New public cloud backup cuts the cost of protecting data
Backups have traditionally involved removable media, whether tape or disk, to allow copies of essential information to be held off site for safety.
The cloud has changed all that but companies still have concerns about security and retention of data, as well as expense. A new product released today by Druva is aimed at delivering a long-term storage solution with less complexity and lower cost.
How to create a bootable Windows 10 Technical Preview USB drive
Microsoft has released Windows 10 Technical Preview, giving early adopters like you and me the opportunity to experience some of the lovely new features that the operating system will bring to the table when it officially launches next year. The highlight is, of course, the new Start menu, but the other changes add up to give us what could very well be the sleek and modern Windows we have all been waiting for: touch-friendly, yet still great with a keyboard and mouse.
This all sounds very intriguing indeed, especially if you have been holding off on upgrades so far. If you want to take the plunge and test Windows 10 Technical Preview directly on your PC, without taking the virtualization route, then you already know that your best install option is a bootable USB drive. Luckily, you came to the right place -- here is everything you need to do.
Why is Dell crippling its low end server RAID cards?
When scoping out new servers for customers, we usually look towards Dell, as their boxes have the right mix of price, performance, expandability, and quality that we strive for. RAID card options these days are fairly plentiful, with our sweet spot usually ending up on the PERC H700 series cards that Dell preinstalls with its midrange to higher end PowerEdge server offerings.
But recently we were forced into using one of its lower end RAID cards, the H200 PCIe offering. This internal card was one of the few dedicated RAID options certified to work in a refurbished server we had to put back into production, a Dell R210 1u rack unit. The specs looked fine and dandy in nearly all respects, except for one area that I like to avoid: the lack of dedicated battery backed flash cache.
Migrating from Windows Server 2003: 12 best practices straight from the trenches
Most of us have hopefully managed to get off the sinking ship that was Windows XP. As much of a recent memory as that has become, a new end of life is rearing its head, and it's approaching fervently for those who haven't started planning for it. Microsoft's Windows Server 2003, a solid server operating system that's now about eleven and a half years old, is heading for complete extinction in just under 300 days. Microsoft has a fashionable countdown timer already ticking.
Seeing as we just finished our second server migration in a single week (a personal record so far), sharing some of the finer aspects of how we are streamlining these transitions seems like a timely fit. This braindump of sorts is a collection of best practices that we are routinely following for our own customers, and they seem to be serving us well so far.
How to get an extra 15 GB of OneDrive storage for free
There is plenty of competition in the cloud storage space, but, unfortunately, for the most part any massive changes are limited to paid plans. They get bigger, they get cheaper, but the free tier, which most users get first, remains largely as limiting as it has always been. Sure, we get a couple of extra gigs for free here and there, but it's all smoke after all, meant to lead us right to the money grabbers. (And who could blame providers for trying to make money?)
Now, Microsoft is doing something rather interesting, as it gives OneDrive users nearly twice as much storage in the free plan, bumping the limit from a so-so 15 GB to a respectable 30 GB. The reason? Well, it's a damn clever one -- the extra freebie is meant to help Apple users who are having trouble with iOS 8 upgrades due to low available storage. Because this is an oft-discussed issue, it is bound to generate some free advertising for Microsoft and OneDrive.
Datastickies and the rebirth of the cassette -- the future of data storage
Remember when floppy disks really were floppy? Or the joys of loading programs on a home computer from a C15 cassette? In just over 40 years storage technology has gone from these crude devices to cloud servers that put terrabytes of space in reach of anyone.
But where does the future lie? Hardware supplier Ebuyer has produced an infographic looking at the direction storage may take in the future.
Western Digital to launch 10TB hard drive
Western Digital's HGST unit has announced plans to launch the first 10 terabyte hard drive, the largest capacity drive released so far.
The firm also announced it will be shipping its 8TB Ultrastar He8 drive shortly, which uses pressurized helium to fit two extra disks into the drive, but still relies on perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology.
AMI StorTrends 3500i demonstrates class-leading performance
We reported on the launch of AMI's StorTrends 3500i hybrid storage appliance for small and medium businesses back in April.
Now in independent testing by StorageReview Enterprise Lab the 3500i has shown class-leading performance against products from other major storage vendors. The unit achieved the highest transactions per second (TPS) and lowest latency compared to other hybrid products.
Cloudfinder for Box free for business users until January 2015
As the market for storing and sharing files in the cloud has grown, Box has become one of the most popular solutions. As a result lots of other add-on products have grown up around it offering added security, compliance and more.
The latest to join the Box ecosystem is backup specialist eFolder with its Cloudfinder product, a multi-platform cloud-to-cloud backup service.
Microsoft raises Azure availability, lowers prices
Microsoft has announced service enhancements and a reduced price scheme for its Azure SQL database, as a result of customer feedback.
Microsoft has now promised to deliver a service-level agreement (SLA) of 99.99 percent availability, equivalent to a downtime of just 53 minutes per year.
Lenovo introduces the EMC-based VNX5150 Storage Array
Lenovo hopes to put a smile on the face of penny-pinching small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) through a new storage area network (SAN) solution based on EMC's VNX unified storage family.
The Lenovo|EMC VNX5150 Storage Array is a dual-processor SAN that offers full redundancy for all major components as well as dual paths of connectivity throughout for a price that SMBs will be able to afford.
HDD Guardian tests and monitors your hard drive health
SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) is a monitoring system which reports on various reliability indicators, and sometimes highlights imminent hardware failure of HDDs and SSDs.
These predictions can sometimes be questionable, but SMART still has plenty to offer, and the open source HDD Guardian (also available in a portable edition) provides a simple and straightforward way to find out more.
Seagate releases first-ever 8TB hard drive
When it comes to technology, it is almost impossible to stay on the forefront. You will drive yourself nuts, and empty your wallet, chasing after every new thing. Got the newest and most expensive graphics card? Yesterday's news within months. The newest iPhone? You can make that claim for one year at best.
Hard drives are no different and are probably the longest-running way for manufacturers to take money from nerds. I bought a 4TB drive earlier in the year thinking it would be high-end for some time, but sure enough, it is now yawn-worthy. Why? Today, Seagate begins shipping 8TB hard drives. Yup, twice as big as my 4TB drive. I haven't learned my lesson though as I already want one!
OneDrive 4.4 and Dropbox 3.3 for iOS launch, promise major new features
OneDrive and Dropbox users with access to an iPhone or iPad rejoice: both iOS apps were just updated with major improvements with the release of Microsoft OneDrive 4.4 and Dropbox 3.3.
Both apps gain new features -- the ability to search within Word and PowerPoint documents in Dropbox, a brand new Photos view in OneDrive -- as well as a number of improvements and stability fixes.
Flash! Savior of the enterprise storage market?
From being an expensive technology and something of a niche, flash storage is shifting into the mainstream, particularly in enterprises.
According to new research by IDC, although the technology has been available for a while, the adoption of flash-based storage is only now showing real growth thanks to falling prices and a growing familiarity with the benefits it offers.
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