http://www.infoworld.com/t/2127 en http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/top-10-small-business-tech-predictions-2012-182237?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>For small and midsize businesses, 2011 was an eventful year for the owners and managers tasked with technology decisions. The year's highlights range from the arrival of new technologies such as the introduction of <a href="http://www.cio.com/article/668463/intel_s_thunderbolt_gets_off_the_ground" target="_blank">Intel's Thunderbolt</a> peripheral interface to the release of <a href="http://www.cio.com/article/692198/android_4.0_ice_cream_sandwich_best_new_features_for_business" target="_blank">Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich."</a></p> Cloud Computing Computer Hardware Microsoft Windows Mobile Technology Networking Storage The Industry Standard Virtualization Microsoft Windows IT Strategy Laptops Network-attached Storage Solid State Drives Storage Area Network Tablets Cloud computing Networking Virtualization Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:00:00 +0000 admin 182237 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/stec-announces-high-endurance-ssd-180444?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p><a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/topic/19/Storage" target="_blank">Storage</a> vendor STEC this week announced a high-performance drive that has three times the endurance capability of previous generation MLC-based SSDs (solid state drives).</p> <p>Using a fourth-generation flash controller and a new bit error correction code, STEC's new ZeusIOPS XE (Extreme Endurance) SSD can achieve at least 30 full capacity writes per day, every day, for five years, the company said.</p> Storage Network-attached Storage Solid State Drives Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:53:22 +0000 admin 180444 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/data-explosion/enabling-multisite-file-access-the-cloud-177452?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>If you run a multisite network, one of the most irritating problems to deal with is handling large amounts of distributed file-sharing data. The simplest and most often used solution is to place file servers or NAS devices at each site to handle local file sharing duties. But this has serious drawbacks.</p> Data Center Data Explosion Storage Backup and Recovery Cloud Storage Network-attached Storage Network Storage Cloud computing Storage Virtualization Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0000 Matt Prigge 177452 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/quantum-offers-deduplication-appliance-small-businesses-177142?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>Quantum this week unveiled a backup appliance for $5,139 that offers smaller businesses 8TB of capacity and data deduplication capabilities typically reserved for its higher end hardware.</p> <p>The Quantum NDX-8d NAS (network-attached storage) appliance can reduce storage requirements by up to 90 percent, according to the company.</p> Data Center Storage Backup and Recovery Data deduplication Disaster Recovery Network-attached Storage Tue, 25 Oct 2011 22:55:54 +0000 admin 177142 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/virtualization/emc-put-hardware-in-servers-vms-in-storage-177086?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>EMC held its user forum last week at the home of the New England Patriots, Gillette Stadium, using the opportunity to expound on its vision for virtualization and the cloud.</p> <p>One message that came through among several executive keynotes was that EMC will soon be selling hardware for servers while moving virtual servers onto its storage products.</p> Cloud Computing Virtualization EMC VMware Cloud Storage Network-attached Storage Private Cloud Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:26:31 +0000 admin 177086 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/data-explosion/red-hat-gluster-the-cloud-storage-monster-176850?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>Earlier this month, <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/virtualization/red-hat-fills-cloud-storage-gap-gluster-acquisition-175447">Red Hat announced it had acquired Gluster</a>, developer of the GlusterFS open source file system and the Gluster Storage Platform software stack.</p> Business Intelligence Cloud Computing Data Explosion Data Management Open Source Software Storage Cloud Storage Storage virtualization High-Performance Computing Network-attached Storage Private Cloud Network Storage Cloud computing Storage Virtualization Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0000 Matt Prigge 176850 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/emc-debuts-all-ssd-and-high-bandwidth-versions-vnx-arrays-176778?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>EMC today unveiled two upgrades to its VNX midrange array line, including an all solid-state drive (SSD) machine and a high-bandwidth model.</p> <p>EMC made the announcement at its customer forum at Gillette Stadium.</p> Data Center Storage EMC Network-attached Storage Solid State Drives Storage Area Network Data Center Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:37:20 +0000 admin 176778 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/nas-shoot-out-qnap-ts-659-pro-ii-turbo-nas-175911?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>The QNAP Turbo NAS became my favorite during the testing. What this unit lacks in special cloud features (see the <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/nas-shoot-out-iomega-storcenter-px6-300d-175526">Iomega</a> and <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/nas-shoot-out-netgear-readynas-pro-6-175759">Netgear</a> reviews), it makes up in performance and solid functionality. My feeling is that the QNAP would be best suited to a company that has a little more tech knowledge on hand, so the staff could take advantage of all that this box can do.</p> Storage Network-attached Storage Storage Server Storage Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0000 Doug Dineley 175911 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/nas-shoot-out-5-storage-servers-battle-business-176531?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>The entry-level NAS market is red hot. With prices dipping below $2,000 for a versatile storage server packing 10TB of disk, there's no wonder this market segment is witnessing extremely fast growth. Unfortunately for the business customer, it's also experiencing a lot of confusion.</p> Data Explosion Storage Network-attached Storage Storage Server Storage Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0000 Doug Dineley 176531 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/nas-shoot-out-iomega-storcenter-px6-300d-175526?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>The six-bay Iomega StorCenter px6-300d is the largest array you can get from Iomega before you venture into rack-mount servers, and it's just the kind of box you'd expect to see in a remote office or small to medium-sized business. Considering Iomega's parent EMC is a leader in the enterprise storage market, I had high expectations for this solution.</p> Data Explosion Storage Network-attached Storage Storage Server Storage Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0000 Doug Dineley 175526 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/nas-shoot-out-thecus-n5200xxx-176261?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>For many InfoWorld readers, the name Thecus will not be a familiar one. This Taiwan-based corporation has been around since 2004, and I remember when it showed off its first NAS in 2005. If you go to the Thecus website, you'll find an overwhelming number of different NAS options (about 30 at my last count). If you look at the market share numbers for NAS, Thecus is usually part of "other." This is unfortunate because these NAS boxes are little powerhouses.</p> Data Explosion Storage Network-attached Storage Storage Server Storage Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0000 Doug Dineley 176261 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/nas-shoot-out-netgear-readynas-pro-6-175759?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>Netgear is the leader in this segment of the NAS market, and it's easy to see why. The hardware is solidly built, and the software makes it quick and simple for almost anyone to get up and running quickly. Netgear also offers a wide variety of backup solutions to fit your needs. And while many of the competitors in this playing field are taking "everything but the kitchen sink" approaches, Netgear seems to be more clearly focused on the business customer.</p> Storage Network-attached Storage Storage Server Storage Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0000 Doug Dineley 175759 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/nas-shoot-out-synology-diskstation-ds1511-176262?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>I bought my first Synology NAS in 2006 -- the CS-406. The box was small, quiet, and better than the PC I was using as a do-it-myself file server. Speed was good and the product was well-designed. Much has changed in Synology products over the past six years, some for the good and some for the bad. The hardware is still solid and performance is still great, but I'm not sure I would recommend this NAS to a nontechnical business user. Other products in this class make setup and ongoing backup much easier.</p> Data Explosion Storage Network-attached Storage Storage Server Storage Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0000 Doug Dineley 176262 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/dell-ends-10-year-reseller-relationship-emc-176386?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>Dell announced it has ended a decadelong reseller relationship with EMC this month through which it sold more than a billion dollars worth of midrange and entry-level storage products.</p> <p>The reseller agreement, <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/64980/Dell_to_resell_EMC_midrange_storage_products?taxonomyId=019" target="_blank">which began in 2001</a>, has twice been renewed and was supposed to expire in 2013.</p> Storage Dell EMC Network-attached Storage Storage Management Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:54:32 +0000 admin 176386 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/ibm-roll-out-global-data-migration-engine-175785?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>IBM next week plans to unveil software that will allow data to be automatically migrated between storage tiers on an array and between arrays -- no matter where they are in the world.</p> <p>Speaking to Computerworld at the SNW conference in Orlando, IBM also said it plans to announce an upgrade to its midrange storage array -- now the Storwize V7000 Unified -- that allows it to perform file- and iSCSI-based, block-level data transfers using the same management interface.</p> Cloud Computing Data Center Storage IBM Cloud Storage Network-attached Storage Storage Management Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:17:34 +0000 admin 175785 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/data-explosion/vsphere-storage-appliance-the-fruit-conflict-interest-175366?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>As I mentioned in my <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/data-explosion/the-real-story-behind-vmworld-2011-171544">wrap-up of VMworld 2011</a>, one of the shiny new VMware products to hit the shelves this year is the vSphere Storage Appliance, or VSA. The VSA delivers SAN-like features to small businesses that may not have the budget, staffing, or technical sophistication to purchase a real SAN.</p> Data Center Data Explosion Storage Virtualization EMC VMware Hewlett-Packard (HP) Server Virtualization iSCSI Network-attached Storage Storage Area Network Storage Virtualization Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0000 Matt Prigge 175366 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/data-explosion/storage-load-balancing-vsphere-50-173840?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>Among the many improvements in VMware vSphere 5.0 is a new means to load balance virtual machine datastores: the Storage Dynamic Resource Scheduler, or Storage DRS. Like its pre-existing compute load-balancing counterpart (plain old DRS), Storage DRS promises to make managing large virtualization environments easier by taking some of the guesswork out of virtualization storage provisioning. But proceed with caution: Storage DRS can result in unintended consequences that may prevent customers who could most benefit from it from being able to use it at all.</p> Data Explosion EMC VMware Server Virtualization Network-attached Storage Storage Area Network Storage Management Storage Virtualization Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:00:00 +0000 Matt Prigge 173840 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/micron-unveils-its-first-entry-level-ssd-blade-servers-173169?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>Micron today released its first entry-level SSDs (solid state drives) aimed at being used as a boot drive in servers or for I/O intensive read applications, such as video streaming in cloud computing environments.</p> Computer Hardware Data Center Storage Network-attached Storage Solid State Drives Servers Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:02:07 +0000 admin 173169 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/storage/iomega-releases-new-12-bay-nas-array-170737?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>EMC subsidiary Iomega this week introduced a 12-bay, rack-mountable top-tier NAS (network-attached storage) array.</p> <p>The array is certified with all major hypervisor platforms and supports Hyper-V live data migration.</p> <p><strong>[ Doing storage virtualization right is not so simple. InfoWorld's expert contributors show you how to get it right in this "<a href="http://www.infoworld.com/storage-virt-deep-dive?idglg=ifwelg_fssr">Storage Virtualization Deep Dive</a>" PDF guide. ]</strong></p> Storage Network-attached Storage Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:40:31 +0000 admin 170737 at http://www.infoworld.com http://www.infoworld.com/d/data-explosion/the-good-and-bad-multiprotocol-storage-170348?source=rss_network-attached_storage <!--paging_filter--><p>Not long ago, most primary storage platforms were likely to support only a single storage protocol, generally either <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/data-explosion/fibre-channel-vs-iscsi-the-war-continues-806">iSCSI or Fibre Channel</a>. But now the increasing popularity of deduplication, wide availability of 10Gbps Ethernet, and lure of low-latency network convergence made possible by Fibre Channel over Ethernet have given the industry potent motivation to offer as much choice as it can.</p> Data Explosion Storage Data deduplication FibreChannel iSCSI Network Convergence Network-attached Storage Storage Area Network Storage Fabric Storage Management Storage Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:00:00 +0000 Matt Prigge 170348 at http://www.infoworld.com