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* Dave 2.1 for Macintosh * Samba 2.0.5a for Unix/Linux Two products make Unix, Linux, and Mac systems good neighbors to Windows networks. Even as Windows NT establishes dominance as […]

Sendmail is equally adept at handling your company's e-mail on its own and working with groupware apps. Sendmail 3.0 fro Windows NT Sendmail is the Leading message-transfer agent (MTA) for […]

Jacob Gsoedl is a corporate MIS manager responsible for all data networking and Internet communications systems for his company. He is a frequent contributor to Windows NT Systems. You can […]

The article reviews the emerging storage architecture that will shape future storage systems. It states that unrestricted scalability, ubiquitous access and cost-efficiency are the key characteristics of an object storage system, while a storage platform can be considered cloud storage if it is network-accessible, service-based and scalable. The article also elaborates on software-defined storage (SDS) and virtualized storage, and all-flash arrays.

The article discusses the evolving features and capabilities of network-attached storage (NAS) systems driven by a changing computing landscape and a set of trends and technologies like big data and cloud services. It cites a 2011 study that finds that the world's data doubles every two years and that enterprises will have to deal with 50 times more data and 75 times more files in the next decade. It talks about assessing NAS performance in terms of scalability, accessibility and manageability.

The article focuses on finding the most effective storage solution. StorageIO founder and senior analyst Greg Schulz said a storage system needs to be designed with a very large number of spindles with dismal capacity utilization for it to achieve a required number of IOPS. The IBM SmartCloud Virtual Storage Center is one sample of storage acceleration devices that can be used to boost performance of existing arrays and pull existing heterogeneous storage into a single storage pool.

The article focuses on the features of object-based storage systems which serve as substitutes to scale-out network-attached storage (NAS). Object-based storage offers access via Web protocols, custom metadata and low-cost, readily available components. Web 2.0 firms and social networking sites like Facebook use object storage to hold customer files, images and videos. Corporations are utilizing the system to expand their high-performance but costly storage infrastructure.

The article reports on backing up remote offices and branch offices (ROBOs). It mentions the challenges of maintaining data protection for such offices due to several factors including absence of information technology (IT) staff, dependence on shared resources and poor backup infrastructure. It also notes alternatives for disk-based backup such as data duplication, networking and cloud storage.

The article explores viable alternatives for virtual machine (VM) backup in 2011. Among the backup methods for contemporary virtual server environments are backup agents on VM and continuous data protection (CDP). It discusses the trend toward VM image backup at the hypervisor level and using a proxy backup server for the backup task. Some of the alternatives for VM backup are the VMWare vSphere 4 vStorage action programing interfaces (API) for Data Protection (VADP) and Citrix XenServer VM.

The article explores several data reduction (DR) ideas that are being applied on primary storage systems. One is thin provisioning which offers excellent storage capacity savings and no performance impact. Another is automated storage tiering that allows users to keep data on appropriate storage tiers to lower the amount of premium storage needed. Deduplication, which is best used in virtual machine images, is another DR technique.

The article discusses the options for cloud-based disaster recovery (DR) being offered by cloud storage and computing services. It states that some companies are discovering and starting to leverage cloud services for DR. A cloud disaster recovery plan or cloud DR blueprint is said to be very specific and distinctive for each organization. Cloud-based disaster recovery options are discussed.

The article focuses on the emergence of internal cloud products and solutions that allow extending on-premise data storage with external cloud storage services. Factors needed for an offering to be considered cloud storage include network accessibility, elasticity, and ability to scale up and down on demand. The benefits of cloud storage are discussed. Routes to implementing a hybrid storage cloud are also mentioned.

The article focuses on Symantec Corporation's 2008 annual "Symantec Disaster Recovery Research Report." According to the report, thirty-five percent of virtual servers are not covered in organizations' disaster recovery (DR) plans. In addition, only 37 percent of those surveyed back up all of their virtual systems. The primary reason cited for insufficient data protection and DR of virtualized servers is a lack of resources. With approximately a 70 percent share of the market, according to an Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) survey, VMware is the prevailing hypervisor, followed by Microsoft Virtual Server with 23 percent and about 4 percent for the various XenServer derivatives.

The article reports on the developments of continuous data protection (CDP) systems. However, the article notes that CDP has fialed as a standalone product because most information technology (IT) managers were not willing to forgo their proven backup software and backup methods for a new and unproven technology. The article also discusses the uses and benefits of CDP in various industries. It also adds that despite its ominous start, CDP has been incorporated into data protection products and its role is likely to expand.

The article focuses on developments in storage virtualization. Although it has now been adopted as quickly as inline virtualization products, fabric-based virtualization has been regarded as one of the most promising storage virtualization solutions. According to Jim DeCaires, storage product marketing manager at Fujitsu, fabric-based virtualization is the best technical approach to storage virtualization but has not been adopted. Switch-based virtualization is out-of-band, which is deemed to benefit storage area networks (SANs), does not need server agents and is considered the most scalable and highest performing of all virtualization architectures.

The article discusses the benefits and challenges of solid-state storage. Solid-state storage enables users to selectively deploy it and increase its performance. It is usually used in environments where disk drives are the limiting factor. Also, solid-state storage can be used to easily migrate data between a solid-state tier to other tiers. It also consumes less power for the same number of operations. Among the challenges posed by solid-state storage include reliability and array interoperability issues.

The article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of running multiple protocol through a single array controller. Multiprotocol arrays support block- and file-based storage through a single controller. Applications of multiprotocol arrays include NAS for file-based information and Fibre Channel (FC) or Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCI)-attached block-based storage for databases and other transactional applications. The article explains how multiprotocol arrays differ from single-protocol arrays in terms of performance, prices, ease and management of other features.

The article explains how one can achieve considerable cost savings if different tiers of storage are parceled out to business units on a pay-for-use basis. A crucial factor when migrating to centralized storage services is negotiating with business units and departments. The conversion from a distributed to a centralized storage architecture is typically done by the information technology (IT) organization. One way to reduce storage costs include providing different tiers of storage to applications and users by segregating the storage pool into different classes based on performance, service level and cost. The most popular approach is offering three different storage tiers.

The article focuses on the approach used by Network Appliance (NetApp) Inc. in implementing its Kilo-Client project, which builds a large quality assurance (QA) testing grid that can support a minimum of 1,000 clients. The configuration sought in this project entails rapid provisioning with minimum intervention using different operating systems (OS). It should also be scalable and flexible to accommodate this number of clients. The project team explored the concept of Golden local unit number (LUN), OS images with specific engineering requirements and used the NetApp LUN clone technology to present writable LUN copies to each Kilo-Client node.

The article considers the effectiveness of using industry-standard benchmarks to evaluate storage systems. The author believes that the benchmarking process can be easily manipulated because of the large number of variables that influence the result of performance assessment. The process can also be limited by available methods that can be used to configure storage systems such as the number of spindles, cache size and fault tolerance configuration. Included in the factors that can influence the veracity of these benchmarks is the emergence of do-it-yourself benchmarks. It is recommended that the Storage Performance Council (SPC) and Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC) set rules on permissible configurations.

The article discusses the use of data protection and recovery management (DPRM) software products by storage managers to address their needs to increased visibility, compliance, reporting consolidation and cover the entire backup cycle. When selecting a DPRM tool for data storage environment it should support heterogeneous products, report beyond the backup application and help users understand past backups. DPRM tools should also support replicas, snapshots and clones, and must include the capability to recover and detect unprotected data assets. Aptare StorageConsole from Aptare Inc., Bocada Enterprise 4 from Bocada Inc. and Virtual Recovery Engine 4.1 from Illuminator Inc. are some of the tools with DPRM functions.

The article discusses the importance of the number of ports when choosing a storage array, switch or host bus adapter to maximize performance and reduce management complexity of applications. How much traffic the storage system must handle determines the number of required ports in a storage system. Selecting the array is determined by application and scalability needs. Midsized arrays are usually dual-controller arrays with a host port count of four to eight ports with two to eight back-end ports. For high-end arrays meanwhile are very modular and the number of host ports and back-end ports is determined by business requirements.

The article discusses the protection and storage of data through the integration of iSCSI computer network protocol into the fiber channel (FC) storage attached networks. The integration process can be carried out at various levels and to varying degrees including the use of iSCSI gateways, FC switches and directors with iSCSI support, intelligent storage switches and gateways, and array- and server-based iSCSI integration. When integration is completed, the disruption caused by non-storage traffic using Internet Protocol can be avoided.

The article discusses the necessity of combining several independent and isolated storage area networks (SANs) into one primary SAN, analyzes the problems one may encounter in consolidating SANs and offers solutions to those problems. The benefits include cost savings, simpler storage management, tighter security, increased resource utilization, simplified disaster recovery and others. Migrating data faultlessly to one primary SAN without disrupting operations and maintaining and managing that data can only be assured by a sound SAN architectural design with the appropriate hardware and complete with sound policies and procedures.

The article discusses the importance of testing disaster recovery (DR) plans. Taken into consideration is the DR plan of network administrator James Zeller of Chaffe McCall LLP. It was learned that Zeller never tested Chaffe McCall's DR plan. When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, the business was brought to a grinding halt. Unable to procure servers, Zeller rushed to purchase and configure high-end desktops to run his applications. A single DR test can cost $100,000 in larger organizations. Some companies perform several smaller component tests during the year in addition to a full annual test. It is said that only a limited number of services and applications can be included in a DR test plan. Testing a DR plan has a number of considerations including LANs, WANs of connected sites and Internet connectivity.

The article reports on the cost effectiveness of computer network protocol iSCSI storage area networks for small- to medium-sized businesses. There has been a growth in the employments of Internet Protocol storage area networks by small- and medium-sized businesses and many large data centers are beginning to adopt iSCSI-based storage to support non-mission-critical applications. The reasons for the adoption of the computer network protocol by small- to medium-sized business include the fact that it is less expensive than Fibre Channel storage area networks.

The article discusses how to grow storage area networks (SAN). The balancing of performance and high-availability requirements is involved in growing a SAN. Other elements included are overall SAN architecture, switches and directors, protocols, storage arrays and computing platforms. The determining factors in a SAN architecture are redundancy, performance, cost and scalability. A goal of a SAN design is to minimize the number of switches in order to eliminate inter-switch link performance choke points. The design strategy for large and very large SAN is to limit the switch distance by tiering the SAN and introducing dedicated server switches.

The article discusses issues associated with the consolidated management of a large number of storage area network devices. The challenges of supporting heterogeneous storage include the rapid expanding of the industry with many competing technologies, the emergence of new storage protocols, and the varying approaches to storage files systems. Nonetheless, the storage industry is slowly progressing toward a unified storage management as storage resource management and storage area network management converge.

Presents an application that standardize the streaming video publishing process. Application overview; Challenges when publishing video content; Companies that dominate the streaming video market. INSETS: Encoding Windows Media Video Files.;Using ActiveX Controls to Encode RealNetworks Video Files..

The article offers information on the Docker platform used in containerization.

The article offers information on object storage systems which is used as an alternative to network-attached storage (NAS) and provides scalability, accessibility, and manageability.

The article discusses the significance of wide-area network (WAN) optimization products to disaster recovery and cloud access. Topics discussed include challenges provided by reading and writing data across WANs that do not exist when accessing data between systems in the same data center, integration of WAN optimization into the routers of networking vendors, and data center-to-data center replication as one of the main use cases of WAN optimization controllers.

The article focuses on managing storage for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). It states that companies are considering VDI to address challenges on managing desktops, ensuring compliance, and lowering overall costs related to end-user computing devices. Also mentioned are the VDI storage challenge, technologies and approaches that enable storage for VDI, and how desktop virtualization can be successful.

The article focuses on the growing number of storage vendors packaging their products with servers and networking equipment to create ready-to-run converged systems, citing the possible end of best-of-breed deployments as an approach to maximize an organization's IT performance and ensure enterprise-class potentials. Converged systems are turnkey packages that include servers and storage, networking, hypervisors and management software which are pre-tested before they are shipped to customers.

The article discusses various issues related to network-attached storage (NAS) concerning the reasons that influence the buying decisions for the NAS, growth of the NAS in the global information technology (IT) sector, and the NAS market segmentation. It takes account of a research study of the IT company Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) to explain the growth capacity of the NAS in terms of installing by users and organizations. It discusses features of the NAS like storage efficiency.

The article focuses on utilization of cloud backup services by small and large business enterprises and mentions several benefits of the service including desktop/laptop data protection, no need for backup infrastructure and minimal information technology resource requirements. It further offers differences between hybrid and pure cloud backups and offers information on backup managed service providers including Iron Mountain Inc., AT&T Corp. and Nirvanix Inc.

The article describes how the data storage industry is developing different approaches in providing network-attached storage (NAS) virtualization products to manage the unprecedented growth of unstructured data within information technology (IT) departments. It says that the most promising approach is to virtualize file access by putting a logical layer between back-end file stores and clients. It enumerates several architectural approaches for virtualizing file access including file-system aggregation, clustered file systems and clustered NAS.

The article reports that serial-attached small computer system interface (SCSI) 2 (SAS-2) is challenging fibre channel (FC) and serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) as the dominant data storage interface in servers. SAS-2 has overtaken FC in terms of speed and technology, and one expert predicts that in 2013 SAS-2 will account for 57 percent of the total multiuser hard disk drive (HDD) market. SAS-2 has evolved from 12 gigabyte per second speed to five megabyte per second and from serial to eight bytes data bus width.

The article discusses developments in solid-state storage which is predicted to result to increase adoption of solid-state drives (SSDs). The deployment of NAND flash, a solid-state drive memory technology, has been noted as slow because of its prohibitive price and shortcomings such as durability issues. SSD vendors have employed techniques to extend the life span and durability of mechanical disk drives. A DRAM write buffer was deployed by vendors to overcome the read-write performance gap.

The article evaluates the Brocade DCX Backbone fibre channel (FC) platform from Brocade Communications Systems Inc. and the MDS 9500 Multilayer Director Series FC platform from Cisco Systems Inc.

The article discusses the increasing adoption of data replication. According to Tim Bowers, global product manager of storage services at EDS, replication-based data protection is one of the top three priorities of 60 percent of their clients. Key aspects where data replication products vary include location, mode, and type. Data replication-related trends that are changing data protection and disaster recovery are discussed.

The article offers advice for businesses on determining the best disaster recovery (DR) strategy. The key metrics to determine the DR level required to recover business processes and applications are recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO). A tier 1 DR is best suited to be hosted in-house, where the business owns and maintains the site. The use of shared equipment for infrastructure components is the biggest difference between a hosted site and hot site.

The article discusses the different ways hardware vendors build data encryption into their tape drives and tape libraries. IBM uses RSA-2048 public key encryption to secure the data encryption key and encrypts the AES-256 key with a company's public key and an optional third-party public key. In contrast Sun and Spectra Logic use AES-256 encryption to secure their data encryption keys. Spectra Logic performs data encryption outside the tape drive which allows Spectra to support all tape formats.