Storage Adviser | Mario Apicella

Recent reviews from the storage lab

Mario Apicella — 2008-08-22T03:00:00-08:00

I will be away for the next few days but will return next week with further insights into the ever-evolving storage landscape. Until then, here are links to a few of my most recent storage reviews, including the latest in NAS, FCoE, SSD, and SFF technologies, many of which I have touched on in this column as of late. Test Center review: BlueArc Titan 3200 is a giant among NAS systems The Titan justifies a stiff price tag with stellar performance, top-notch scalability, advanced storage management features, and a smooth admin GUI We don’t have Olympic Games for file server... READ MORE

VMotion and FCoE: A match made in admin heaven

Mario Apicella — 2008-08-15T03:00:00-08:00

CNA-equipped servers become an easy target for VMotion on a converged Ethernet and FC network READ MORE

Embracing the datacenter consolidation challenge

Mario Apicella — 2008-08-08T03:00:00-08:00

Consolidation incentives may vary, but server and storage virtualization remain key to reaping both quick and long-term rewards READ MORE

Debating the merits of SSDs, part two

Mario Apicella — 2008-08-01T03:00:00-08:00

Toshiba is bullish on the future of flash memory but reject the notion of replacing spinning drives READ MORE

Flash vs. RAM: Why not choose both?

Mario Apicella — 2008-07-25T03:00:00-08:00

TMS blends RAM-based solid-state drives with flash backup to deliver a fast, resilient array READ MORE

Managing storage from your cell phone

Mario Apicella — 2008-07-18T03:00:00-08:00

Aptare adds capacity management to its Web platform READ MORE

Debating the merits of SSDs

Mario Apicella — 2008-07-11T03:00:00-08:00

Would you pay several times more for a technology that yields only dubious performance advantage? How about if that technology is experiencing a high rate of product returns from early adopters? That's the central question regarding flash SSDs (solid state drives) as Joel Hagberg, vice president of business development at Fujitsu, sees it. According to Hagberg, the much-hyped advantages of SSD over CSDs (conventional spinning drives) -- better performance, improved reliability, and lower power consumption -- are minimal and certainly do not justify adding $1,000 to the price of a notebook. In fact, as Hagberg explains, Fujitsu customers have returned... READ MORE

Ironclad Windows backup on a budget

Mario Apicella — 2008-07-04T03:00:00-08:00

Creating an effective backup for Windows is a challenge -- largely because the OS lacks a powerful, simple tool like Linux's dd, for example. However, there are many options for establishing a worthwhile backup system for Windows, some of which are free or rather inexpensive. I mention this because a friend -- I'll call her Laura -- recently asked for help setting up a backup system for her two Windows XP machines. A freelance writer by trade, Laura uses a desktop and a laptop, both of which are connected to a LAN and, via router, to the Internet. Laura had... READ MORE

Dell delivers eco-friendly SAS server for SMBs

Mario Apicella — 2008-06-27T03:00:00-08:00

As the old saying goes, "When you're holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail." For me, this means more than just seeing a storage angle everywhere I look. Lately, it also means seeing the environmental impact of every product I review. Both hammers -- storage and green tech -- saw a worthwhile nail in the PowerEdge T300, an entry-level server recently launched by Dell. Why both hammers? For starters, Dell "gets" storage. In a few short years, the company has moved from a bit player in the storage industry to one capable of holding down a prominent role. Don't... READ MORE

Resilient storage requires worthwhile testing tools

Mario Apicella — 2008-06-20T03:00:00-08:00

Taking the latest technologies for a test spin isn't my only reward as a reviewer. Learning how to use slick testing tools is a thrill all its own. Sometimes those two overlap -- which was the case recently when I put Cisco's new Nexus 5000 to the test using technology from Ixia, a vendor that specializes in IP testing. You may be wondering what storage has to do with IP testing. Well, let me set the stage. Cisco's Nexus 5000 is a revolutionary switch that implements Fibre Channel over Ethernet. FCoE, as I've discussed before, shepherds Ethernet to never drop... READ MORE

How green is your provisioning?

Mario Apicella — 2008-06-13T03:00:00-08:00

Reaping the fat savings of thin provisioning may have gotten a little easier, as IBM this week announced new features for managing SVC (SAN Volume Controller). And depending on your strategy for implementing SVC's new thin-provisioning capabilities in your storage environment, the news could come with a green lining. As the acronym suggests, SVC is all about block virtualization. SVC boxes sit between hosts and storage arrays, allowing admins to carve logical volumes and present them to application servers over FC connections. In addition to provisioning, SVC offers the ability to create snapshots and volume replicas both locally and remotely.... READ MORE

SSDs: Perfect fit for mobile computing?

Mario Apicella — 2008-06-06T03:00:00-08:00

There aren't many products I review that I can test for traveling. In fact, most are large enough for me to hide behind, if not inside. But the Lenovo ThinkPad T61 with a 64GB Samsung SSD (solid state drive) I am currently testing offered a rare opportunity to take my work with me on the road. Testing SSDs has given rise to some intriguing scenarios. For example, an imaginative person at memory solutions vendor Super Talent came up with the idea of using a paint shaker to put together a torture test scenario for SSDs (movie clip with ActiveX control).... READ MORE

On the fast track to tiered storage

Mario Apicella — 2008-05-30T03:00:00-08:00

Companies leave data on primary silos well beyond the time when they should migrate it to a less expensive tier. This is one of the few truisms on which all storage vendors seem to agree. Of course, that agreement fades away when it comes time to define how to address the problem. Every vendor offers its own proprietary approach to facilitating allocation between storage tiers, and this variety poses one of the most formidable challenges storage administrators face as data volumes continue to increase drastically year after year. One approach that a number of vendors are taking is to inject... READ MORE

EMC's bold solid-state bet

Mario Apicella — 2008-05-23T03:00:00-08:00

Judging from the blogosphere's post-EMC World buzz, EMC's recent passion for SSDs (solid state drives) is no fly-by-night affair. In fact, at the event, which I was unable to attend, EMC suggested that by 2010, SSDs could reach price parity with, and eventually replace, FC (fibre channel) drives. EMC is showing more than a superficial interest in SSD -- quite surprising from a company that doesn't usually jump on new technologies (remember iSCSI or, better yet, RAID 6?) and, instead, waits for other vendors to taste how sharp the cutting edge is. In SSDs, EMC sees competitive advantage -- enough... READ MORE

An unblinking look at disaster recovery

Mario Apicella — 2008-05-16T03:00:00-08:00

I recently received a message in my inbox reminding me of the importance of disaster recovery: The Atlantic hurricane season begins on June 1 -- setting the stage for heavy losses and damage. ... Yet, most real-world problems -- while potentially devastating -- are much less spectacular. Unforeseen problems, like unidentified software bugs, can cause big problems when servers shut down or decentralized software fails. While I do agree that computer hiccups can be very disruptive, images from the terrible earthquake that recently hit China and those from the devastating cyclone that swept Myanmar put disaster recovery into grave perspective.... READ MORE