Data centre hardware
Data centre strategy is an increasingly important focus for IT managers, as enterprises look to cut costs and improve energy efficiency. We examine key data centre hardware trends such as virtualisation, consolidation and systems management to help identify the products that are right for your needs.
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News
25 Nov 2024
Gambling cloud provider bets on Nutanix and cools on VMware
Continent 8 consolidates infrastructure for cloud services and backs Nutanix as it gains influence over product roadmap and cools on VMware amid customer dissatisfaction over licence changes Continue Reading
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Feature
19 Nov 2024
Storage technology explained: Ransomware and storage and backup
We look at ransomware attacks, and the importance of good backup practice as well as immutable snapshots, air-gapping, network segmentation, AI anomaly detection and supplier warranties Continue Reading
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Feature
17 Nov 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
15 Nov 2024
CBRE: Spare datacentre capacity levels to hit all-time low across Europe by end of 2024
Real estate consultancy CBRE has lifted the lid on how growing demand for datacentre capacity, coupled with shortages of land and power in Europe, are having a downbeat impact on vacancy rates Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Nov 2024
Storage technology explained: What is S3 and what is it good for?
We look at S3, AWS’s object storage protocol that originated in its cloud services and has now spread as near enough a standard and to third-party on-premise deployments Continue Reading
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News
13 Nov 2024
European eArchiving project aims at eternal archive with smart metadata
The European Commission’s eArchiving project has got to version 2.0 and aims at open formats and sector-specific metadata to allow organisations to exploit data for decades to come Continue Reading
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News
13 Nov 2024
Server manufacturers ramp-up edge AI efforts
There has been a spate of developments in the server space, as manufacturers focus on supporting inference workloads at the edge Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Nov 2024
AWS storage: Key storage options in the Amazon cloud
We survey the key cloud storage options available from AWS, which include S3 object storage and its options, block storage in EBS and a range of file storage choices Continue Reading
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News
11 Nov 2024
NetApp boosts AFF, StorageGrid and E-series hardware with 60TB drives
Bigger drives, new CPUs and controller hardware add to upgrades to NetApp arrays that started in September, while the supplier undergoes transition to data management as a key focus Continue Reading
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Feature
08 Nov 2024
Storage explained: Consumption models of storage procurement
We look at consumption models of storage purchasing and how cloud operating models have made them mainstream and supplanted the traditional three-year lift-and-shift datacentre refresh Continue Reading
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News
05 Nov 2024
Nakivo aims at VMware refugees tempted by Proxmox
Version 11 of Nakivo has added Microsoft 365 cloud-to-cloud backups, support for Proxmox virtualisation backups – following Veeam – and NAS file data backups to cloud targets Continue Reading
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News
04 Nov 2024
How AI is impacting global connectivity
Jürgen Hatheier, international CTO of Ciena, discusses the role of connectivity in the age of artificial intelligence and how the company is helping service providers navigate this transformative period Continue Reading
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Feature
30 Oct 2024
Data classification: What, why and who provides it
You need to know where your data is, what it is, its governance requirements and relationship to the rest of your data. We look at data classification and how AI can help Continue Reading
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News
30 Oct 2024
Scality Ring XP to offer object storage at scale with rapid access
Lightweight S3 API trades storage features for microsecond access. Scality pairs it with all-NVMe flash in Ring XP, aimed at AI use cases for small object data in PB-scale datasets Continue Reading
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News
28 Oct 2024
Western Digital boosts HDD capacity with 32TB shingled drives
An 11th platter gives extra capacity, while shingled (overlapped) writes – best suited to sequential recording use cases – allow for greater density and big gains in thoughput Continue Reading
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News
24 Oct 2024
Nvidia deepens investment in India’s AI ecosystem
Nvidia is expanding its presence in India through new partnerships focused on building AI infrastructure, developing Indian language models and training AI professionals Continue Reading
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News
23 Oct 2024
Interview: Why Java is the future of cloud applications
The CEO of Azul speaks to Computer Weekly about Java’s performance and its ability to run on different server chips in the datacentre Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Oct 2024
Detect ransomware in storage to act before it spreads
Anomaly detection and immutable copies can be frontline tools against ransomware – we look at the role storage can play against the latest techniques employed by ransomware gangs Continue Reading
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News
21 Oct 2024
Synology takes aim at enterprise customers and flash storage
Best known as an SME and consumer brand, Synology claims multiple enterprise customers especially in backup and storage of infrequently accessed data, but has plans for flash, too Continue Reading
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Feature
17 Oct 2024
What are tensor processing units and what is their role in AI?
We look at Google’s TPUs – tensor processing units – and ask what makes them different to CPUs, GPUs and DPUs, as well as how you can take advantage of them in AI processing Continue Reading
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News
16 Oct 2024
Half of business IT deemed outdated
Combining survey data with its own monitoring service, Kyndryl has estimated that half of the world’s most critical infrastructure is not resilient Continue Reading
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News
15 Oct 2024
Google launches Parallelstore file storage at cloud AI training
Originally driven by Intel’s now-defunct Optane storage class memory, Parallelstore offers massive parallel file storage targeted at artificial intelligence training use cases on Google Cloud Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Oct 2024
Global file systems: A single view of on-premise and cloud data
Global file systems aggregate data into a single hybrid cloud from multiple locations using object storage with access that satisfies traditional application needs, like file locking Continue Reading
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News
08 Oct 2024
Foxconn and Nvidia to build Taiwan’s fastest supercomputer
The supercomputer, powered by Nvidia’s Blackwell architecture, will drive breakthroughs in cancer research, large language models and smart city initiatives Continue Reading
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News
30 Sep 2024
Google invests $1bn in Thailand’s cloud future
The five-year investment will bolster Thailand’s digital economy, create more than 10,000 jobs each year and support the country’s cloud-first policy Continue Reading
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News
26 Sep 2024
Semiconductor market scaleups to benefit from multimillion-pound investment from Innovate UK
National innovation agency Innovate UK is offering 16 semiconductor scaleups access to millions of pounds of funding to support their continued growth Continue Reading
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News
25 Sep 2024
NetApp E-series: Not part of the big message, but here to stay, says CEO
We asked NetApp about its high-performance computing-focused E-series block storage arrays and found inconsistent messaging but ultimately a commitment from CEO George Kurian to retain it Continue Reading
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News
25 Sep 2024
Post Office IT procurement mess saw £35m spent on air conditioner, says board member
Post Office IT procurement mistakes have wasted millions of pounds of taxpayers money, non-executive board member tells public inquiry Continue Reading
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News
24 Sep 2024
Pure punts raft of unifying features in FlashBlade file and object
Features are aimed at Pure’s file and object architecture with functionality based on software that aids management at system level Continue Reading
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News
24 Sep 2024
NetApp maintains push to data management for AI
From data storage to intelligent data infrastructure – that’s the plan from NetApp, which has announced data curation for artificial intelligence as well as additions to its ASA and FAS storage arrays Continue Reading
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23 Sep 2024
Driving IT sustainability in datacentres
Europe’s datacentre operators need to get their power report cards to comply with the European Commission’s drive to greener EU datacentres Continue Reading
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E-Zine
23 Sep 2024
Powering Britain’s economy – datacentres gain in status
In this week’s Computer Weekly, the UK government has finally classified datacentres as critical national infrastructure – we ask, what took it so long? We assess the impact of the EU’s new energy efficiency rules on datacentre operators. And we discuss the power of information and diversity with the chief data officer at Legal & General. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Sep 2024
Driving IT sustainability in datacentres
Europe’s datacentre operators need to get their power report cards to comply with the European Commission’s drive to greener EU datacentres Continue Reading
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News
17 Sep 2024
Toshiba follows the pack with launch of 24TB and 28TB HDDs
Several months behind Seagate and Western Digital, Toshiba achieves the maximum possible in commercial HDDs and benefits from a speed boost over its rivals Continue Reading
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News
13 Sep 2024
Municipal makeover: Indian cities embrace cutting-edge tech
From AI-powered stray dog management to blockchain-secured building permission certificates, municipal corporations across India are ditching outdated processes for digital tools Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Sep 2024
Kubernetes disaster recovery: Five key questions
We look at disaster recovery for Kubernetes environments, the key challenges to deployment of K8s DR, the risks we aim to mitigate, how to build a plan and the key infrastructure requirements Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Sep 2024
Storage technology explained: Vector databases at the core of AI
We look at the use of vector data in AI and how vector databases work, plus vector embedding, the challenges for storage of vector data and the key suppliers of vector database products Continue Reading
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Feature
04 Sep 2024
Cloud repatriation: How to do it successfully
The keys to reverse migration success include workload selection, how to prepare your on-premise infrastructure and future-proofing the decision to come back in-house Continue Reading
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Feature
03 Sep 2024
Key-value flash targets more efficient data storage
We look at key-value storage, which promises much greater I/O efficiency and longer flash drive lifespans, but may be constrained by limited use cases and lukewarm productisation efforts Continue Reading
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News
03 Sep 2024
Flash prices drop as drive production increases but demand lags
Flash prices were high in the early part of this year as a result of manufacturer production squeezes but have since dropped because demand has been slack, with flash now costing just under 10 cents per gigabyte Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Sep 2024
Storage technology explained: Kubernetes, containers and persistent storage
In this guide, we look at the market-leading container platform Kubernetes, how it works, the challenges with persistent storage and backup, and how they have been overcome Continue Reading
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Definition
29 Aug 2024
What is a transistor?
A transistor is a miniature semiconductor that regulates or controls current or voltage flow in addition to amplifying and generating these electrical signals and acting as a switch/gate for them. Continue Reading
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News
28 Aug 2024
Cambridge Enterprise saves big with Keepit SaaS backup
University innovation body avoids hardware spend and saves management time as it switches from tape to cloud-to-cloud backup, instant recovery and decades-long retention from Keepit Continue Reading
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News
27 Aug 2024
AI innovation key to UK business, but obstacles threaten progress
AI is seen by IT leaders as essential, but it requires innovation, skills and infrastructure – all of which are under pressure from day-to-day firefighting, energy costs and cyber threats Continue Reading
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News
21 Aug 2024
QiStor flashes key-value storage software for hardware acceleration
US-based startup will develop storage software allied with FPGA chips to allow data storage to bypass spinning disk era block addressing to speed performance and cut energy use Continue Reading
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Podcast
21 Aug 2024
Podcast: Ransomware and what data storage can do about it
We talk to NetApp’s Chris McKean about ransomware attacks and the role of data storage in protecting against them Continue Reading
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News
15 Aug 2024
ASEAN organisations lack mature AI strategy
IBM-commissioned study reveals that while ASEAN organisations are engaging with AI, only 4% have reached a transformative level of AI maturity Continue Reading
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Definition
13 Aug 2024
What is hardware as a service (HaaS)?
Hardware as a service (HaaS) is a procurement model that's similar to leasing or licensing. Hardware that belongs to a managed service provider (MSP) is installed at a customer's site and a service level agreement (SLA) defines the responsibilities of both parties. Continue Reading
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Podcast
13 Aug 2024
Podcast: Storage functionality in Kubernetes 1.31
We talk to Sergey Pronin of Percona about new storage functionality in Kubernetes 1.31, including volume attribute class and changes to persistent volumes, as well as other long-term fixes Continue Reading
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News
13 Aug 2024
Oracle Exadata Exascale: Big architecture shift for small workloads
Exascale is multitenant architecture for Oracle Database that promises performance equal to dedicated infrastructure and savings compared with existing products, with AI workloads in mind Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Aug 2024
AI interview: Thomas Dekeyser, researcher and film director
On the politics of ‘techno-refusal’, and the lessons that can be learned from a clandestine group of French IT workers who spent the early 1980s sabotaging technological infrastructure Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Aug 2024
Deep dive into quantum-resistant cryptography for email security
Quantum computers have the potential to crack many of the encryption methods we currently rely on to keep our digital communications safe. Quantum-resistant cryptography may be the answer Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Aug 2024
Kubernetes and storage in the enterprise: What the analysts say
We talk to analysts about Kubernetes adoption in the enterprise, how mature it is, deployment challenges and key obstacles to enterprises that want to go cloud-native with containers Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Aug 2024
Kubernetes at 10: CRDs at core of extensible, modular storage in K8s
We talk to VMware engineer Xing Yang, who saw Kubernetes storage evolve from the early days where its modular, extensible origins translated to Operators for storage and backup Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Jul 2024
Kubernetes at 10: The long road to mastery of persistent storage
Jan Safranek of Red Hat saw containers emerge as an exciting new way of deploying applications, but it took several additions to make it the mature enterprise platform it is today Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Jul 2024
Hybrid multicloud storage: Pros, cons and key workloads
We look at hybrid multicloud storage, making the best of on-premise and multiple cloud application locations, its key benefits, some pitfalls and the technologies to build it with Continue Reading
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Podcast
23 Jul 2024
Podcast: Sustainable data storage and how to achieve it
We talk to NetApp’s Grant Caley about data storage energy needs and how they can be reduced by use of QLC flash, efficient datacentre hardware and putting data on the right media Continue Reading
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News
22 Jul 2024
CrowdStrike chaos shows risks of concentrated ‘big IT’
The concentration of so much mission-critical technology in the hands of a few large suppliers makes incidents like the Microsoft-CrowdStrike outage all the more dangerous Continue Reading
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Feature
19 Jul 2024
Interview: Nvidia on AI workload demands and storage performance
We talk to Charlie Boyle of Nvidia about AI impacts on storage I/O, key performance metrics for storage for AI, and storage attributes required across differing AI workloads Continue Reading
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Feature
18 Jul 2024
Kubernetes at 10: From stateless also-ran to ‘platform to build platforms’
Sergey Pronin of Percona was all for ‘Kubernetes for stateless’ at a time when it was hard to provision storage and day-two services – then Operators and Stateful Sets came along Continue Reading
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News
16 Jul 2024
Cloud spend trumps AI but data, security and cost a common headache
Nasuni-sponsored survey finds cloud projects higher on the to do list than AI, but data management, security and cost reduction are common themes in all areas of investment Continue Reading
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Feature
15 Jul 2024
Cloud repatriation: What it is and when you can benefit
We look at the growing trend of cloud repatriation, why organisations repatriate data, the pros and cons, who can most benefit, and how to decide which data to move Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Jul 2024
Kubernetes at 10: When K8s ‘won’ and life now as a ‘surly teenager’
We talk to Datastax’s Patrick McFadin about Kubernetes’ success against competitors and how StatefulSet and operators solved key challenges, but why there are still obstacles to clear Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Jul 2024
Hybrid cloud storage vs on-premise: What data goes where?
We look at hybrid cloud in storage strategy, key benefits of the cloud vs on-premise storage, key workloads that suit the cloud and how to decide which workloads work best where Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Jul 2024
Deep dive: How Pure Fusion plans to implement storage classes
We spoke to Pure Storage founder John ‘Coz’ Colgrove about how Pure Storage’s Fusion control plane will make its capacity available to applications via pre-defined storage classes Continue Reading
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News
09 Jul 2024
Tony’s Chocolonely gains Salesforce comfort with Own SaaS backup
Tony’s Chocolonely sometimes lost Salesforce.com data and often hit storage limits, but cloud-to-cloud SaaS backup from Own allows it to easily recover customer data and archive old data Continue Reading
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News
08 Jul 2024
Synnovis attack highlights degraded, outdated state of NHS IT
More cyber attacks against the health service are likely, and will succeed if something isn’t done to address the increasingly elderly NHS IT estate, experts are warning Continue Reading
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News
02 Jul 2024
Interview: Nvidia on AI workloads and their impacts on data storage
We talk to Charlie Boyle of Nvidia about data challenges in artificial intelligence, key practical tips for AI projects, and demands on storage of training, inferencing, RAG and checkpointing Continue Reading
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News
01 Jul 2024
Nokia to acquire Infinera in $2.3bn deal
Nokia sees acquisition of open optical networking solutions provider to increase scale in optical networks business Continue Reading
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Podcast
28 Jun 2024
Podcast: Storage for AI needs scale, hybrid cloud and multiple integrations
We talk to NetApp’s Grant Caley about AI and data storage, the need for scale, performance and hybrid cloud, and to move, copy and clone data for wrangling for inference runs Continue Reading
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News
27 Jun 2024
Gulf Edge to operate Google Distributed Cloud in Thailand
The Gulf Energy subsidiary will offer Google’s sovereign cloud service in Thailand with a focus on air-gapped configurations Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Jun 2024
Kubernetes at 10: Building stateful app storage and data protection
Google engineer Michelle Au was involved in Kubernetes storage early, as the container orchestration platform was developed to support data protection operations such as snapshots Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Jun 2024
Pure’s storage as a service: We can offer what others can’t
All-flash storage vendor Pure makes bold claims about subscription pricing for storage, stating that the competition can’t offer what it can because its arrays are built for non-disruptive upgrades Continue Reading
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News
13 Jun 2024
AI’s environmental cost could outweigh sustainability benefits
Artificial intelligence can help organisations manage and mitigate their environmental impacts in a number of ways, but the highly polluting nature of the technology could outweigh its other sustainability benefits if not dealt with Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Jun 2024
Kubernetes at 10: Persistent storage matures, helped by Operators
Google engineer Saad Ali remembers the early days of Kubernetes, the storage challenges faced and overcome, and the revolution in application awareness that comes from Operators Continue Reading
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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
06 Jun 2024
Storage technology explained: Key questions about tape storage
We look at the benefits of tape storage – low cost, inherent security, excellent energy efficiency – the workloads it is best for, and how tape fits a wider storage strategy Continue Reading
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News
06 Jun 2024
Nvidia sees massive datacentre compute growth, says networking is next
After posting revenues of $19.4bn in its datacentre business, Nvidia is now looking to revolutionise ethernet interconnects Continue Reading
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News
05 Jun 2024
Bond University deploys Nutanix for on-premise servers
Australian university has migrated 700 on-premise servers to Nutanix following impending hardware refresh and desire to improve disaster recovery Continue Reading
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News
05 Jun 2024
HPE takes $4.5bn in enterprise IT AI server orders
The server company is prepping everything for greater enterprise artificial intelligence demand 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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Feature
29 May 2024
Storage technology explained: File, block and object storage
We ask the key questions about file, block and object storage: how they work on-premise and in the cloud, global file systems, and file and object locking Continue Reading
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News
28 May 2024
Executive Interview: Why Dell wants to be your one-stop AI shop
At Dell Technologies World in Las Vegas, artificial intelligence was the talk of the town as Dell staked out an all-encompassing strategy ahead of an anticipated goldrush. Dell’s Nick Brackney explains why the tech giant believes it's onto a winner 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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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
Dell Technologies World: AI at core of Dell’s next chapter
With a significant anniversary just passed, Dell CEO Michael Dell was in reflective mood as he looked ahead to the impact of artificial intelligence on the tech giant’s product stack Continue Reading
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News
20 May 2024
DataStax launches on-premise GenAI in ‘hyper-converged’ format
NoSQL database specialist adds generative AI for datacentre deployments where cloud is a no-no for cost, security or compliance reasons, with a focus on vector storage 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
QStar launches tape access from anywhere with Global ArchiveSpace
Tape veteran provides file and object access to Exabyte scale archives aimed at AI, high-performance computing and hyperscaler storage. Single-site for now, multi-site to follow 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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Feature
10 May 2024
Four key impacts of AI on data storage
We look at the key impacts of AI on data storage, including I/O and possible bottlenecks, how I/O differs across training and inference, plus data management and compliance concerns 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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News
07 May 2024
French MSP saves 30% on cloud costs as it deploys Cubbit
Cubbit’s distributed object storage turns on-site capacity into a sovereign and secure cloud. CloudReso.com uses it to supply its customers and save on fees from big cloud providers 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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Podcast
25 Apr 2024
Podcast: How to prepare your data for digital transformation
We talk to Chris Gorton, EMEA managing director at Syniti, about how to prepare data for digital transformation 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
23 Apr 2024
Five reasons why – and when – cloud storage is the answer
We look at when cloud storage can be the best choice, with considerations that include performance, scalability and agility, cost, management simplicity, and security and resilience Continue Reading
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News
22 Apr 2024
Fujifilm plans to ‘make tape easy’ with Kangaroo SME appliance
Fujifilm to add 100TB SME-focused Kangaroo tape infrastructure in a box to existing 1PB offer, as energy efficiency and security of tape make it alluring to customers Continue Reading
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News
16 Apr 2024
Leil wants to revive MAID as green storage tape substitute
MAID sought to provide energy-efficient disk storage with quicker access times than tape. Estonian startup Leil wants to supplant tape with green storage spin-down SMR drives Continue Reading