IBM buys Softlayer, for software defined infrastructures and clouds?

June 4, 2013 – 4:35 pm
IBM today announced that they are acquiring privately held Dallas Texas-based Softlayer and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provider. IBM is referring to this as Cloud without Compromise (read more about clouds, conversations and confidence here). It's about the management, flexibly, scale up, out and down, agility and valueware. Is this IBM's new software defined data center (SDDC) or software defined infrastructure (SDI) or software defined management (SDM), software defined cloud (SDC) or software defined storage (SDS) play? This is more than a software defined marketing or software defined buzzword announcement. If your view of software define ties into the theme of leveraging, unleashing resources, enablement, flexibility, agility of hardware, software or services, then you may see Softlayer as part of a software defined infrastructure. On the other hand, if your views or opinions of what is or is not software defined ...

Posted in announcement, backup, BC and DR, big data, Cloud, Comment, convergence, database, DCIM, I/O Networking, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, little data, metrics, Performance and Capacity, perspective, post, server, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, virtualization | No Comments »

Web chat Thur May 30th: Hot Storage Trends for 2013 (and beyond)

May 29, 2013 – 11:57 am
Join me on Thursday May 30, 2013 at Noon ET (9AM PT) for a live web chat at the 21st Century IT (21cit) site (click here to register, sign-up, or view earlier posts). This will be an online web chat format interactive conversation so if you are not able to attend, you can visit at your convenience to view and give your questions along with comments. I have done several of these web chats with 21cit as well as other venues that are a lot of fun and engaging (time flies by fast). For those not familiar, 21cIT is part of the Desum/UBM family of sites including Internet Evolution, SMB Authority, and Enterprise Efficiency among others that I do article posts, videos and live chats for. Sponsored by NetApp I like these types of sites in that while they have a sponsor, the content is generally kept separate between those ...

Posted in announcement, backup, BC and DR, big data, Cloud, convergence, Data archiving and preservation, Data footprint and proliferation reduction, Data protection, database, DCIM, Education, Green, I/O Networking, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, little data, metrics, object storage, Performance and Capacity, post, server, ssd, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, virtualization | No Comments »

May 2013 Server and StorageIO Update Newsletter

May 21, 2013 – 10:35 pm
May 2013 News letter Welcome to the May 2013 edition of the StorageIO Update. This edition has announcement analysis of EMC ViPR, Software Defined Storage (including a video here), server, storage and I/O metrics that matter for example how many IOPS can a HDD do (it depends). SSD including nand flash remains a popular topic, both in terms of industry adoption and customer deployment. Also included are my perspectives on the SSD vendor FusionIO CEO leaving in a flash. Speaking of nand flash, have you thought about how some RAID implementations and configurations can extend the life along with durability of SSD's? More on this soon, however check out this video to give you some perspectives. Click on the following links to view the May 2013 edition as (HTML sent via Email) version, or PDF versions. Visit the news letter page to view previous ...

Posted in announcement, BC and DR, big data, Cloud, Comment, convergence, Education, I/O Networking, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, little data, metrics, object storage, Performance and Capacity, perspective, pod cast, server, Site related, ssd, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, tools, virtualization | No Comments »

Part II: How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do with VMware?

May 19, 2013 – 10:12 pm
How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do? This is the second post of a two-part series looking at storage performance, specifically in the context of drive or device (e.g. mediums) characteristics across HDD, HHDD and SSD. In the first post the focus was around putting some context around drive or device performance with the second part looking at some workload characteristics (e.g. benchmarks). A common question is how many IOPS (IO Operations Per Second) can a storage device or system do? The answer is or should be it depends. Here are some examples to give you some more insight. For example, the following shows how IOPS vary by changing the percent of reads, writes, random and sequential for a 4K (4,096 bytes or 4 KBytes) IO size with each test step (4 minutes each). ...

Posted in convergence, I/O Networking, IT Infrastructure Topics, metrics, post, server, ssd, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, virtualization | 3 Comments »

How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do?

May 19, 2013 – 10:12 pm
How many IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do? A common question I run across is how many IOPS (IO Operations Per Second) can a storage device or system do or give. The answer is or should be it depends. This is the first of a two-part series looking at storage performance, and in context specifically around drive or device (e.g. mediums) characteristics across HDD, HHDD and SSD that can be found in cloud, virtual, and legacy environments. In this first part the focus is around putting some context around drive or device performance with the second part looking at some workload characteristics (e.g. benchmarks). What about cloud, tape, storage systems or appliance? Lets leave those for a different discussion at another time. Getting started Part of my interest in tools, metrics that matter, measurements, analyst, forecasting ties back to having been a server, storage and IO performance and capacity planning analyst when ...

Posted in big data, Cloud, convergence, database, IT Infrastructure Topics, little data, object storage, Performance and Capacity, post, server, ssd, Storage Architecture and Access, tools, virtualization | No Comments »

FusionIO (FIO) SSD vendor CEO out in a flash, whats up with that?

May 8, 2013 – 12:38 pm
FusionIO (FIO) who recently bought Nexgen to expand their reach from just a server centric to a more broad flash focus has seen their CEO and founder David Flynn race out the door. Not surprisingly, wall street who does not like to be surprised were surprised just a week or two after the most recent earning announcements reacted with a sell off of the FIO stock. Here is the conundrum, those who were or are fans of Flynn, FIO and their approach along with server centric in your face approach may not be happy with this move. On the other hand, those were not fans of Flynn, FIO and their approach of getting in your face of having others do so if you did not fall into their ranks may be happy with this move. One question is was Flynn shown the ...

Posted in announcement, Cloud, Comment, I/O Networking, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, little data, perspective, server, ssd, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access | No Comments »

EMC ViPR software defined object storage part III

May 7, 2013 – 11:28 am
This is part III in a series of posts pertaining to EMC ViPR software defined storage and object storage. You can read part I here and part II here. More on the object opportunity Other object access includes OpenStack storage part Swift, AWS S3 HTTP and REST API access. This also includes ViPR supporting EMC Atmos, VNX and Isilon arrays as southbound persistent storage in addition. Object (and cloud) storage access example EMC is claiming that over 250 VNX systems can be abstracted to support scaling with stability (performance, availability, capacity, economics) using ViPR. Third party storage will be supported along with software such as OpenStack Swift, Ceph and others running on commodity hardware. Note that EMC has some history with object storage and access including Centera and Atmos. Visit the micro site I have setup called www.objectstoragecenter.com and watch for more content ...

Posted in announcement, BC and DR, big data, Cloud, Comment, convergence, I/O Networking, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, little data, object storage, perspective, post, server, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, tools, virtualization | 5 Comments »

EMC ViPR software defined object storage part II

May 7, 2013 – 11:27 am
This is part II in a series of posts pertaining to EMC ViPR software defined storage and object storage. You can read part I here and part III here. Some questions and discussion topics pertaining to ViPR: Whom is ViPR for? Organizations that need to scale with stability across EMC, third-party or open storage software stacks and commodity hardware. This applies to large and small enterprise, cloud service providers, managed service providers, virtual and cloud environments/ What this means for EMC hardware/platform/systems? They can continue to be used as is, or work with ViPR or other deployment modes. Does this mean EMC storage systems are nearing their end of life? IMHO for the most part not yet, granted there will be some scenarios where new products will be used vs. others, or existing ones used in new ways for different things. As has been the case for years if not ...

Posted in announcement, BC and DR, big data, Cloud, convergence, I/O Networking, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, little data, object storage, perspective, post, server, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, tools, virtualization | 4 Comments »

EMC ViPR virtual physical object and software defined storage (SDS)

May 6, 2013 – 1:06 pm
Introducing EMC ViPR This is the first in a three part series, read part II here, and part III here. During the recent EMCworld event in Las Vegas among other things, EMC announced ViPR (read announcement here) . Note that this ViPR is not the same EMC Viper project from a few years ago that was focused on data footprint reduction (DFR) including dedupe. ViPR has been in the works for a couple of years taking a step back rethinking how storage is can be used going forward. ViPR is not a technology creation developed in a vacuum instead includes customer feedback, wants and needs. Its core themes are extensible, open and scalable. On the other hand, ViPR addresses plenty of buzzword bingo themes including: Agility, flexibility, multi-tenancy, orchestration Virtual appliance and control plane Data services and storage management ...

Posted in announcement, BC and DR, big data, Cloud, Comment, convergence, Education, I/O Networking, IT Infrastructure Topics, little data, news, object storage, perspective, post, server, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, tools, virtualization | 6 Comments »

April 2013 Server and StorageIO Update Newsletter

April 29, 2013 – 6:59 am
April 2013 News letter Welcome to the April 2013 edition of the StorageIO Update. This edition includes more on nand flash SSD, after all its not if, rather when, where, why, with what along with how much SSD is in your future. Also more on object storage, clouds, big data and little data, HDDs, SNW, backup/restore, HA, BC, DR and data protection along with data center topics and trends. You can get access to this news letter via various social media venues (some are shown below) in addition to StorageIO web sites and subscriptions. Click on the following links to view the April 2013 edition as (HTML sent via Email) version, or PDF versions. Visit the news letter page to view previous editions of the StorageIO Update. You can subscribe to the news letter by clicking here. Enjoy this edition of the StorageIO Update news ...

Posted in announcement, backup, BC and DR, big data, career tips, Cloud, convergence, DCIM, I/O Networking, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, object storage, pod cast, post, server, ssd, Storage Architecture and Access, tools, Travel, virtualization | No Comments »

Spring SNW 2013, Storage Networking World Recap

April 23, 2013 – 3:52 pm
A couple of weeks ago I attended the spring 2013 Storage Networking World (SNW) in Orlando Florida. Talking with SNIA Chairman Wayne Adams and SNIA Director Leo Legar this was the 28th edition of the US SNW (two shows a year), plus the international ones. While I have not been to all 28 of the US SNWs, I have been to a couple of dozen SNWs in the US, Europe and Brazil going back to around 2001 as an attendee, main stage as well as breakout, and tutorial presenter (see here and here). For the spring 2013 SNW I was there for a mix of meetings, analyst briefings, attending the expo, doing some podcasts (see below), meeting with IT professionals (e.g. customers), VARs, vendors along with presenting three sessions (you can download them and others here). Some of the buzz ...

Posted in backup, BC and DR, big data, Cloud, Comment, convergence, Data archiving and preservation, Data footprint and proliferation reduction, Data protection, Green, I/O Networking, indie music, IT Infrastructure Topics, little data, metrics, music, object storage, Performance and Capacity, perspective, pod cast, post, Power and Cooling, server, ssd, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, tools, Travel, virtualization | No Comments »

How a pressure cooker should be used for good things

April 21, 2013 – 10:01 pm
How a pressure cooker should be used for good things First, let me say condolences to those and their families that were killed and/or injured in the tragic terrorist act at the Boston marathon bombings this past week. Second, let me say thank you and congratulations to all of those involved in capturing one of the suspects and terminating another. This also goes to all of those who helped with tips and sending in large amounts of photos, video and other big data that was and is being used by investigators. Also best wishes to the prosecutors and their forensic investigators to tie the pieces together bringing the captured suspect to justice including determining a motive. Of course, also speedy recovery to those maimed or injured by the pressure cooker bombs. Let us talk about pressure cookers, and not in how they were used in ...

Posted in big data, Comment, Education, food, fun, news, perspective, post | 2 Comments »

Dave Demming talking tech education from SNW Spring 2013

April 17, 2013 – 11:17 pm
Now also available via This is a new episode in the continuing StorageIO industry trends and perspectives pod cast series (you can view more episodes or shows along with other audio and video content here) as well as listening via iTunes or via your preferred means using this RSS feed (http://storageio.com/StorageIO_Podcast.xml) In this episode from SNW Spring 2013in Orlando Florida, Bruce Ravid (@BruceRave) and me visit with our guest long time storage industry educator Dave Demming of Solution Technology. Our conversation covers learning and education, from instructor lead to self paced, now and in the future. We also discuss how to learn and transfer knowledge, self-improvement and career development, time management, SNIA and SNW along with FCIA, industry trends. Also discussed are music to learn with, expanding spheres of influence (and here) and keeping the mind active among other things. Speaking of learning new things, Dave tells us of ...

Posted in career tips, Education, I/O Networking, indie music, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, music, pod cast, post, Storage Architecture and Access, tools | No Comments »

HDS Claus Mikkelsen talking storage from SNW Fall 2012

April 17, 2013 – 11:14 pm
Now also available via This is a new episode in the continuing StorageIO industry trends and perspectives pod cast series (you can view more episodes or shows along with other audio and video content here) as well as listening via iTunes or via your preferred means using this RSS feed (http://storageio.com/StorageIO_Podcast.xml) In this episode from SNW Fall 2012 in Santa Clara, I am joined by my co-host Bruce Ravid (@BruceRave) of Ravid and Associates as we catch up with long time storage industry veteran Claus Mikkelsen (@YoClaus) and HDS Chief Scientist. Bruce and Claus meet for the first time having been around and probably passed each other in the halls at various events, hence, its a small world, however there is always opportunity to meet somebody new. We also chat about SNW past and present, data storage, technologies, networking with people, travel and of course with Claus, touch on wine. Note ...

Posted in BC and DR, IT Industry Activity, IT Infrastructure Topics, pod cast, post, Storage and Storage Management Tools, Storage Architecture and Access, Travel, virtualization | No Comments »

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