Evaluate

Evaluate

Weigh the pros and cons of technologies, products and projects you are considering.

• 7 guidelines to secure network storage

  These practices, including firmware and VPN guidance, protect NAS devices. Use these steps as standalone procedures or incorporate them into your overall security process. Continue Reading

• Explore 7 software-defined storage companies

  Software-defined storage offerings are all over the map, in uses, features and types of platform. These seven software-defined storage companies include several IT giants. Continue Reading

• Data storage interview questions for your next storage role

  Data storage administrators must be able to adapt and optimize storage for evolving workloads and business needs. Here are some questions to prepare for in an interview. Continue Reading

• Understand the Intel Optane shutdown

  Intel's upcoming shutdown of Optane follows multibillion-dollar losses. However, some technology benefits came out of the IT giant's effort to improve storage performance. Continue Reading

• Compare software-defined storage vs. storage virtualization

  SDS and storage virtualization are two approaches that help storage teams efficiently and cost-effectively manage resources. Examine the differences between the two. Continue Reading

• TechTarget Storage Products of the Year 2022 nomination form

  Nominate your favorite or best storage products for the annual TechTarget Storage Products of the Year awards.Continue Reading

• TechTarget Storage Products of the Year judging criteria

  This article discusses how products are judged for the TechTarget Storage Products of the Year awards.Continue Reading

• Differences in scale-up vs. scale-out storage

  Scaling up and scaling out are both approaches to increase storage capacity. To decide which approach to take, consider short- and long-term requirements.Continue Reading

• Explore top AWS storage types for file, block, object

  There are several AWS storage types, but these four offerings cover file, block and object storage needs. Explore how the cloud storage choices compare with each other.Continue Reading

• Storage certifications to bolster your skills

  Storage admins looking to gain new skills or make better use of their vendor-supplied storage systems can look to certification and qualification courses.Continue Reading

• QLC vs. TLC SSDs: Which is best for your storage needs?

  QLC flash memory is best for most read-intensive workloads, while TLC is suited to write-dominant workloads. Discover how QLC vs. TLC NAND are coexisting in the data center.Continue Reading

• Key features of a distributed file system

  Distributed file systems enable users to access file data that is spread across multiple storage servers. A DFS should uphold data integrity and be secure and scalable.Continue Reading

• Pure Storage's focus shines at Pure Accelerate 2022

  At Pure Accelerate 2022, Pure Storage displayed its continued investment in R&D, coupled with new product releases. The vendor should continue to make a splash in flash.Continue Reading

• Choose the best Azure Blob Storage tier

  Hot, Cool or Archive -- where should Azure Blob Storage go? Each tier has its challenges, but don't panic if data is in the wrong one, with step-by-step directions for moving tiers.Continue Reading

• Inside the plan to enhance optical storage

  It's going to take some outside-of-the-box technology to help make up for the escalating increases in stored data. Could colored digital characters be an answer?Continue Reading

• Consider these 5 storage-as-a-service questions before buying

  Buy or lease? Subscription or consumption pricing? Ask these storage-as-a-service questions -- and others -- to decide if the tech is right for your organization.Continue Reading

• Explore 5 Microsoft Azure storage types before buying

  Some types of Azure storage are prevalent, such as Blob, but others are less well known. Your organization may have a use for each of the five detailed, so get to know each one.Continue Reading

• A guide to Microsoft Azure storage pricing

  Take a deep dive into the costs of Microsoft Azure cloud storage across several different types, including Blob and Files. Compare pricing with AWS and Google Cloud.Continue Reading

• SSD vs. SSHD vs. HDD: Which one is best?

  Hybrid drives promise fast, cost-effective performance for primary and secondary storage. Here's what you need to know about the benefits and drawbacks compared to SSDs and HDDs.Continue Reading

• The role of NVMe network storage for the future

  This chapter excerpt from 'Building a Future-Proof Cloud Infrastructure' examines the role networking and storage protocols, like NVMe, could have in the remote storage market.Continue Reading

• Composable infrastructure providers tackle modern workloads

  Composable infrastructure vendors include titans in IT like Dell and HPE, but also startups such as Fungible and Liqid. Explore product features and the tech's pros and cons.Continue Reading

• The best enterprise storage systems and products of 2021

  Thirty-nine finalists competed for top honors in the annual 'Storage' magazine and SearchStorage Products of the Year awards. Find out which won gold, silver and bronze.Continue Reading

• The best enterprise cloud storage of 2021

  Judges in this year's Products of the Year competition tap the best cloud storage products for enterprises, with unstructured file storage and Kubernetes storage taking honors.Continue Reading

• The best enterprise storage arrays of 2021

  Tintri, Infinidat and Dell EMC enterprise arrays win top honors in the Products of the Year disk and disk subsystems category for their use of flash and automation.Continue Reading

• The top data storage and management tools of 2021

  Software focused on large-scale data management and storage in expanding environments won in this year's Products of the Year storage system and application software category.Continue Reading

• Predictions for the top data storage trends of 2022

  The constant need to organize, analyze and protect the hoard of data collected by organizations is pushing technology to new heights. Are these four predictions on your watch list?Continue Reading

• NVMe-oF over IP: A complete SAN platform

  NVMe/TCP or NVMe/RoCE are technologies that can now provide complete SAN platforms with multiple cost structures and are able to support different customer requirements.Continue Reading

• Weigh these 6 enterprise benefits of storage as a service

  Storage as a service offers cloud procurement and remote management of on-premises storage. Benefits include scalability, utilitylike consumption pricing and storage optimization.Continue Reading

• 7 decentralized data storage networks compared

  Set to change the distributed data storage market, decentralized storage offers organizations a promising alternative to centralized cloud storage.Continue Reading

• Understand NVMe 2.0 specification and its related features

  NVMe 2.0 added several features for storage administrators to consider, including domain support. The specification also made enhancements, such as to Endurance Group Management.Continue Reading

• Compare file storage options in the cloud

  In the hot market of file storage in the public cloud, there are many options across some of the largest vendors. Performance is a major consideration.Continue Reading

• Top 5 data storage best practices include Teams, containers

  From Teams storage limits and cloud security out to the edge and container-native storage, this roundup of best practices provides a review of recent advice articles.Continue Reading

• Holographic data storage: Next big thing or bust?

  The latest work in holographic storage development approaches its uses in a different way. Take a deep dive into the possibilities and potential of this 3D storage.Continue Reading

• How can organizations manage Microsoft Teams storage limits?

  Microsoft Teams storage limits can be complex for organizations to track. Learn the details and how to add Microsoft 365 storage to avoid capacity problems.Continue Reading

• Why QLC flash adoption now benefits the enterprise

  While enterprises must overcome some obstacles with QLC, there is a solid case for its use. 3D NAND has played a big part in enabling QLC use within the enterprise.Continue Reading

• Flash memory guide to architecture, types and products

  Flash memory, a staple of consumer electronics, is playing a wider role in enterprise storage. This guide offers an overview of flash, from current use cases to future directions.Continue Reading

• Performance, reliability tradeoffs with SLC vs. MLC and more

  Learn the important capacity, performance and reliability differences between multilayer flash when it comes to adding SSD storage to your organization.Continue Reading

• Cache vs. RAM: Differences between the two memory types

  Cache memory and RAM both place data closer to the processor to reduce latency in response times. Learn why one can be faster, along with other key variables in cache vs. RAM.Continue Reading

• AWS Outposts vs. Azure Stack vs. Google Anthos hybrid storage

  Explore the essential buy-in, deployment, implementation and management factors organizations should consider when comparing these major hybrid cloud storage services.Continue Reading

• Explore the consumption-based IT and Opex storage landscape

  The evolving consumption IT, pay-as-you-go infrastructure and storage model is a hot trend. Explore benefits, challenges and five top vendors in the field.Continue Reading

• How the Container Storage Interface can aid Kubernetes use

  Compared to in-tree plugins, the Container Storage Interface simplifies Kubernetes integration with storage devices, but thorough testing of CSI drivers is a must.Continue Reading

• NVMe speeds vs. SATA and SAS: Which is fastest?

  The NVMe protocol is tailor-made to make SSDs fast. Get up to speed on NVMe performance and how it compares to the SATA and SAS interfaces.Continue Reading

• AHCI vs. RAID: Which is better for performance?

  The Advanced Host Controller Interface and RAID are fundamental concepts for running an efficient data management and storage infrastructure. Learn the AHCI and RAID basics.Continue Reading

• Next-generation PCIe key to composable infrastructure progress

  High-performance computing and AI environments are just two strong uses for composable architecture. Explore benefits and drawbacks of PCIe in composable systems.Continue Reading

• Boost array performance with Optane-ready products

  Explore a group of Optane-ready products to improve storage performance. In addition, there are other options beyond self-managed hardware for the same purpose.Continue Reading

• Work around NVMe storage controller drive limitations

  Innovation in the storage and memory market helps with the challenge of NVMe drive limits. Be sure to make the right comparisons and scale out effectively.Continue Reading

• Explore storage orchestration services, benefits, challenges

  Orchestration and automation can aid storage management. Here, dive into technical details of orchestration, including containers and Kubernetes, and how it can help.Continue Reading

• Data storage management: What is it and why is it important?

  Effective data storage management is more important than ever, as security and regulatory compliance have become even more challenging and complex over time.Continue Reading

• Object vs. block vs. file storage: Which is best for cloud apps?

  Object, file and block storage often vie for the hearts and minds of cloud app users. Making the right choice can have a profound effect on app performance, reliability and cost.Continue Reading

• Build a cloud-ready, global distributed file system

  Organizations that want to extend traditional network file shares across data centers, branch offices and public cloud infrastructure have many options.Continue Reading

• Consider these container-native storage features, vendors

  Container-based applications have a major effect on storage. It's important to assess the benefits, functionalities and providers of container storage.Continue Reading

• Data storage management advantages and challenges explained

  Although establishing a data storage management strategy can be difficult, with increasingly distributed and complex systems, it offers several benefits to the organization.Continue Reading

• An overview of Microsoft Project Silica and its archive use

  Microsoft's Project Silica stores data in silica glass, similar to the crystals in 'Superman' films. In fact, 'Superman' already played a major role in the forward-looking project.Continue Reading

• A primer on DNA data storage and its potential uses

  DNA storage isn't just a futuristic concept -- many companies are actively involved in its development and promotion. There's a major use case in data archiving.Continue Reading

• Explore the challenges, benefits of provisioned IOPS storage

  IT admins who want the flexibility to provision IOPS independently from capacity can turn to certain software-defined storage and cloud services offerings.Continue Reading

• How do data processing units support enterprise storage?

  While only a small number of hardware vendors offer DPUs, the technology has significant implications for IT storage systems -- and the admins who manage them.Continue Reading

• A close look at NetApp Cloud Volumes Service for Google Cloud

  Compared to other versions of the NetApp Cloud Volumes Service, the software-defined edition on Google Cloud has some key distinctions that IT admins should note.Continue Reading

• Set up persistent storage for containers in the cloud

  All the major cloud vendors offer containers as a service. There are various ways IT admins can enable persistent storage for these flexible environments.Continue Reading

• How can ransomware attack cloud storage?

  A ransomware attack on cloud storage can have catastrophic effects. Cloud storage is still online, which means it is susceptible to some cyberattacks, so users must be careful.Continue Reading

• 7 signs a small business should shift from NAS to SAN

  Take a deep dive into seven reasons, including performance issues and scalability demands, an SMB would want to ditch NAS in favor of entry-level SAN.Continue Reading

• How edge object storage aids distributed computing

  Object storage is living on the edge. Explore how edge object storage works, why vendors pair it with NVMe and flash SSDs, and the benefits it provides.Continue Reading

• Young Superwomen in Flash: What Is Their Situation?

  The SuperWomen in Flash Leadership Award winner discusses key issues for women in the storage industry and young women in the industry share their professional journeys and more.Continue Reading

• Storage for AI in 2025 and How We Got There

  AI applications will become more prevalent, and storage systems will have to be designed specially to meet their needs. Discover what storage for AI will look like in 2025.Continue Reading

• FMS Special Presentation: UC Santa Cruz School of Engineering

  In this short presentation, learn about The Baskin School of Engineering at UC Santa Cruz, their two leading storage research centers and how your organization can get involved with them.Continue Reading

• SuperWomen in Flash Panel

  SuperWomen in Flash award winners discuss their professional roles and how they got there, opportunities in the storage industry for women, and future plans.Continue Reading

• SmartNICs: The Key to High-Speed Converged Networks

  The SmartNIC can improve both throughput and scalability, and can provide a variety of functions, including cybersecurity, storage functions such as deduplication and mirroring, and more. This is a discussion exploring the topic.Continue Reading

• Performance at Scale for Model Training

  An AI leader explores how AI and machine learning applications are different than traditional file-based applications, performance at scale of model training and more.Continue Reading

• Getting Serious About Containers and Flash Memory

  The common use of containers to speed up distributed applications is transforming data centers all over, but what is the effect on storage? Explore how containers are being used today with flash-based storage systems.Continue Reading

• IT Brand Pulse Awards

  IT professionals were surveyed across six categories of brand leadership. Here are the vendors that IT pros selected as innovation leaders for 2020.Continue Reading

• Next Great Breakthrough in Flash Memory

  Breakthroughs in flash memory keep occurring, and advances raise density and speed and decrease costs. What will be next with flash products? Will it be multiple levels beyond QLC? Here is a panel discussion among five leaders who dig into flash ...Continue Reading

• SPI NAND Host-Side Error Correction

  Error code correction is a key technology for maintaining reliability and extending memory longevity in SPI NAND flash. Compare integrated and host-based ECC by looking at three major areas.Continue Reading

• Open Source Processors for Next-Generation Storage Controllers

  Open source software tools are enabling a high level of innovation for storage controllers and data center architectures. Here is an introduction to storage controller SoC devices and more.Continue Reading

• Analyzing the Effects of Storage on AI Workloads

  Wes Vaske, a principal storage solutions engineer, discusses some of the challenges and methods for overcoming unique challenges for architecting storage systems for AI workloads.Continue Reading

• Using Software to Improve the Performance and Endurance of High-Capacity SSDs

  NAND flash technologies with more levels per cell deliver larger SSDs at much lower per-bit cost, but strength and performance can suffer. Here, you will find insights on how you can use machine learning and AI to enhance endurance of QLC.Continue Reading

• Using Computational Storage to Handle Big Data

  Computational storage examples already in use illustrate ways to overcome bandwidth and data processing issues. Find out about other promising directions to explore for the future as well.Continue Reading

• Using PM and Software-Defined Architectures to Optimize AI/ML Workloads

  Explore how you can close AI, machine learning and analytics workload performance gaps using persistent memory and software-defined architectures.Continue Reading

• Hands-On Testing of Persistent Memory's Effects on Analytics Performance

  What is persistent memory and how does it work? Look at the basics here, as well as a review of the Intel Optane implementation and some real-world persistent memory examples.Continue Reading

• Keys to Making Computational Storage Work in Your Applications

  Computational storage applications require careful analysis, and the trade-offs will generally be increased cost vs. increased performance. Learn about real-world deployments from different companies in the market.Continue Reading

• Flexible Computational Storage Solutions

  Learn how you can simplify and provide hardware and software flexibility in computational storage architectures, the breadth of software options to unlock the benefits of computational storage and more.Continue Reading

• Flash Memory Technologies and Costs Through 2025

  You will learn how flash memory technology and design changes are dramatically shifting who the cost leaders are and some of the challenges in the market.Continue Reading

• Scaling of New Memory Technologies Used for Persistent Memory

  New memory technologies are gaining wide interest as persistent memory in storage systems. Here, you will find a review of different memory in the market and their characteristics, scaling challenges and more.Continue Reading

• What Do Users Need to Know About Next-Generation Form Factors?

  Learn about challenges organizations face in terms of storage performance and meeting application needs while juggling other responsibilities, including managing budgets and rack space.Continue Reading

• Best Storage Strategies for AI and ML

  Learn about what has changed with artificial intelligence (AI) from a storage perspective and AI trends to know, including some insights on the motivation behind computational storage and training.Continue Reading

• Annual Update on Computational Storage

  Computational storage allows data to reside close to processing power, thus allowing processing tasks to be in-line with data accesses. Stay on top of the IT architecture by reviewing this update.Continue Reading

• Annual Flash Update -- The Pandemic's Impact

  Will COVID-19 lead to a flash market collapse? Will 3D XPoint memory undermine SSDs? Will SSDs finally displace the HDD? Find out how the market is faring today and its outlook.Continue Reading

• Flash Memory Summit 2020 Sessions From Day Three

  In this FMS on-demand content library, delve into storage trends and updates -- from computational storage to artificial intelligence and machine learning and more.Continue Reading

• Will QLC Flash Replace Hard Drives?

  Will QLC flash replace hard drives everywhere? Are its capacities high enough and its cost low enough to make hard drives obsolete? This panel discussion explores key questions around QLC flash.Continue Reading

• Accelerating Flash for a Competitive Edge in the Cloud and Beyond

  Explore what changes to NAND SSD data placement and management mean for real-life apps focusing on the most popular NoSQL databases which are largely used in the cloud, the different configurations, and more.Continue Reading

• Where the New High-Speed Interfaces Fit and How They Work Together

  This panel discussion explores the new CXL and Gen-Z interfaces that allow for the ultra-high-speed connection of all kinds of new technologies, including accelerators, coprocessors, memories and other devices.Continue Reading

• Top Five Ways Ethernet SSDs Can Improve Storage Solutions

  Ethernet-attached SSDs offer a simple way to boost storage performance and decrease cost. This panel discussion explores ways to connect SSDs to a network.Continue Reading

• Using the New EDSFF (E3) SSDs Effectively

  The new EDSFF form factors allow higher system density and more effective forms for high-performance racks. Here is an overview of the specifications and status of EDSFF E3.x and insights on effective use.Continue Reading

• The Role of Flash in Enterprise Data Protection

  IDC research director Phil Goodwin delves into how customers are using flash to meet evolving data protection requirements, the business benefits this brings to the table and more.Continue Reading

• Speed Dating With PM Application Developers

  Here are three use cases highlighting the motivation for using persistent memory and the delivered results. Learn about how a memory startup, a social networking company and a cloud and enterprise software provider all use persistent memory.Continue Reading

• Technical and Market Directions for Persistent Memory

  Learn how persistent memory is evolving, how it is maximizing performance in next generation applications, and explore market growth projections.Continue Reading

• Solid-State Storage Developments

  IDC's Jeff Janukowicz explores solid-state storage. Dive into recent SSD developments, how SSDs will continue to reshape the enterprise landscape and five things you should know about enterprise solid-state storage.Continue Reading

• Storage Processors Accelerate Database Operations

  Storage processors with industry-standard SSDs can add value for many data-intensive applications. Here is a look at how you can use storage processors to speed up data workload.Continue Reading

• NVMe at Scale: A Radical New Approach to Improve Performance and Utilization

  Here is your introduction on how apps can transform by making the right infrastructure choices that enable NVMe to scale, with minimum limitations, HPC and next-gen HCI use cases and more.Continue Reading

• Software and Services Define Future Infrastructure Consumption

  Here is a look at public cloud growth, some of the trends behind the increasing demand for storage performance from public cloud, use cases, what that means for partners in this ecosystem and more.Continue Reading

• Relevant New Storage Technologies for Digitally Transforming Enterprises

  Eric Burgener, research VP in the infrastructure systems group at IDC, explores digital transformation trends from the storage perspective and new storage technologies involved in today's digital transformation movement.Continue Reading

• Optimizing SSD Performance With AI and Real-World Workloads

  Here is a real-world use of AI methods on advanced XL-flash SSDs in which a recurrent neural network serves as the underlying model and produces substantial performance improvements.Continue Reading