Does the number of disks in a RAID-5 array affect the performance ?

Storage benchmarking is what I like to call a “dark art”.

Let’s be honest, the reason File Virtualization is hot is because every compute environment is running into the unavoidable realities of exploding data growth in all directions - spreading like a virus across the network and in the data center.

In the realm of storage appliances (NAS or application specific appliances) the technology evolution usually equates to things like more capacity (bigger drives), faster throughput, more IOPS, better availability, and easier management/provisioning, etc… but is that it?

We’ve recently had some questions coming through the Ask the Storage Advisors link about networked storage in the home.

Let’s face it… finding the “right” data is hard, but there is an answer.

If some of the new indexing applications live up to the hype …. ILM may actually have a chance…

Steve, Joe and I just finished filming a short segment with the effervescent Jon Toigo for his StorageTV website.

What is your definition of CDP! Pick one that works for your business!

What data storage solutions are available for agriculture?

It appears that the Great Storage Blog Experiment has been a success. One way I know is by looking at the number of product-specific inquires we’re getting through the “Ask the Storage Advisors” link…

Why should you separate RAID for the OS from RAID for your data?

I want to give a quick shout-out to my home-boy Jon Toigo for an excellent event over in Tampa this week. It was his first, and hopefully not his last, Disaster Recovery and Data Protection Summit…

Adaptec wins Oscar…

The problem is all in the math. Most of us that have been in the storage industry know that the way the hard drive vendors “market” the drive capacities is fundamentally inaccurate.

I recently was asked about iFPC and FCIP as competing
> technologies

…Unlike pressed original CDs, burned CDs have a relatively short life span of between two to five years, depending on the quality of the CD…

A quick word about a webinar that Steve Rogers and I gave last week…

These backup services are quite convenient. It does require an Internet connection, which just about everyone has now.

…in my opinion this is a prime example of people being lazy or stupid!

The toughest question for any storage administrator to answer is, “What kind of performance do you NEED?”

There’s been lots of talk about RAID 6 as it compares to RAID 5 and the reliability benefits that are gained by SATA drives when using RAID 6 – so I’ve decided NOT to talk about that anymore!
Instead I thought I’d discuss two other RAID levels out there and available to folks. RAID 5EE […]

…I profess that, unequivocally, iSCSI has indeed changed the face of storage networking - forever!

Finally, a solution for low-volatility storage enclosures suffering from structural framework issues. …

SAS ready for the Enterprise? Just how Big? and what about HA?

I’m not going to go into the values of having applications and services available over the web – I think that’s a personal preference for each individual and company to have to decide.

Storage Management in Rough Waters

It’s true I tell you – you can absolutely deploy SAS and SATA drives within the same physical enclosure… but be careful!

There are a number of ways that IT Pros deal with remote site data protection – some are good and some are not so good…

Finally these “third class citizens” (SATA drives) can get a little respect with a little help from RAID 6.

SAS, RAID, Virtualization & Storage Management

Who has your data?

Storage Managment at the Show

I’ve heard many questions lately about SAS (Serial Attached SCSI). Simple questions like, “What’s SAS?” or, “Why should I consider SAS?” This information can be found with simple web searches. Adaptec has a good section on the website dedicated to the education of SAS and will answer these questions easily and the […]

After all of the efforts over the years to agree on a standard with really no end result that the end users can see, hear, feel and touch – how could we really think that a standard could ever possibly prevail?

…an IT Manager asked me what I thought of 10 Gigabit Ethernet and it’s effects on Fibre Channel.

It appears that Wilma has claimed its first SNW victim - Intel. I just received a message this morning saying that “due to Hurricane Wilma, Intel has decided to cancel our participation in next week’s Storage Networking World in Orlando, Florida”. …

In an effort to insight a riot with one of my fellow Storage Advisors I want to talk about “Virtual” Tape Library (VTL) options.

One of the things I really like about WAFS is that it compliments existing storage infrastructures.

Ah, Fall SNW - that wonderful time of year where we all sit naked around the campfire and chant about virtualization. But I have to tell you that I’m about to snap. The word virtualization means nothing - or everything…

I suspect that a decent percentage of folks reading this will be attending SNW in Orlando next week. But those folks may not be tracking lovable Wilma, the record setting category 5 hurricane that’s bearing down on the state this weekend. …

Storage Management - The next wave for SMBs

So, what will this column be about, from my perspective? We were anointed, “Storage Advisors, because it is about giving Advice, hopefully useful advice. We “Advisors” find it hard enough to wade through the Morass of Storage terms, technologies, and solutions on a daily basis. I truly feel for the average small to medium business that have been left to fend for themselves trying to figure out their storage needs and what would be best for them. This is where we might be able to help.

Storage technology has been around since the conception of computers. Some IT managers have even referred to Storage as a “necessary evil-” sometimes mis-understood, difficult, and expensive. SCSI and FibreChannel have definitely earned this reputation…