This week the team double down on the topics of in-memory computing and persistent memory. Chris and Martin talk to Charles Fan, CEO at MemVerge about Big Memory and using persistent memory technology (specifically Optane) to supplement system DRAM. DRAM is expensive and as capacities scale linearly, the price of memory increases exponentially. Systems are limited by maximum addressable memory per socket. Persistent Memory in the form of Intel Optane provides the capability to massively increase the virtual memory footprint, using a combination of DRAM and Optane DIMMs. How is that memory managed – this …
#169 – In-Memory Computing and Apache Ignite
This week Chris and Martin talk to Nikita Ivanov CTO and founder of GridGain Systems. The topic is in-memory computing and specifically Apache Ignite, an open-source key-value store that also supports SQL99 and POSIX-compliant file interfaces. The idea of running applications purely from memory isn’t a new one. DRAM is the fastest “storage” component but isn’t designed as a long-term storage medium. Consequently, in-memory solutions such as Apache Ignite require features to ensure data resiliency and consistency. Ignite and similar solutions have a heavy focus on data distribution and protection in order to meet resiliency …
S02E03 – Hybrid Cloud Storage Choices – Rent or Buy?
On the face of it, public cloud seems like a great place for long-term retention of unstructured data. However, as volumes of data stored rise, the cost of exiting the cloud cloud become prohibitively expensive. What’s the right strategy to follow? In this discussion, Chris chats to Matt Starr from Spectralogic on how to build out a model of public/private cloud storage and the pitfalls to avoid in the process.
#167 – Adapting Open Source Storage for the Enterprise
This week Chris and Martin catch up with Phil Straw, CEO at Softiron for a discussion on packaging Open Source storage solutions for adoption by the enterprise.
#166 – Infinidat Elastic Storage Pricing with Eran Brown (Sponsored)
This week, Chris and Martin are joined by Chris Mellor from Blocks & Files and Eran Brown from Infinidat to discuss flexible pricing strategies in light of current business disruptions. Infinidat has introduced an elastic pricing model for both capex and opex purchases. How is this implemented and what platform features enable Infinidat to deliver this capability? As businesses are disrupted through the coronavirus pandemic, uncertain times means uncertain demands and budgets. Companies may defer spending or want flexible purchasing models for technology deployments. Public cloud is one choice, but this comes with challenges around …
#165 – Homogeneous Data Protection with HYCU (Sponsored)
As we move to a hybrid and multi-cloud world, IT organisations need standardisation in operational processes. This is particularly true for data protection, where consistent policies and compliance are essential. This week, Chris chats to Subbiah Sundaram from HYCU about data protection in public clouds and the ability to bring a consistent reporting model with HYCU Protege. Why is consistency important? Public cloud providers have relatively basic data protection options, that might not align with existing enterprise requirements. As workloads move around, backup needs to be consistently applied, whether that data is on premises or …
#164 – Introduction to StorONE S1: All-Flash Array.next with George Crump (Sponsored)
Storage startup StorONE has introduced the S1: All-Flash Array.next (also known as S1:AFAn) which accelerates performance using Intel Optane technology. In this podcast, Chris and Martin discuss the benefits of Optane within the S1 platform in a conversation with George Crump, CMO at StorONE and formerly the founder of Storage Switzerland. S1 is a software-defined storage solution that optimises the use of hardware resources to deliver an efficient and low-cost multi-protocol shared storage platform. The architecture of S1 enables Intel Optane to be used as a tier of storage that acts as the primary target …
#163 – Inflection Points in Storage Deployment Strategies
Technology refreshes are a constant part of the IT landscape. Businesses need to frequently update and modernise their infrastructure. Typically, the inertia to move between vendors is strong, but inflection points do occur, when the cost and risk of change is outweighed by the benefits. How do you identify inflection points in your environment and then take advantage of the opportunity? In this podcast, Chris chats with three guests (Matt Watts from NetApp, Lee Nolan from MTI and Kam Panesar from Atradius) to get views from a vendor, solutions provider and end user perspective. The …
#162 – The Evolving Role of Storage Administration
The role of the storage administrator has changed over the years and is in many ways influenced by the three “V”s typically used to describe AI. Admins have to deal with increased data Volumes, with the Velocity of delivering resources and with a wide Variety of application profiles. This week, Chris talks to Clay Ryder (Senior Director of Enterprise Marketing) and Frank Shepherd (Principal Systems Engineer) from Tintri to gain their insights on how technology and process is changing storage administration to meet the Three Vs challenge. Exponential data growth has always been an issue …
#161 – Seagate MACH.2 Dual Actuator Drive Deep Dive
This week, Chris and Martin look at the dual actuator drive technology developed by Seagate, also known as MACH.2. This conversation with Colin Presly and Tim Walker digs down into the detail of the hardware implementation and the operational aspects of deploying a hard drive that acts as two physically independent units. Dual actuator technology was developed to overcome the performance limitations of traditional hard drives. Over the years, drive capacities have increased almost exponentially, while performance has followed a linear track. MACH.2 divides the read/write heads of a traditional drive into two separate components, …