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

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?

can a RAID 1 be setup between the two servers creating a real-time duplicate of the active server on the backup server?

Can you use software RAID5 across multiple hardware RAID5 or RAID0 storage systems using iscsi?

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…

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

What data storage solutions are available for agriculture?

MAID stands for Massive Arrays of Idle Disks. It was first mentioned in the January 2002 whitepaper of the same name, created by Colarelli, Grunwald and Neufeld from the University of Colorado in Boulder…

Question: In the late 90’s there was a firestorm of controversy surrounding the lifespan of CDs (to which Tom recently alluded). Is there a definitive answer? Is it safe to use CD-Rs as a permanent archive?

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?”

For a long time now I’ve been a proponent of replacing tape drives with hard drives. But there have always been technical hurdles to overcome…

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.

… Microsoft has been putting out feelers to customers and vendors over the last several months regarding dropping support in the Vista timeframe for PCI RAID clustering. …

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.

Considering using Replication to move or backup data from remote locations? - some practical advice for sizing the task

First, it’s probably worth a quick definition of what snapshots are for those that thought I was talking about some tawdry pictures.

A definition offered by SNIA (Storage Networking Industry Association http://www.snia.org/) says,”A fully usable copy of a defined collection of data that contains an image of the data as it appeared at the point in time at which the copy was initiated. A snapshot may be either a duplicate or a replicate of the data it represents.” In practical terms snapshots are a point-in-time copy of a dataset. In some cases it may be a read only copy and in others it may be completely writable. Generally, it is a way to have a local backup copy of data that doesn’t take up double the amount of space. More on how snapshots work and their inherent benefits another time though…

So much of what the storage industry focuses on is around the high dollar, high end, and high touch enterprises. While certainly the most sophisticated in their infrastructures they are also the most “beefed up” with expertise and staff to handle these very complex environments.

Now what about the rest of the world? What about the small doctors offices, law offices, graphics design companies, consultancy firms, retail stores and everything else in between? There is lots of data being generated and the need for a reliable storage infrastructure is just as important to the small business owner as it is for the largest of enterprises. The point I’m trying to make is that it’s all relative. Generally, storage and the protection of the data on it is very important…

I remember when all you had to do was choose which tape drive or library you were going to use to backup your data. Media capacity and speed had to be considered – and, of course your budget. Now with all the options for disk-based backup; snapshots, replication and mirroring techniques, Virtual Tape Libraries (VTL), and the latest three letter acronym in storage (CDP – Continuous Data Protection), does that old archaic tape technology still have a place? I think so… doesn’t it?

Let’s dig a little deeper. With disk-based backup techniques you can replicate data asynchronously on a scheduled basis; you can mirror data real-time; you can migrate older data to lower cost storage based on policies; or you can simply make the disk look just like a tape. There are even some products out there that let you remove disk drives after backup just like tape media for offsite storage…