File systems provide structure and a way to store data on computer systems. From the early days of FAT and NTFS, we now see a proliferation of file systems in the enterprise. Why do we have so many and what benefits do they offer?
#148 – Unpacking HPE's Storage Strategy
As reported by Chris Mellor, HPE recently announced Q1 2020 figures that show storage down 8% and servers down 15%. In light of these numbers, we look at HPE’s storage products, partners and overall strategy in the market. HPE primary products are strong contenders, with XP8 for high-end/mainframe, 3PAR & Primera, Nimble and MSA. Outside of the main platforms, HPE has some data protection hardware and of course, tape. To meet file and object storage needs, HPE partners with the likes of Qumulo, Scality, Weka and others. But finding details on these companies is hard. …
#147 – Introduction to Key Value Stores and Redis
This week, Chris and Martin look at Key-Value stores and in particular, Redis, with Kyle Davis, Head of Developer Advocacy at Redis (formerly Redis Labs). Key Value stores are at first glance a lightweight way to store structured data. As it turns out, the implementation of Redis includes significantly more features and functionality as well as multiple complex data types. Redis runs in-memory and is typically used accelerate traditional databases or store state for web-based applications. The ability to store and retrieve data from memory enables fast response times for features like shopping carts or …
#144 – Introduction to Storage as a Service
This week, Chris and Martin chat to Gary Breder (Director of Cloud and Services Product Marketing) and Diane Clay (Sr Manager of Cloud and Services Product Marketing) from Hitachi Vantara about storage as a service. While we’ve had different consumption models in the past, does StaaS offer anything different? Perhaps the key takeaway from this conversation is the use of service-based offerings as a way to financially engineer more attractive cost structures to businesses. The vendor shoulders the risk with the customer by putting resources on the floor with an expectation of usage at some …
#143 – Storage Adoption Myths & Realities
This week, Chris and Martin chat to Paul Stringfellow, CTO at Gardner Systems, about the realities of technology adoption. We hear lots of talk about Kubernetes, HCI, all-flash and even SCM technologies. But are all organisations deploying these technologies from day one? In reality, businesses deploy technology in a timeline that matches a normal distribution curve. As detailed in “Crossing the Chasm” by Geoffrey Moore, there’s a gap between early adopters and the mainstream IT organisations. What causes this inertia? Some of the challenges relate people and process, however there’s also a desire to implement …
#140 – Introduction to Document-Orientated Databases
This week, Chris and Martin speak to David Koppe, Director of Information Strategy at MongoDB. The discussion covers document-orientated databases, or simply document databases, and their appeal to the enterprise. Document databases differ from traditional relational databases in that the data is stored within each “document” as a series of key-value pairs. In this instance a document is not to be confused with a Word or PDF file. Unlike relational databases, document records don’t have to be “symmetrical” and aren’t required to contain every field (or a null value for empty fields). This makes the …
S01E05 – Cohesity and Application Mobility
Cohesity protects customer data through traditional backup, but also extends that model with file services and marketplace applications. In this episode, Chris talks to Rawlinson Rivera, Global Field CTO at Cohesity about what hybrid cloud really means and how customers are using the Cohesity technology to protect their data and deliver value-add services. Timeline 00:00 – intros 01:00 – What is hybrid cloud? 02:50 – Cohesity translates data protection to app mobility 05:45 – How often to customers move data around? 07:19 – Can analytics be run against protected data? 08:52 – Owning the metadata …
#135 – Introducing Datrium DRaaS Connect with Simon Long
This episode was recorded live at the Datrium offices in Silicon Valley. Chris chats to fellow Brit Simon Long about the announcement of DRaaS Connect and Instant RTO. Both are new features/products in the data mobility and DR space and complement Datrium’s existing storage and virtualisation offerings. Enterprises traditionally implement DR failover for virtual environments using techniques like storage replication and SRM. Datrium has offered DVX, Cloud DVX and Automatrix as tools to abstract and deliver DR capabilities to virtual machines. For customers that can’t immediately move to DVX, DRaaS Connect provides the capability to …
S01E04 – Datrium and Cloud Mobility
Datrium provides application and workload mobility through tools and solutions that protect and migrate data between public and private clouds. In this episode, Chris talks to CEO Tim Page and CTO Sazzala Reddy about the realities of implementing hybrid and multi-cloud strategies. Tim provides some details on customer use-cases and the potential cost savings that arise from simplifying primary storage, backup and DR into a single solution. Timeline 00:00 – Intros 01:05 – How real are hybrid & multi-clouds? 03:20 – It’s all about data, not infrastructure 04:00 – Are workloads really dynamic? 04:45 – …
S01E03 – Sumo Logic and PAF
Sumo Logic provides log management solutions based in the public cloud. PAF is a Finnish gaming company that uses Sumo Logic technology for log analysis. In this episode, Chris talks to Clive McDonald from Sumo Logic and Lars-Göran Hakamo from PAF about the choice to move to a cloud-based model for log management services. Timeline 00:00 – Intros 01:36 – Who are PAF? 02:10 – Why Sumo Logic? 04:25 – What is log analysis? 06:40 – Why use the cloud for log analysis? 09:20 – How does a 53 year old company move to the …