February 6, 2012 – 12:22 am
This is the second of a two part series pertaining to EMC VFCache, you can read the first part here. In this part of the series, lets look at some common questions along with comments and perspectives. Common questions, answers, comments and perspectives: Why would EMC not just go into the same market space and mode as FusionIO, a model that many other vendors seam eager to follow? IMHO many vendors are following or chasing FusionIO thus most are selling in the same way perhaps to the same customers. Some of those vendors can very easily if they were not already also make a quick change to their playbook adding some new moves to reach broader audience. Another smart move here is that by taking a companion or complimentary approach is that EMC can continue selling existing storage systems to customers, keep those investments while also supporting competitors products. In addition, for ...
Posted in Cloud, Comment, Data and Information Management, I/O Networking, Infrastructure Resource Management, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, metrics, Performance and Capacity, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, virtualization | 7 Comments »
February 6, 2012 – 12:20 am
This is the first part of a two part series covering EMC VFCache, you can read the second part here. EMC formerly announced VFCache (aka Project Lightning) an IO accelerator product that comprises a PCIe nand flash card (aka Solid State Device or SSD) and intelligent cache management software. In addition EMC is also talking about the next phase of the flash business unit and project Thunder. The approach EMC is taking with vFCache should not be a surprise given their history of starting out with memory and SSD evolving it into an intelligent cache optimized storage solution. Data center and storage IO performance capacity gap (Courtesy of Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press)) Could we see the future of where EMC will take VFCache along with other possible solutions already being hinted at by the EMC flash business unit by looking where they have been already? ...
Posted in Cloud, Comment, Data and Information Management, I/O Networking, Infrastructure Resource Management, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, metrics, Performance and Capacity, perspective, server, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, virtualization | 13 Comments »
February 2, 2012 – 1:40 pm
In my 2012 (and 2013) industry trends and perspectives predictions I mentioned that some storage systems vendors who managed their costs could benefit from the current Hard Disk Drive (HDD) shortage. Most in the industry would say that is saying what they have said, however I have an alternate scenario. My scenario is that for vendors who already manage good (or great) margins on their HDD sales and who can manage their costs including inventories stand to make even more margin. There is a popular myth that there is no money or margin in HDD or for those who sell them which might be true for some. Without going into any details, lets just say it is a popular myth just like saying that there is no money in hardware or that all software and people services are pure profit. Ok, lets leave sleeping dogs lay where rest (at least for ...
Posted in Cloud, Comment, Education, I/O Networking, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, metrics, perspective, server | 11 Comments »
January 25, 2012 – 2:18 pm
Amazon Web Services (AWS) today announced the beta of their new storage gateway functionality that enables access of Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Services) from your different applications using an appliance installed in your data center site. With this beta launch, Amazon joins other startup vendors who are providing standalone gateway appliance products (e.g. Nasuni etc) along with those who have disappeared from the market (e.g. Cirtas). In addition to gateway vendors, there are also those with cloud access added to their software tools such as (e.g. Jungle Disk that access both Rack space and Amazon S3 along with Commvault Simpana Cloud connector among others). There are also vendors that have joined cloud access gateways as part of their storage systems such as TwinStrata among others. Even EMC (and here) has gotten into the game adding qualified cloud access support to some of their products. What is a cloud storage gateway? Before going further, lets ...
Posted in Cloud, Comment, Data and Information Management, Data archiving and preservation, Data footprint and proliferation reduction, Data protection, Education, I/O Networking, Infrastructure Resource Management, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, metrics, perspective, server, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, tools, virtualization | 14 Comments »
January 25, 2012 – 12:55 am
Warning if you are a cloud purist who does not take lightly to fun in and around all types of clouds, well, try to have some fun, otherwise enjoy this fun in and around clouds post. On a recent trip to a video recording studio in the Boston (BOS) area, I took a few photos with my iPhone of traveling above, in and around clouds. In addition, during the trip I also used cloud based services from the airplane (e.g. Gogo WiFi) for cloud backup and other functions. View of a GE CFM56 powering a Delta A320 journey to the clouds Easy to understand cloud emergency and contingency procedures Example of cloud marketing and value add services Clouds are clearing nearing destination Boston aka IATA: BOS Example of easy to understand converged cloud networking GE Aviation plant in Lynn MA below GE CFM56 jet engine Back at Logan, long day of travel, video shoot, time for a nap. From ...
Posted in Cloud, fun, I/O Networking, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, Travel, virtualization | 6 Comments »
January 24, 2012 – 4:14 pm
No Im not running for any elected office in a political or other organizational capacity, more on the voting stuff in a moment. Let me start out by saying thank you to all of you who have and continue to read theses posts from where ever that happens to be from. I also want to thank all of the sites and venues that pickup my blog feeds to make it easier for readers to view the content as well as thanks for all of the great comments and discussions. Doing some recent end of year clean up and preparation for 2012, I was going back looking at some blog history and realized that StorageIOblog was launched back in late fall of 2006. For those not aware, my full blog feed is http://storageioblog.com/RSSfull.xml and there is also a brief feed at http://storageioblog.com/RSS.xml and the full archives going back to ...
Posted in Cloud, Education, fun, I/O Networking, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, metrics, perspective, Poll, server, Site related, tools, virtualization | No Comments »
January 24, 2012 – 12:49 am
Does your organization have or do you work with a revenue prevention department or revenue prevention team? For those not familiar, a revenue prevention team or department is an expression that refers to those who get in the way of selling, closing and generating revenue for an organization. In a sales dominated organization, the revenue prevention team or department might be refereed to as those who do not do what sales wants when and how they want it. Anything other than what sales wants is seen as getting in the way of revenue. Sometimes sales will see marketing, engineering, manufacturing, quality control, human resources, finance and accounting or legal as revenue prevention departments. In other instances, the revenue prevention team or department of some sales organizations will refer to those in customer or prospects organizations that get in the way or slow down the process of closing the deal. Yet another example ...
Posted in Comment, IT Industry Activity, perspective | No Comments »
January 24, 2012 – 12:48 am
Happy new years! Following up from a flurry of posts in the closing days of 2011 including industry trends perspective predictions for 2012 and 2013, top blog posts from 2011, top all time posts, along with a couple of other items here and here, its time to get back to 2012 activity. Also if you missed it, here is the Fall (December) 2011 StorageIO news letter. Actually I have been busy working on some other projects the past several weeks most of which are NDA so not much else can be said about them, however there are some other things I'm working on that will show themselves in the weeks and months to come. Here is a link to a webinar and live chat that I did the first week of January on CDP (Continuous Data Protection) and how it can be applied to many different environments. But lets take a step back ...
Posted in Cloud, Data and Information Management, Data archiving and preservation, Data footprint and proliferation reduction, Data protection, Education, fun, I/O Networking, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, metrics, Performance and Capacity, Personal Computing, server, Storage and Storage Management Tools | No Comments »
December 30, 2011 – 2:59 pm
Here (.qt) and here (.wmv) is a video from an interview that I did with Jenny Hamel (@jennyhamelsd6) during the Fall 2011 SNW event in Orlando Florida. Topics covered during the discussion include: Importance of metrics that matter for gaining and maintaining IT situational awareness The continued journey of IT to improve customer service delivery in a cost-effective manner Reducing cost and complexity without negatively impacting customer service experience Participating in SNW and SNIA for over ten years on three different continents ...
Posted in Cloud, Data and Information Management, Data archiving and preservation, Data footprint and proliferation reduction, Data protection, Data security, Education, Green, I/O Networking, Infrastructure Resource Management, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, metrics, Performance and Capacity, Power and Cooling, server, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, tools, virtualization | No Comments »
December 29, 2011 – 5:50 pm
Im in the process of wrapping up 2011 and getting ready for 2012. Here is a list of the top 25 all time posts from StorageIOblog covering cloud, virtualization, servers, storage, green IT, networking and data protection. Looking back, here is 2010 and 2011 industry trends, thoughts and perspective predictions along with looking forward, a 2012 preview here. Top 25 all time posts about storage, cloud, virtualization, networking, green IT and data protection 2010 and 2011 Trends, Perspectives and Predictions: More of the same? Acadia VCE: VMware + Cisco + EMC = Virtual Computing Environment Back to school shopping: Dude, Dell Digests 3PAR Disk storage EMC VPLEX: Virtual Storage Redefined or Respun? Clarifying Clustered Storage Confusion Clouds are like Electricity: Dont be Scared Data Center I/O Bottlenecks Performance Issues and Impacts Data footprint reduction (Part 1): Life beyond dedupe and ...
Posted in Cloud, Data and Information Management, Data archiving and preservation, Data footprint and proliferation reduction, Data protection, Data security, Education, fun, Green, I/O Networking, Infrastructure Resource Management, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, metrics, Performance and Capacity, Personal Computing, Poll, Power and Cooling, server, Site related, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, tools, Travel, Uncategorized, virtualization | 5 Comments »
December 29, 2011 – 5:44 pm
2011 is almost over, so its wrap up time of the year as well as getting ready for 2012. Here is a link to a post of the top 25 new posts that appeared on StorageIOblog in 2011. As a companion to the above, here is a link to the all time top 25 posts from StorageIOblog. Looking back, here is a post about industry trends, thoughts and perspective predictions for 2010 and 2011 (preview 2012 and 2013 thoughts and perspectives here). Im still finalizing my 2012 and 2013 predictions and perspectives which is a work in progress, however here is a synopsis: Addressing storage woes at the source: Time to start treating the source of data management and protection including backup challenges instead of or in addition to addressing downstream target destination topics. Big data ...
Posted in Cloud, Data and Information Management, Data archiving and preservation, Data footprint and proliferation reduction, Data protection, Data security, Education, Green, I/O Networking, Infrastructure Resource Management, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, metrics, Performance and Capacity, Personal Computing, Poll, Power and Cooling, server, Site related, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, tools, Travel, Uncategorized, virtualization | 13 Comments »
December 29, 2011 – 5:39 pm
Im in the process of wrapping up 2011 and getting ready for 2012, here is a list of the top 25 new posts from this past year at StorageIOblog. Looking back, here is a post about industry trends, thoughts and perspective predictions for 2010 and 2011 (preview 2012 and 2013 thoughts and perspectives here). Here are the top 25 new blog posts from 2011 Are Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) getting too big? Buzzword Bingo and Acronym Update V2.011 Cloud conversations: Loss of data access vs. data loss Cloud, virtualization and storage networking conversations Commentary on Clouds, Storage, Networking, Green IT and other topics Congratulations to IBM for releasing XIV SPC results Convergence: People, Processes, Policies and Products Industry adoption vs. industry deployment, is there a difference? Industry trend: People plus data are aging and living longer Is FCoE ...
Posted in Cloud, Data and Information Management, Data archiving and preservation, Data footprint and proliferation reduction, Data protection, Data security, Education, Green, I/O Networking, Infrastructure Resource Management, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, metrics, Performance and Capacity, Personal Computing, Poll, Power and Cooling, server, Site related, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, tools, Travel, Uncategorized, virtualization | 6 Comments »
