Tag: VAR

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Data Infrastructure IT Industry Related Resource Links K to O

Data Infrastructure IT Industry Related Resource Links K to O

IT Data Center and Data Infrastructure Industry Resources

Updated 2/20/2018

Following are some useful Data Infrastructure IT Industry Resource Links K to O to cloud, virtual and traditional IT data infrastructure related web sites. The data infrastructure environment (servers, storage, IO and networking, hardware, software, services, virtual, container and cloud) is rapidly changing. You may encounter a missing URL, or a URL that has changed. This list is updated on a regular basis to reflect changes (additions, changes, and retirement).

Disclaimer and note: URL’s submitted for inclusion on this site will be reviewed for consideration and to be in generally accepted good taste in regards to the theme of this site.

Best effort has been made to validate and verify the data infrastructure URLs that appear on this page and web site however they are subject to change. The author and/or maintainer(s) of this page and web site make no endorsement to and assume no responsibility for the URLs and their content that are listed on this page.

Software Defined Data Infrastructure Essentials Book SDDC

Send an email note to info at storageio dot com that includes company name, URL, contact name, title and phone number along with a brief 40 character description to be considered for addition to the above data infrastructure list, or, to be removed. Note that Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC (e.g. StorageIO) does not sell, trade, barter, borrow or share your contact information per our Privacy and Disclosure policy. View related data infrastructure Server StorageIO content here, and signup for our free newsletter here.

Links A-E
Links F-J
Links K-O
Links P-T
Links U-Z
Other Links

  • kaminario.com    Scale out high performance database server
  • kanbox.com    Chineese cloud provider
  • kaseya.com    IT Infrastructure resource management tools
  • kashya.com    Data Protection Solutions (Bought by EMC)
  • kastenchase.com    Data and information security solutions
  • kazeon.com    eDiscovery, search, indexing, classification (Bought by EMC)
  • kcura.com    eDiscovery tools
  • Kerstor.com    Cloud storage
  • kickfire.com    Business analytics tools
  • kineticd.com    Storage and data protection solutions
  • Kingston.com    Memory manufacturer
  • KLSecurity.com    Data protection solutions
  • komnetworks.com    Archiving solutions
  • k-par.com    Archiving solutions
  • ksplice.com    Linux management tools
  • Kubisys.com    Virtualization management tools
  • KVH Co. Ltd.    AWS connect parter, Hosting/cloud/access services
  • kvsinc.com    Email archiving and compliance software
  • lacie.com    Consumer, SOHO and SMB NAS and DAS storage (Bought by Seagate)
  • laconicsecurity.com    Cloud security and storage
  • lampertz.com    Environmental and data center protection
  • laurustech.com    Managed services provider
  • lecroy.com    Analyzers, probes and diagnostics
  • lefthandnetworks.com    iSCSI clustered storage (Bought by HP)
  • legato.com    Storage management software (Bought by EMC)
  • Lenovo   Servers, storage, workstations
  • Level 3 Communications    AWS connect parter, Hosting/cloud/access services
  • lexar.com    Flash memory
  • liebert.com    Data center power and cooling systems (Bought by Emerson)
  • Lightower    AWS connect parter, Hosting/cloud/access services
  • lightsand.com    SAN connectivity
  • likewise.com    Open backup software for macs/Linux/windows
  • liquidcomputing.com    High density servers
  • liquidcoolsolutions.com    Liquid cooled servers
  • Liquidware Labs   Desktop management solutions
  • livedrive.com    Cloud storage and backup
  • www.liveoffice.com    Cloud and Email hosting
  • LiveVault.com    Online cloud backup service (Bought by IronMountain)
  • locknet-inc.com    Security and network management
  • Lockstep.com    Backup and data protection tools
  • logicube.com    Hard drive copy tools
  • LoginVSI   VDI Testing solutions
  • losttapes.org    Portal pertaining to lost magnetic tape information
  • lsi.com    Storage and networking chips and controllers (Bought by Avago)
  • lto-technology.com    Information about LTO tape media
  • lucent.com    Networking components
  • lumigent.com    Compliance management tools
  • luminex.com    S390 IBM Mainframe to open systems gateways
  • luxtera.com    High speed network and storage interconnects
  • m5data.com    VAR
  • MagePlace Backup    Backup and data protection solutions
  • Maginatics.com    Storage for virtual environments
  • magma.com    PCIe and storage solutions
  • mainline.com    VAR
  • Maintech    Infrastructure services
  • maintech.com    IT Servers and solutions
  • Maldivica    Cloud and object storage gateway
  • ManageEngine    DCIM, data center and networking management
  • maponics.com    Mapping data solutions
  • MAPR   Hadoop and Big Data Tools

  • maranti.com    Storage systems
  • marconi.com    Networking equipment
  • marvell.com    Data storage components
  • Masergy    AWS connect parter, Hosting/cloud/access services
  • Mathon.com    eDiscovery
  • maxava.com    HA tools for IBM iSeries
  • maxell.com    Data storage media
  • maxim-ic.com    Data storage components and solutions
  • maxiscale.com    Web infrastructure scale out file system
  • Maxta   Virtualization storage
  • maxtor.com    Disk drives (Bought by Seagate)
  • maxxan.com    Storage systems (Now Ciphermax)
  • mcdata.com    Switches, WAN gateways, software (Bought by Brocade)
  • mediagateusa.com    HD Video streaming appliance
  • Meditech.com    Medical information technology software
  • Megaport    AWS connect parter, Hosting/cloud/access services
  • mellanox.com    Ethernet and InfiniBand technology
  • Memeo.com    Data and content management tools
  • Mendocino.com    CDP and data protection (Missing in Action)
  • metalogix.net    Sharepoint archiving solutions
  • methode.com    Storage networking transceivers
  • mezeo.com    Cloud storage management tools
  • micron.com    SSD storage solutions
  • micronet.com    Storage solutions
  • microsoft.com    Hyper-V virtualizaiton, Windows Storage Server, Azure Cloud, Storsimple, SkyDrive (aka OneDrive) and more
  • midwave.com    Var
  • Mimecast email management including archiving
  • Mimosasystems.com    Email protection and archiving (Bought by Iron Mountain)
  • mindtree.com    Testing services
  • Mirantis    OpenStack tools, downloads, service and support
  • Miray HDClone    Storage clone and data protection tools
  • mirra.com    SMB storage sharing
  • mobiuspartners.com    VAR
  • Modius    DCIM power, cooling and monitoring
  • moka5.com    VDI tools
  • MongoDB    Open source document optimized database
  • Monitis.com    IT Monitoring and services (applications, systems, clouds and more)
  • Monosphere.com    Storage planning and usage software (Bought by Quest)
  • moonwalk.com    HSM, ILM and data management software
  • morphlabs.com    Dense converged server platforms
  • mosaictec.com    Value added reseller (VAR)
  • mosys.com    High density memory components
  • mpstor.com    Cloud storage and orchestration software
  • msiinet.com    VAR
  • mti.com    European VAR
  • mtron.net    Solid state storage devices
  • My Digital SSD    SSD solutions
  • NAKIVO    Backup and data protection tools
  • napatech.com    Network tools and analysis
  • naspa.org    System administrator’s user group
  • nasuni.com    Cloud storage access appliance
  • ncino.com    Banking and financial deployment platform
  • ncipher.com    Data protection and security solutions (Bought by Thales)
  • ncompass-inc.com    VAR and services firm
  • ncr.com    Servers and storage solutions
  • ndci.com    Data conversion services
  • ndmp.org    Trade organization for NDMP backup protocol
  • neartek.com    VTL software (Bought by EMC)
  • nebulassolutions.com    Security and data protection
  • NEC.com    Servers and storage
  • neopathnetworks.com    Network file management solutions (Bought by Cisco)
  • neoscale.com    Storage networking security (Assets Bought by nCipher)
  • nephoscale.com    Cloud and object storage
  • NeptunesCloud.net    Cloud IaaS solutions
  • www.neptuny.com    Performance and capacity planning tools
  • nerc.com    North American Electrical Reliability Council
  • netcelera.com    WAN File system caching and acceleration
  • netcomm.com.au    Broadband service provider
  • netdirectsystems.com    VAR
  • neterion.com    High performance iSCSI and Ethernet 10Gb technology Bought by Exar)
  • netex.com    IP compression and channel extension
  • netezza.com    Big Data – Data warehouse storage solutions (Bought by IBM)
  • Netgear.com    SOHO and SMB storage and networking
  • NetIQ    Data center, security, identify and data protection management
  • netlist.com    Memory solutions
  • netoptics.com    Network monitoring
  • netronome.com    Network and I/O optimization technology
  • netspi.com    Network security and digital forensics
  • networkappliance.com    Storage sub-systems, management software
  • networkgeneral.com    Network and application monitoring
  • networkinstruments.com    Network test and diagnostic and performance monitoring
  • netwrix.com    Enterprise systems management tools
  • netxen.com    High performance 10Gb Ethernet chips and NICs
  • neuwingenergy.com    Energy management organization
  • neuxpower.com    File compression and data reduction
  • Neverfailgroup.com    HA software
  • nevex.com    Caching and application acceleration
  • newboundary.com    IT policy management and IRM tools
  • newisys.com    Storage enclosures
  • newrelic.com    Web, cloud and application management
  • nexenta.com    ZFS based storage management solutions
  • nexgenstorage.com    Storage with PCIe flash card
  • nexsan.com    SAS/SATA and MAID storage subsystems (Bought by Imaiton)
  • nextio.com    SSD and application acceleration solutions
  • NexusMN / Computex    VAR (e.g. Formerly Nexus MN and Stratos – now Computex)
  • nfpa.org    National Fire Protection Association
  • nicira.com    Software defined networking and IOV (Bought by VMware)
  • nimblestorage.com    Converged iSCSI SAN, backup and DR
  • nimbula.com    Cloud and application orchestration management tools
  • Nimbusdata.com    iSCSI storage
  • nirvanix.com    Cloud storage provider (Ceased operations)
  • njvc.com    Cloud and technology service provider
  • Nylte    DCIM software tools
  • noggin.intel.com/rr/    Intel Recommended Reading List
  • noliosoft.com    Cloud application management tools
  • Norlight.com    Data communications and services
  • nortel.com    Networking products
  • nortelnetworks.com    Optical networking
  • northernsoft.com    Medical software
  • novastor.com    Backup and cloud data protection tools
  • Novell.com    Server software vendor (Bought by Attachmate)
  • Novuscg.com    Storage management and services (Bought by IBM)
  • Nomura Research Institute (NRI)    AWS connect parter, Hosting/cloud/access services
  • nsic.org    National Storage Industry Consortium
  • ntp.com    Storage Management Software
  • NTT Communications Corporation    AWS connect parter, Hosting/cloud/access services
  • numarasoftware.com    IT Resource management, asset tracking tools
  • numonyx.com    SSD memory solutions
  • nutanix.com    Converged server and storage VM platform
  • nvelo.com    Caching IO performance tools
  • nvidia.com    Graphics and visualization tools
  • ocarinanetworks.com    Data reduction and compression tools (Bought by Dell)
  • ocztechnology.com    SSD drives and PCIe cards (Bought by Toshiba after bankruptcy)
  • offsitebackups.com    Online and cloud backup solutions
  • olixir.com    Removable storage for backup and data protection
  • omneon.com    Archiving and fixed content storage solutions
  • onapp.com    Cloud, CDN and storage tools
  • onaro.com    Storage and Storage Network Management (Bought by NetApp)
  • onlinebackupsearch.com    Various online backup reviews
  • oblinecourses.com    Various online education courses for various topics
  • onpathtech.com    Physical layer networking
  • onstor.com    Clustered NAS storage including NAS gateways (Bought by LSI)
  • Ontrack.com    Email and data protection software
  • OO Software   Windows management and data protection tools
  • opalis.com    Virtual data center management tools
  • OpenCompute   OpenCompute consortium
  • opendatacenteralliance.org    Open Data Center Alliance
  • open-e.com    iSCSI and NAS storage
  • Open.IO    Application aware object and bulk scale out software defined storage
  • openfabrics.org    Open Fabric Alliance
  • OpenNebula    Open source cloud software
  • opennetworking.org    Open Networking Foundation
  • OpensourceSystems.com    Data storage solutions
  • OpenStack   Open source cloud compute and storage software
  • opnet.com    Application and network performance management
  • Opsware.com    Network and storage management (HP)
  • Optica Tech.    Server and storage connectivity including FICON
  • opticatech.com    Mainframe and ESCON encryption
  • oracle.com    Data management software, hardware and services (Bought Sun/STK and others)
  • Ortera.com    Performance monitoring and management
  • OSNEXUS   Quantstor ZFS based Storage management solutions
  • Outsource Data Recovery   Data Recovery services
  • overlandstorage.com    Tape and backup, data retention, NAS solutions
  • owncloud.org    Cloud infrastructure tools

Where To Learn More

View additional NAS, NVMe, SSD, NVM, SCM, Data Infrastructure and HDD related topics via the following links.

Additional learning experiences along with common questions (and answers), as well as tips can be found in Software Defined Data Infrastructure Essentials book.

Software Defined Data Infrastructure Essentials Book SDDC

What This All Means

Visit the following additional data infrastructure and IT data center related links.

Links A-E
Links F-J
Links K-O
Links P-T
Links U-Z
Other Links

Ok, nuff said, for now.

Gs

Greg Schulz – Microsoft MVP Cloud and Data Center Management, VMware vExpert 2010-2017 (vSAN and vCloud). Author of Software Defined Data Infrastructure Essentials (CRC Press), as well as Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press), Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier) and twitter @storageio. Courteous comments are welcome for consideration. First published on https://storageioblog.com any reproduction in whole, in part, with changes to content, without source attribution under title or without permission is forbidden.

All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO. All Rights Reserved. StorageIO is a registered Trade Mark (TM) of Server StorageIO.

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Various cloud, virtualization, server, storage I/O poll’s

The following are a collection of on-going industry trends and perspectives poll’s pertaining to server, storage, IO, networking, cloud, virtualization, data protection (backup, archive, BC and DR) among other related themes and topics.

In addition to those listed below, check out the comments section where additional poll’s are added over time.

Storage I/O Industry Trends and Perspectives

Here is a link to a poll as a follow-up to a recent blog post Are large storage arrays dead at the hands of SSD? (also check these posts pertaining to storage arrays and SSD and flash SSD’s emerging role).

Poll: Are large storage arrays day’s numbered?

Poll: What’s your take on magnetic tape storage?

Poll: What do you think of IT clouds?

Poll: Who is responsible for cloud storage data loss?

Poll: What are the most popular Zombie technologies?

Storage I/O Industry Trends and Perspectives

Poll: What’s your take on OVA and other alliances?

Poll: Where is most common form or concern of vendor lockin?

Poll: Who is responsible for, or preventing vendor lockin?

Poll: Is vendor lockin a good or bad thing?

Poll: Is IBM V7000 relevant?

Storage I/O Industry Trends and Perspectives

Poll: What is your take on EMC and NetApp on similar tracks or paths?

Poll: What’s your take on RAID still being relevant?

Poll: What do you see as barriers to converged networks?

Poll: Who are you?

Poll: What is your preferred converged network?

Storage I/O Industry Trends and Perspectives

Poll: What is your converged network status?

Poll: Are converged networks in your future?

Poll: What do you think were top 2009 technologies, events or vendors?

Poll: What technologies, events, products or vendors did not live up to 2009 predictions?

Storage I/O Industry Trends and Perspectives

Poll: What do you think of IT clouds?

Poll: What is your take on the new FTC blogger disclosure guidelines?

Poll: Is RAID dead?

Poll: When will you deploy Windows 7? Note: I upgraded all my systems to Windows 7 during summer of 2011

Poll: EMC and Cisco VCE, what does it mean?

Poll: Is IBM XIV still relevant?

Storage I/O Industry Trends and Perspectives

Note: Feel free to share, use and make reference to the above poll’s and their results however please remember to attribute the source.

Ok, nuff said for now

Cheers Gs

Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press, 2011), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press, 2009), and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier, 2004)

twitter @storageio

All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2012 StorageIO and UnlimitedIO All Rights Reserved

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What do VARs and Clouds as well as MSPs have in common?

What do VARs and Clouds as well as MSPs have in common?

Several things it turns out:

  • Some Value Added Resellers (VARS) (links to VAR related content and comments here, here and here) sell cloud services or solutions
  • Some VARs are also cloud or managed solutions providers (MSPs) themselves, thus some cloud or MSPs are VARs
  • Some VARs, cloud and MSPs compete on lowest or cheapest price
  • Some VARs, cloud and MSPs have diverse product offering portfolios
  • Some VARs, cloud and MSPs compete on value (e.g. not price)
  • Some VARs, cloud and MSPs value is in the trust, security and peace of mind that they provide to their client

For some, the value of a given VAR, cloud or MSP is the ability to shop around for a resource to get the lowest price.

For others, the value of a given VAR, cloud or MSP is the ability to get the best value which may not be the lowest price rather the most effective overall cost per services with trust, security, experience and peace of mind provided.

Value to often is confused with being cheap or lowest cost.

Value can also mean a higher price that includes more thus providing a better effective option (e.g. super size it).

On the other hand, higher priced should not be confused with always being a better product, service or solution.

You may find that the initial low cost requires other add on fees or activation charges, surcharges for use or activity along with optional services to make the solution useful all resulting in an overall higher amount to be paid.

Lowest cost may result in a bargain now and then if that fits your needs.

Value can also mean a better option providing an improved return on investment if a solution or service meets and exceeds your needs and expectations.

As an example, I recently switched from a cloud backup MSP (Mozy) not due to cost (costs would have gone down with their recent service plan
announcement) rather I needed more value and functionality. With my new cloud backup MSP I get more functionality and capability that I can continue to grow into even though the price per GByte is higher than with my previous provider. What made the change of positive is what I get in the higher fee per GByte that in the end, actually makes it more affordable, not cheaper, just better value and return on investment.

For some low cost is value while for others, value is more than lowest cost including what you get for a given fee including trust, security, service and experience among other items. Different people will have different requirements or needs for what is or is not value.

If you do not like the term value, then try price performer.

Bottom line for now, with VARs, MSPs and Cloud (Public or private) dont be scared, however look before you leap!

Ok, nuff said.

Cheers gs

Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press) and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier)
twitter @storageio

All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO LLC All Rights Reserved

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Who is responsible for vendor lockin?

Who is responsible for vendor lockin?

data infrastructure server storage I/O vendor lockin

Updated 1/21/2018

Who is responsible for vendor lockin?

Is vendor lockin caused by vendors, their partners or by customers?

In my opinion vendor lockin can be from any or all of the above.

What is vendor lockin

Vendor lockin is a situation where a customer becomes dependent or locked in by choice or other circumstances to a particular supplier or technology.

What is the difference between vendor lockin, account control and stickiness?

Im sure some marketing wiz or sales type will be happy to explain the subtle differences. Generally speaking, lockin, stickiness and account control are essentially the same, or at least strive to obtain similar results. For example, vendor lockin too some has a negative stigma. However vendor stickiness may be a new term, perhaps even sounding cool thus it is not a concern. Remember the Mary Poppins song a spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down? In other words sometimes changing and using a different term such as sticky vs vendor lockin helps make the situation taste better.

Is vendor lockin or stickiness a bad thing?

No, not necessarily, particularly if you the customer are aware and still in control of your environment.

I have had different views of vendor lockin over the years.

These have varied from when I was a customer working in IT organizations or being a vendor and later as an advisory analyst consultant. Even as a customer, I had different views of lockin which varied depending upon the situation. In some cases lockin was a result of upper management having their favorite vendor which meant when a change occurred further up the ranks, sometimes vendor lockin would shift as well. On the other hand, I also worked in IT environments where we had multiple vendors for different technologies to maintain competition across suppliers.

As a vendor, I was involved with customer sites that were best of breed while others were aligned around a single or few vendors. Some were aligned around technologies from the vendors I worked for and others were aligned with someone elses technology. In some cases as a vendor we were locked out of an account until there was a change of management or mandates at those sites. In other cases where lock out occurred, once our product was OEMd or resold by an incumbent vendor, the lockout ended.

Some vendors do a better job of establishing lockin, account management, account control or stickiness than compared to others. Some vendors may try to lock a customer in and thus there is perception that vendors lock customers in. Likewise, there is a perception that vendor lockin only occurs with the largest vendors however I have seen this also occur with smaller or niche vendors who gain control of their customers keeping larger or other vendors out.

Sweet, sticky Sue Bee Honey

Vendor lockin or stickiness is not always the result of the vendor, var, consultant or service provider pushing a particular technology, product or service. Customers can allow or enable vendor lockin as well, either by intent via alliances to drive some business initiative or accidentally by giving up account control management. Consequently vendor lockin is not a bad thing if it brings mutual benefit to the suppler and consumer.

On the other hand, if lockin causes hardship on the consumer while only benefiting the supplier, than it can be a bad thing for the customer.

Do some technologies lend themselves more to vendor lockin vs others?

Yes, some technologies lend themselves more to stickiness or lockin then others. For example, often big ticket or expensive hardware are seen as being vulnerable to vendor lockin along with other hardware items however software is where I have seen a lot of stickiness or lockin around.

However what about virtualization solutions after all the golden rule of virtualization is whoever controls the virtualization (hardware, software or services) controls the gold. This means that vendor lockin could be around a particular hypervisor or associated management tools.

How about bundled solutions or what are now called integrated vendor technology stacks including PODs (here or here) or vBlocks among others? How about databases, do they enable or facilitate vendor lockin? Perhaps, just like virtualization or operating systems or networking technology, storage system, data protection or other solutions, if you let the technology or vendor manage you, then you enable vendor lockin.

Where can vendor lockin or stickiness occur?

Application software, databases, data or information tools, messaging or collaboration, infrastructure resource management (IRM) tools ranging from security to backup to hypervisors and operating systems to email. Lets not forget about hardware which has become more interoperable from servers, storage and networks to integrated marketing or alliance stacks.

Another opportunity for lockin or stickiness can be in the form of drivers, agents or software shims where you become hooked on a feature functionality that then drives future decisions. In other words, lockin can occur in different locations both in traditional IT as well as via managed services, virtualization or cloud environments if you let it occur.

 

Keep these thoughts in mind:

  • Customers need to manage their resources and suppliers
  • Technology and their providers should work for you the customer, not the other way around
  • Technology providers conversely need to get closer to influence customer thinking
  • There can be cost with single vendor or technology sourcing due to loss of competition
  • There can be a cost associated with best of breed or functioning as your own integrator
  • There is a cost switching from vendors and or their technology to keep in mind
  • Managing your vendors or suppliers may be easier than managing your upper management
  • Vendors sales remove barriers so they can sell and setting barriers for others
  • Virtualization and cloud can be both a source for lockin as well as a tool to help prevent it
  • As a customer, if lockin provides benefits than it can be a good thing for all involved

Additional learning experiences along with common questions (and answers), as well as tips can be found in Software Defined Data Infrastructure Essentials book.

Software Defined Data Infrastructure Essentials Book SDDC

What This All Means

Ultimately, its up to the customer to manage their environment and thus have a say if they will allow vendor lockin. Granted, upper management may be the source of the lockin and not surprisingly is where some vendors will want to focus their attention directly, or via influence of high level management consultants.

So while a vendors solution may appear to be a locked in solution, it does not become a lockin issue or problem until a customer lets or allows it to be a lockin or sticky situation.

What is your take on vendor lockin? Cast your vote and see results in the following polls.

Is vendor lockin a good or bad thing?

Who is responsible for managing vendor lockin

Where is most common form or concern of vendor lockin

Ok, nuff said, for now.

Gs

Greg Schulz – Microsoft MVP Cloud and Data Center Management, VMware vExpert 2010-2017 (vSAN and vCloud). Author of Software Defined Data Infrastructure Essentials (CRC Press), as well as Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press), Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier) and twitter @storageio. Courteous comments are welcome for consideration. First published on https://storageioblog.com any reproduction in whole, in part, with changes to content, without source attribution under title or without permission is forbidden.

All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2024 Server StorageIO and UnlimitedIO. All Rights Reserved. StorageIO is a registered Trade Mark (TM) of Server StorageIO.

Posted on

Work and Entertainment From Coast to Coast

A week ago I was in St. Petersburg, Tampa and Miami Florida for a mix of work and relaxation along with Karen (Mrs. Schulz), visiting with my cousin and her husband who lives in the St. Pete beach area for a few days before back to work. While in the St. Pete and Tampa area, for fun, we did an afternoon at Busch Garden including a ride on Montu. For those who have not ridden on Montu, here’s a video I found that someone recorded to help give you a perspective of the ride. Other fun activities included stops or time at Billys Stonecrab and Seafood joint, Kayaking, lounging pool-side, shelling at Ft. Desoto and St. Pete Beach as well as a visit to the Hurricane among others.

In Miami, the pool area at the Four Seasons including a nice cabana pool-side spot to escape the cool breeze made for a great relaxing and catch-up on some work spot while Karen relaxed in the sun. Some of the restraunts in Miami we visited when taking a break from work included Gordon Birsch and Rosa for some outstanding, made at the table side fresh Guacamole en Molcajet!.

Speaking of work, the Florida trip involved doing keynotes at events in both Tampa and Miami with a theme of IT Infrastructure Optimization with both events being well attended. Themes included doing more with less, or, doing more with what you have, addressing data footprint and data management to boost productivity, how to address the continued growth in data and need to process, move and store more data and information. A discussion point prompted the thought of if there is a data recession or not (See previous blog post and here). Other topics of discussion and interested included converged networking for voice, data and general networking, security, server and storage virtualization, performance and capacity planning, data protection and BC/DR among others.

This past week involved a lunch and learn Keynote in the Minneapolis area with a local VAR, before a quick trip to the other (left) coast for another IT Infrastructure Optimization session and keynote, this time in Los Angeles. Some common themes heard from IT professionals at this past weeks events echoed those heard in Florida as well as concern about managing encryption keys not to mention securing virtual environments and software licensing models in virtualized server environments. The trip to LA also enabled a quick visit with friend Bruce Rave of Go Deep fame who provided a great tour and sightseeing of the Hollywood music scene.

Hollywood stops included dinner at Genghis Cohens (The duck and cashew chicken were outstanding) followed by visits to the Cat and Fiddle and Infamous Rainbow Bar & Grill next door to legendary Roxy. People watching was great as was the music and ambiance including a Nikki Sixx of Motely Crew sighting at the Rainbow as well as Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN seen in hotel lobby minutes after appearing on Larry King Live.

Thanks too everyone who came out and participated in the seminar events in Tampa, Miami, Minneapolis and LA, look forward to seeing and hearing from you again soon. Now its time to get ready to head off too the airport for this weeks events and activities including stops in Las Vegas and Milwaukee among others.

Cheers
Gs

Greg Schulz – Author Cloud and Virtual Data Storage Networking (CRC Press, 2011), The Green and Virtual Data Center (CRC Press, 2009), and Resilient Storage Networks (Elsevier, 2004)

twitter @storageio

All Comments, (C) and (TM) belong to their owners/posters, Other content (C) Copyright 2006-2012 StorageIO and UnlimitedIO All Rights Reserved

Posted on

Hot Storage Topics Converge on Chicago Next Week

Storage I/O trends

Next week in Chicago (May 12th) at Storage Strategies, the event for channel professional held the evening before StorageDecisions I will be talking about Hot Storage Topics for 2008 including addressing data protection for virtual environments, power cooling floor space environmental (PCFE) aka green items and the “Green Gap”, data footprint reduction for both on-line active and changing data using real-time data compression, archiving for in-active or dormant data and de-dupe for backup data. Also on the list of hot topics will be clustered NAS and clustered storage for Web 2.0 along with other timely and relevant items.

At the StorageDecisions event, I will be talking about ?Green and Environmental Friendly Storage? Tuesday morning May 13th in the presentation ?Practical Ways to Achieve Energy Efficiency – Power, Cooling, Floor-Space and Environmental (PCFE) Issues and Trends? looking at different issues including the ?Green Gap? or disconnect between messaging and common IT data center issues along with various options to boost efficiency for both active and in-active data and storage resources.

Also while at StorageDecisions next week, on Wednesday the 14th I will be talking about clustered storage including clustered NAS in the session ?Clustered Storage – ?From SMB, to Scientific, to File Serving, to Commercial, Social Networking and Web 2.0?. Given some recent vendor technology announcements and statements of direction, Web 2.0 and unstructured data are gaining popularity as are the confusing options or different types of clustered storage solutions including ?Cluster Wanna Bee?s?. If you are in Chicago next week, stop in and check out the event and if you can attend any of my sessions, stop by and say hello.

Cheers
GS