companies have already licensed the … [Read more...] about Every Device Can Speak SMB Protocol Thanks To Visuality Systems
VSS
Storage Changes in VMware vSphere 5.1
As I have done since version 3.5, I'm charting the storage changes in VMware's latest release of vSphere, 5.1. Detailed at VMworld but not released as of this writing, vSphere 5.1 is lauded for eliminating the "vTax" and bringing features like replication, a revised backup application, and shared-nothing vMotion. Unlike version 5, which included many new technical storage … [Read more...] about Storage Changes in VMware vSphere 5.1
Who Will Support SMB 3.0, and Which Features Will They Support?
I'm really thrilled about the improvements Microsoft is making to the core SMB protocol in Windows Server 2012. But it won't really matter if nobody but Microsoft supports the new protocol. So I like to call out to all the enterprise storage vendors: Let me hear your support for SMB3.0! What We Know so Far Obviously, Microsoft is going to support SMB 3.0 in a big way. … [Read more...] about Who Will Support SMB 3.0, and Which Features Will They Support?
Granularity: The Hidden Challenge of Storage Management
Many storage challenges focus on correlating high-level uses of data (such as applications) with the nuts and bolts of storage infrastructure. These discussions often revolve around 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 … [Read more...] about Granularity: The Hidden Challenge of Storage Management
CommVault Simpana 9 Takes Backup To A New Level
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 … [Read more...] about CommVault Simpana 9 Takes Backup To A New Level