#171 – Exploiting Persistent Memory with MemVerge

#171 – Exploiting Persistent Memory with MemVerge

Chris EvansGuest Speakers, In-Memory Computing, MemVerge

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 …

#165 – Homogeneous Data Protection with HYCU (Sponsored)

#165 – Homogeneous Data Protection with HYCU (Sponsored)

Chris EvansData Management, Data Protection, Guest Speakers, HYCU Inc

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)

#164 – Introduction to StorONE S1: All-Flash Array.next with George Crump (Sponsored)

Chris EvansAll-Flash, Guest Speakers, Software-Defined Storage, Sponsored, Storage Hardware, StorONE

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 …

#160 – Updates on Hitachi Ops Center with Stan Stevens (sponsored)

#160 – Updates on Hitachi Ops Center with Stan Stevens (sponsored)

Chris EvansData Management, Hitachi Vantara, Storage Management

In this week’s episode, Chris catches up with Stan Stevens, Director of Software Product Marketing at Hitachi Vantara to talk about updates to Hitachi Ops Center. Ops Center is the storage management platform for administering Hitachi VSP storage products. Stan discusses new features (including Ops Center Protector and support for VSP E990), and provides a view on what to expect in the future. Ops Center is divided into four main components – Administrator for provisioning and systems management; Analyser for AIOps functionality, including problem resolution; Automator for workflow automation and Protector for data protection and …

#159 – Introduction to MRAM with Joe O’Hare from Everspin

#159 – Introduction to MRAM with Joe O'Hare from Everspin

Chris EvansEverspin Technologies, Guest Speakers, Storage Hardware, Storage Unpacked Podcast

This week, Chris and Martin dig deeper into storage media and look at magneto-resistive RAM, commonly known as MRAM in this conversation with Joe O’Hare, Director of Distribution and Product Marketing at Everspin Technologies. MRAM is a persistent memory technology that uses resistance to determine the state of data. Everspin, the leading provider of MRAM technologies offers two product types – Toggle and Spin Transfer Torque. These two solutions provide different characteristics of endurance and scaling, but both offer low latency reads and writes at around 35 nanoseconds. MRAM is already finding uses in embedded …

#133 – FlashArray//C Deeper Dive with Pete Kirkpatrick

#133 – FlashArray//C Deeper Dive with Pete Kirkpatrick

Chris EvansAll-Flash, Guest Speakers, Pure Storage

This episode was recorded live at Pure Storage offices in Silicon Valley. Chris talks to Pete Kirkpatrick, Chief Hardware Architect at Pure Storage about the FlashArray//C platform. FlashArray//C is a new solution announced at Pure Accelerate 2019 that offers a lower-cost all-flash solution for less latency-sensitive workloads. FlashArray//C uses QLC technology, a cheaper, but slower flash alternative to SLC, MLC or even TLC that is being used in all-flash arrays today. Developing a solution using QLC requires more flash management, however using DirectFlash compared to standard SSDs offers Pure Storage cost and management advantages. How …

#128 – Reflections on Commvault GO with Glenn Dekhayser

#128 – Reflections on Commvault GO with Glenn Dekhayser

Chris EvansCommvault, Data Management, Data Protection, Guest Speakers

This episode was recorded live (as you can tell from the background noise) at Commvault GO, held in October 2019. Chris talks to Glenn Dekhayser, Field CTO at Red8 about his reflections on the announcements from the event. The biggest news from the show was arguably the release of Metallic, a SaaS data protection offering for midrange customers. You can learn more about the specifics from the links at the end of this post. Glenn walks us through his opinion on how Commvault is adapting to change and releasing new products like Metallic to an …

#118 – Pure Accelerate 2019 with Patrick Smith

#118 – Pure Accelerate 2019 with Patrick Smith

Chris EvansAll-Flash, Guest Speakers, Pure Storage, Storage Hardware

This week, Chris is in Austin, Texas at Pure Accelerate 2019. Prior to the event, Chris catches up with Patrick Smith, Field CTO for EMEA for Pure. Patrick moved to Pure after being a customer. The initial discussion covers why flash as a platform offers better reliability and consistency than traditional disk based storage. At Accelerate 2019, Pure announced FlashArray//C, DirectMemory modules and the GA of Cloud Block Store. Patrick previews these changes and what benefits customers can expect to see from these new products. Elapsed Time: 00:30:07 Timeline 00:00:00 – Intros 00:03:00 – What …

#109 – An Overview of ObjectEngine with Brian Schwarz

#109 – An Overview of ObjectEngine with Brian Schwarz

Chris EvansGuest Speakers, Pure Storage

In this episode, Chris talks to Brian Schwarz, VP of Product Management for FlashBlade and ObjectEngine at Pure Storage.  ObjectEngine is a scale-out de-duplication engine that efficiently writes data to either FlashBlade or public cloud object stores.  The solution developed from the acquisition of StorReduce in 2018. ObjectEngine was conceived when Pure Storage observed customers using FlashBlade for backup data.  The FlashBlade platform was originally developed for high-performance file-based applications like analytics.  De-duplication wasn’t integrated natively as an initial design decision.  Combining ObjectEngine with FlashBlade enables space saving ratios of around 8:1 or greater. You …