Flash storage and solid-state drives (SSDs)
Find the latest information on flash storage and solid-state drive (SSD) technology options and learn strategies for successfully implementing flash and SSDs.
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News
11 Jun 2024
Nuclear waste body cuts energy use by 20% as Pure replaces HPE
French nuclear waste agency Andra has cut storage energy use by 20% and strengthened its disaster recovery capabilities by deploying Pure Storage and 10-year controller upgrades Continue Reading
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Feature
04 Jun 2024
How to manage Open-Channel SSDs vs. self-managed SSDs
Open-Channel SSDs can be beneficial but only in the right uses. There are several key differences to analyze with their management as compared to self-managed SSDs. Continue Reading
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Definition
10 Jun 2024
hybrid hard drive (HHD)
A hybrid hard drive (HHD), sometimes known as a solid-state hybrid drive (SSHD), is a mass storage device that combines a conventional hard disk drive (HDD) and a NAND flash memory module. Continue Reading
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Feature
04 Jun 2024
How to manage Open-Channel SSDs vs. self-managed SSDs
Open-Channel SSDs can be beneficial but only in the right uses. There are several key differences to analyze with their management as compared to self-managed SSDs. Continue Reading
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News
04 Jun 2024
Mad Max production company gets Dell PowerScale to leverage generative AI
One supplier enters, one supplier leaves: Australian film production company replaces HPE with Dell storage and compute as it leverages GenAI Continue Reading
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News
03 Jun 2024
Dell launches PowerStore Prime and hints at PowerScale AI boost
Array range launched at Dell World 2024 in Las Vegas as PowerScale gets OS upgrade and new Intel Xeon CPUs, while Dell CEO hints at acceleration for PowerScale NAS Continue Reading
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Definition
28 May 2024
SAS SSD (Serial-Attached SCSI solid-state drive)
A SAS SSD (Serial-Attached SCSI solid-state drive) is a NAND flash memory-based storage or caching device designed to fit in the same slot as a hard disk drive (HDD) and use the SAS interface to connect to the host computer. Continue Reading
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News
26 May 2024
Nutanix beefs up AHV hypervisor, doubles down on AI
Nutanix takes aim at VMware with enhancements to its AHV hypervisor along with tighter integrations with Nvidia and Hugging Face to simplify AI deployments Continue Reading
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Definition
23 May 2024
TLC flash (triple-level cell flash)
TLC flash (triple-level cell flash) is a type of NAND flash memory that stores three bits of data per cell. Continue Reading
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Podcast
22 May 2024
Podcast: AI and its impact on data storage
We talk to Shawn Rosemarin, vice-president for R&D at Pure Storage, about the requirements of AI workloads, and what data storage needs to cope with AI Continue Reading
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News
22 May 2024
Infinidat adds smaller footprint G4 arrays with claimed 2x performance
Purveyor of triple-controller all-flash and hybrid flash arrays aimed at high-end customers tails and tops InfiniBox and InfiniBox SSA ranges, and adds Azure cloud storage to AWS Continue Reading
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News
20 May 2024
Toshiba shows 32TB HDDs with heat-assisted and shingled drives
Drive maker demonstrates 32TB and 31TB capacity hard drives that boost write density by use of heat and microwave assistance plus shingled – overlapped – drive tracks Continue Reading
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News
14 May 2024
NetApp upgrades AFF all-flash as it targets AI storage
New AFF arrays offer performance boost for artificial intelligence, while NetApp trumpets its advantages as a provider of sustainable and intelligent infrastructure for all kinds of workloads Continue Reading
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Definition
09 May 2024
nanosecond (ns or nsec)
A nanosecond (ns or nsec) is one-billionth (10-9) of a second. A nanosecond is a measure of time that has many practical applications, particularly in computer science and IT. Continue Reading
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News
08 May 2024
Huawei launches exabyte-scale OceanStor A800 at AI workloads
Chinese storage array maker announces high-performance NAS that can build out to clusters in excess of 1 exabyte, plus NVMe flash drives of 128TB coming to market next year Continue Reading
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Podcast
01 May 2024
Podcast: 32TB HDDs by 2029, but how much bigger can they get?
We talk to Rainer Kaese of Toshiba about the roadmap for conventional magnetic recording on hard disk drives, the roadmap to 32TB, and what it would take to get to 100TB or 200TB Continue Reading
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News
30 Apr 2024
Arcitecta offers file and object storage with huge transfer rates
Australian startup offers single namespace file and object storage with rapid access via a metadata database that puts the right data in the right place according to recent use Continue Reading
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News
24 Apr 2024
AI firm saves a million in shift to Pure FlashBlade shared storage
AI consultancy Crater Labs spent vast amounts of time managing server-attached drives to ensure GPUs were saturated. A shift to all-flash Pure Storage slashed that to almost zero Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Apr 2024
Storage technology explained: AI and data storage
In this guide, we examine the data storage needs of artificial intelligence, the demands it places on data storage, the suitability of cloud and object storage for AI, and key AI storage products Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Apr 2024
Storage technology explained: Flash vs HDD
In this guide, we examine the differences between flash storage and HDD, the rise of NVMe and much denser formats such as QLC, and whether or not flash will vanquish HDD in the all-flash datacentre Continue Reading
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News
02 Apr 2024
Flash storage prices rise by 25% as manufacturers chase profitability
Analysis of 30,000-plus drive prices shows cost of flash drives per gigabyte rose sharply since October 2023, as memory manufacturers limit supplies and increase prices Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Mar 2024
How Software-Enabled Flash could aid SSD management
A new development in flash storage could be a flexible option for any large-scale installation, as well as systems with custom software that's tuned for optimum performance. Continue Reading
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News
26 Mar 2024
Alletra MP hardware changes see HPE orient arrays towards AI
HPE doubles controller nodes, boosts capacity with denser drives, cuts caches and builds in 100Gbps links to bring denser, faster storage aimed at all parts of the AI/ML pipeline Continue Reading
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News
19 Mar 2024
Vast targets AI checkpointing write performance with distributed RAID
AI checkpointing operations targeted by Vast Data as it touts QLC-based storage for AI workloads Continue Reading
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Feature
01 Mar 2024
Pseudo-SLC flash storage: What is it, what’s it good for and what does it cost?
Pseudo-SLC takes MLC, TLC flash and changes data storage at cell level to get better endurance and performance, but it’s mostly aimed at edge applications and is costly Continue Reading
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News
26 Feb 2024
Storage and backup spend in 2024 targets risk and resilience
The TechTarget and ESG spending intentions survey finds big bias towards averting risk and building organisational resilience, but on-premise storage a significant planned outlay Continue Reading
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News
19 Feb 2024
Music agency halves space and energy costs with switch to Pure
SUISA handles billions of royalty payments, but had capacity and storage admin nightmares with its EMC hardware. It cued up Pure Storage for simple admin, space and cost savings Continue Reading
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Tip
14 Feb 2024
7 causes of SSD failure and how to deal with them
Although SSDs are a reliable storage technology, they are still prone to occasional failure. Here are some best practices to keep your SSDs humming along. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Feb 2024
How to employ conventional SSD management
In the conventional style, admins manage SSDs within the SSD. Best practices include using the trim command and occasionally checking the SSD's SMART attributes. Continue Reading
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News
06 Feb 2024
Inside NetApp’s cloud and AI strategy
NetApp’s senior executives talk up the company’s efforts to support AI initiatives and deliver first-party storage services on public cloud platforms Continue Reading
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News
31 Jan 2024
Seagate uses HAMR to hit 30TB in Exos hard drives
HDD giant Seagate unveils 30TB Exos drives with higher areal density, aimed at hyperscaler customers, with products at 50TB promised for 2028 in its roadmap Continue Reading
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Feature
29 Jan 2024
French TV giant sticks with Dell NAS for channel upgrade
TF1 has the biggest market share in French TV, but plans for more. It has upgraded from Isilon to PowerScale scale-out NAS and saved 42% in energy costs, halving rackspace use Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Jan 2024
A pseudo-SLC flash primer: Benefits and drawbacks
Regardless of its use, pseudo-SLC represents a credible option for organizations considering multibit flash over SLC flash. The technology makes MLC and TLC function like SLC. Continue Reading
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News
23 Jan 2024
NVM Express boosts computational storage standards
New command sets allow for computational storage with NVMe flash and includes frameworks to allow local memory usage in processing workloads on storage hardware Continue Reading
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Feature
18 Jan 2024
Storage technology explained: Replication vs snapshots and backup
Are replication and snapshots the same? Can you replace backup with replication or snapshots? We look into the key planks of data protection strategy, including in cloud storage Continue Reading
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News
17 Jan 2024
Data on Kubernetes Community aims at K8S storage scaling solution
DoKC works on community solutions for Kubernetes. It aims to develop storage scaling automation for the containerised platform outside the orbit of the big vendors Continue Reading
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News
11 Jan 2024
QLC made gains but storage innovation focus was on software in 2023
Storage hardware innovation has taken a back seat – QLC flash excepted – as the big storage suppliers build around software-based variants and optimisation on modular product sets Continue Reading
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News
21 Dec 2023
Top 10 storage stories of 2023
In this 2023 review, we consider if flash will thrash disk, what the Toyota outage shows about capacity planning, how to achieve green storage, the backup and compliance risks of AI, the lowdown on DPUs, and more Continue Reading
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News
21 Dec 2023
Top 10 storage supplier strategy stories of 2023
In 2023, we looked at the top storage suppliers, their market share and how they set themselves for a future of hybrid cloud, containerisation and consumption models of purchasing Continue Reading
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Feature
21 Dec 2023
Storage suppliers’ market share and strategy 2023
We look at the top suppliers in data storage by market share and run the rule over their storage offer, strategies for hybrid cloud, containerisation and as-you-go purchasing Continue Reading
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Feature
19 Dec 2023
On-prem vs cloud storage: Four decisions about data location
Hybrid cloud is now a reality. But how to decide what data goes where? We highlight four key decision points to evaluate whether data should be stored on-premise or in the cloud Continue Reading
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Feature
18 Dec 2023
Pure Storage: Flash ‘startup’ that brings late entrant advantage
Storage profile: We look at Pure Storage, the youngest of the array makers, which comes to market with well-developed flash, hybrid cloud and consumption purchasing models Continue Reading
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News
11 Dec 2023
Panasas set for Mach.2 throughput with multi-actuator HDDs
Scale-out NAS maker claims to be the first enterprise array maker to use multi-actuator HDDs designed for hyperscaler architectures and which double throughput Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Dec 2023
ERP’s storage requirements and options in the cloud
We look under the hood at enterprise resource planning and its databases, the storage needed to support ERP’s I/O requirements, block, file and object storage, and ERP in an era of hybrid cloud Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Dec 2023
Dell EMC: Storage giant shifts gear to cloud operating models
Storage profile: We look at Dell EMC, the result of the biggest tech acquisition ever, and find a company well set for ubiquitous cloud operating models and as-a-service Continue Reading
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Feature
30 Nov 2023
The all-flash datacentre: Mirage or imminent reality?
Some say disk is dead and we’re on the cusp of the all-flash datacentre. But when will flash capacity and cost hit a point where it is suited to more than just high-tier storage? Continue Reading
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News
22 Nov 2023
Nebulon upgrades SPU to Medusa2 with Nvidia DPU hardware
Nebulon aims to replace HCI with its OS on an offload card that it claims reduces server resource use by 25%. Medusa2 uses Nvidia DPU hardware and its own cloud control plane Continue Reading
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News
20 Nov 2023
IT not ready for AI, Pure Storage survey finds
Storage, compute and networking hardware won’t cope without upgrades, and that often means total IT infrastructure overhaul Continue Reading
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Feature
15 Nov 2023
DPU 101: What are DPUs, what do they do, and who supplies them?
We look at data processing units, the latest in a line of hardware offload devices that emerged in the era of composable infrastructure. They come as hardware and even in the cloud Continue Reading
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News
24 Oct 2023
NetApp ‘unified storage’ adds new ASA block storage at Insight
Las Vegas event sees NetApp continue its evolution to hybrid cloud and data management player announce ASA C-series and Keystone and Kubernetes storage enhancements Continue Reading
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News
23 Oct 2023
Dell updates PowerStore, PowerMax and PowerFlex storage
Dell storage upgrades include improved AIOps, lower energy usage, real-time HA failover, seamless hardware replacement, and enhancements to take advantage of DPU acceleration Continue Reading
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Feature
20 Oct 2023
NetApp: NAS pioneer well set for the cloud revolution
In this storage profile, we look at NetApp, which built a reputation in file access storage but seems to be set fair to navigate a future of hybrid cloud, cloud-native and containerisation Continue Reading
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News
16 Oct 2023
Flash prices drop towards spinning disk levels in 2023
Number-crunching data on 17,000-plus drive prices shows cost of flash drives per gigabyte fell by around 10% in past six months while hard disk drive per-gigabyte prices stood still Continue Reading
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News
11 Oct 2023
Pure offers Evergreen energy and rackspace cost guarantees
Pure Storage will take upfront payments for power and rackspace and guarantee those for product lifecycles in its Evergreen One, Flex and Forever consumption purchasing models Continue Reading
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Feature
04 Oct 2023
Will computational storage meet data processing demands?
Computational storage promises performance for workloads that can benefit from dedicated oomph, but it’s not a cure-all. It may come at a cost, and with added application complexity Continue Reading
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News
03 Oct 2023
How Pure Storage is supporting AI workloads
Pure Storage’s cloud-compatible and energy-efficient modular flash storage architecture is well-poised to address the data storage demands of artificial intelligence workloads Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Sep 2023
Cloud NAS, what is it good for?
We look at NAS file access storage, how it works, what it’s good for and the possibilities to access storage for files and unstructured data in the public cloud Continue Reading
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Feature
26 Sep 2023
IBM reorients to offset historic storage hardware decline
Storage profile: We look at IBM and the strategic shifts it has made towards the cloud, cloud-native and as-a-service offerings that aim to reverse a long-term decline in revenues Continue Reading
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News
11 Sep 2023
Huawei launches OceanStor Pacific 9920 entry-level NAS
Huawei adds to its OceanStor Pacific NAS family, offering entry-level 9920 with up to 92TB per node which can be combined into clusters and also used as a SAN device Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Sep 2023
CXL in the datacentre: Boosting memory for hungry workloads
We look at CXL, how it revolutionises connectivity between memory components, potentially saves energy, and adds oomph to heavily memory-dependent workloads such as AI analytics Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Sep 2023
HPE storage comes with full IT stack, hybrid cloud and as a service
Storage profile: We look at HPE, its Alletra storage refresh, and Greenlake and the ways the company is re-branding as a full-stack provider across on-prem and hybrid cloud Continue Reading
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News
05 Sep 2023
VMware builds vSAN Max, consolidates multicloud and online deployment
VMware launches new iteration of vSAN Max with up to 8.6PB of independently scalable storage, NSX gets a “+” as it unifies networks and Ransomware Recovery ups efficiency Continue Reading
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E-Zine
05 Sep 2023
Met Police data platform goes £64m over budget
In this week’s Computer Weekly, we reveal a £64m cost over-run for the Metropolitan Police’s new record management system – and the thousands of support requests it’s caused. Our latest buyer’s guide looks at the issues around integrating software-as-a-service applications. And a leading flash storage firm says the age of spinning disk drives is almost over – are they right? Read the issue now Continue Reading
- 01 Sep 2023
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News
21 Aug 2023
Simplyblock targets ‘complex’ Ceph with software-defined NVMe
German startup Simplyblock aims to deliver low-cost high-performance flash and NVMe-over-TCP storage for service provider customers, and has Ceph deployments in its sights Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Aug 2023
Huawei a big storage hitter despite international troubles
Huawei is a leading storage player with an enterprise product offer across file, block and object storage, and the cloud, despite controversy and trading difficulties Continue Reading
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Podcast
08 Aug 2023
Podcast: HDDs have a long life ahead in certain workloads
Spinning disk hard drives are far from dead, and with data volumes set to explode, there are use cases that suit them well. That’s the view of Rainer Kaese of Toshiba in this podcast Continue Reading
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News
07 Aug 2023
HPE’s Alletra MP marries storage to cloud and software-defined choices
HPE’s Alletra was launched in April with an architecture that ties in with GreenLake consumption purchasing, SaaS configuration and addition of software-defined storage services Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Aug 2023
Computational storage SSD options vary in benefit level
Computational storage SSDs come in two major formats: programmable and fixed-function. They have stark differences in feature set and market acceptance. Continue Reading
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News
01 Aug 2023
Vast Data Platform aims at storage everywhere for AI/ML workloads
Vast Data to offer storage with data lake and warehouse functionality built in natively, in anticipation of a huge surge in AI/ML workloads and a need for ever-larger data stores Continue Reading
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Podcast
24 Jul 2023
Podcast: Sizing data storage for AI/ML workloads
Artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads come with I/O profiles of different shapes and sizes. We talk to Curtis Anderson of Panasas about how best to procure and size storage for them Continue Reading
- 17 Jul 2023
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Feature
07 Jul 2023
SAS vs. NVMe: The future of 2 key storage interfaces
In SAS vs. NVMe, both interfaces play significant roles in enterprise storage. See how they stack up in terms of performance, scalability, flexibility and manageability. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Jun 2023
QLC vs. TLC SSDs: Which is best for your storage needs?
QLC flash memory is best for most read-intensive workloads, while TLC is suited to write-dominant workloads. Discover how QLC vs. TLC NAND are coexisting in the data center. Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Jun 2023
Hitachi Vantara: Small part of a big corp and analytics focus
We look at Hitachi Vantara, its storage, its cloud offer, the workloads it targets, and its efforts in containerisation and consumption models of storage purchasing Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Jun 2023
A primer on SSD response time, other performance benchmarks
Consider several SSD performance benchmarks, including SSD response time, as key units of measurement. Also, note the difference between benchmarks and load generators. Continue Reading
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E-Zine
20 Jun 2023
How to keep network costs affordable
In this week’s Computer Weekly, as demands for networking performance and speed increase, we examine how to keep a handle on costs. Chip makers are investing in PLC technology – the next generation of flash storage – but some think it won’t be worth the effort; we investigate. And we listen in as tech industry leaders and politicians discuss the regulation of AI. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
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Tip
19 Jun 2023
Charge trap technology advantages for 3D NAND flash drives
Flash drive cells based on charge trap technology have several advantages over older floating gate cells. However, take note of potential reliability issues. Continue Reading
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Feature
19 Jun 2023
5 NAND flash manufacturers balance performance, reliability
NAND flash manufacturers Kioxia, Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix and Western Digital offer varying levels of capacity. They also provide an assortment of uses. Continue Reading
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Feature
16 Jun 2023
Pure Storage: HDDs dead by 2028 and our flash will replace it
Pure Storage says spinning disk is doomed, and only it can provide a replacement. We look at the rationale behind its bold message, and the possible impacts of such a scenario Continue Reading
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News
14 Jun 2023
Pure adds FlashArray//E for QLC capacity option in performance arrays
Flash storage specialist allows customers lower entry point to less costly quad-level cell flash in file and block access FlashArray//E as part of move towards all-flash in the datacentre Continue Reading
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Feature
13 Jun 2023
How to purchase SSDs during a NAND flash price drop
Although NAND prices are collapsing, that doesn't mean they will pop back up at some future date. It's rarely a good idea to purchase SSDs well before they are needed. Continue Reading
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Definition
09 Jun 2023
write endurance
Write endurance is the number of program/erase (P/E) cycles that can be applied to a block of flash memory before the storage media becomes unreliable. Continue Reading
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Definition
09 Jun 2023
SSD form factor
An SSD form factor is the size, configuration or physical arrangement of solid state storage media. The form factor determines the media's physical compatibility and interchangeability with other computer components or devices. Continue Reading
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Tip
07 Jun 2023
Evaluate flash memory advantages and disadvantages
Flash memory and solid-state devices have revolutionized storage, but to deploy them effectively, you must understand their advantages and disadvantages. Continue Reading
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Feature
06 Jun 2023
Software-defined storage: What it is and variants available
SDS is available in numerous variants. It is usually cheaper, flexible to deploy and brings storage efficiencies, but there are pitfalls in complexity, management and performance Continue Reading
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News
06 Jun 2023
ESA uses NetApp as-a-service for space data ‘hot’ archive
The European Space Agency collects data from millions of miles away. It must get storage right when there’s no chance of a u-turn to take more photos or re-record data Continue Reading
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News
31 May 2023
Panasas to add S3 support to edge storage and cloud moves
Scale-out NAS maker – which specialises in large capacity for AI/ML and HPC – has come out of its on-prem shell and now plans further moves towards cloud-friendly object storage Continue Reading
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Definition
24 May 2023
3D NAND flash
3D NAND is a type of non-volatile flash memory in which the memory cells are stacked vertically in multiple layers. Continue Reading
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News
23 May 2023
Aston Martin gets F1 pole position with NetApp storage
AMF1 race team tracks hundreds of car sensor metrics for raceday and post-event analysis that has seen it surge forward in recent Formula One rankings with NetApp NVMe storage Continue Reading
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News
16 May 2023
NetApp to promise ransomware warranty payout
NetApp will recover data hit by ransomware or pay a warranty, and has added entry-level SAN arrays and full access to all NetApp software across its hardware families Continue Reading
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Feature
12 May 2023
PLC flash: The next generation or a mirage?
PLC could be productised within two years, but chip makers might not think it worth the effort. Will managing multiple voltages be more hassle than adding layers to existing flash? Continue Reading
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News
10 May 2023
Nebulon aims Tripline at ransomware detection in storage
Tripline claims ransomware detection from samples every 30 seconds and works in conjunction with snapshots to deliver recovery from an attack in four minutes Continue Reading
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News
02 May 2023
Seagate launches 22TB IronWolf straight into QNAP NAS partnership
Seagate’s 22TB IronWolf Pro HDD equals Western Digital for capacity. Of the big drive makers, only Toshiba now lags behind. QNAP NAS to offer petabyte capacities with new Seagate drive Continue Reading
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Podcast
02 May 2023
Podcast: No more hard disks in five years, says Pure
We talk to Shawn Rosemarin of Pure Storage, who argues there will be no more hard drive sales in five years because energy costs and capacity needs can only be fulfilled by flash Continue Reading
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News
25 Apr 2023
Veritas shows off software SAN for Kubernetes at KubeCON 2023
Veritas InfoScale aims to provide high-performance block access storage despite limitations such as a maximum node count of 16 per cluster Continue Reading
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News
18 Apr 2023
IT Priorities 2023: Cloud and disaster recovery top storage and backup plans
Cloud storage still the biggest project planned in data storage in 2023, with disaster recovery the most important area in data protection cited by TechTarget/Computer Weekly survey respondents Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Apr 2023
Choose between NAND vs. NOR flash memory
When comparing NAND flash memory to NOR, it's important to examine the structural differences to understand which type of non-volatile memory is best suited for some applications. Continue Reading
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News
04 Apr 2023
HPE launches GreenLake for File and Block, and unified arrays
HPE upgrades its storage-as-a-service offer with Greenlake for File and for Block, configurable via the cloud but deployable on-prem. Meanwhile it shows new Alletra MP arrays Continue Reading
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News
28 Mar 2023
IBM Storage launched with backup appliance plan
Prosaically named brand will replace Spectrum products, while IBM rationalises offer for AI/ML, hybrid cloud and malware, which it sees as the backdrop to contemporary IT Continue Reading
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Feature
27 Mar 2023
Compare DRAM vs. DRAM-less SSDs for cost, performance
Are DRAM-less SSDs the way of the future? While they're a great fit for hyperscale data centers, other organizations may also find benefits, such as cost. Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Mar 2023
HDD specs: Assess SATA vs SAS, sustained data rates and block size
In part two of a two-part series, we look at sustained data rates in hard disk drive specs, SATA versus SAS, drive security, and how HDD makers pack density into products by shingling Continue Reading
