Tag: data storage

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Upcoming articles: Computer Weekly, April 2024

I am working on two storage-related features for Computer Weekly, with April deadlines.

When is cloud data storage the answer?

Has there been a cooling off in enterprise enthusiasm for cloud storage?

In this piece we will look at some reasons firms should move their data storage to cloud infrastructure.

The piece will follow up on this from earlier in the year: Cloud is not always the answer: Five reasons why

We aim to cover

  • When does on site storage fall short and how cloud can be better?
  • Performance / availability / operations:
  • IT management:
  • Costs
  • Agility and responsiveness
  • Data protection and compliance

The deadline for leads is 1700, Thursday 28 March.

How does AI affect data storage

The second looks at the impact of AI workloads on storage. This includes how data are used in training models, how AI analytics are used, where data are sourced and where they are stored. The piece will also cover compliance, which is a growing concern for anyone using AI.

The piece will not be limited to LLMs or generative AI, but all the different forms of AI being used by enterprises.

On the technology side, we’ll cover IO, the types of storage being used, where the data processing bottlenecks sit, how to feed GPUs and where to store the outputs from AI systems. But that’s not the whole picture.

I’m looking for analysts and consultants with direct experience of AI projects.

Deadline for leads: Wednesday 10th April, 1700hrs.

To contribute to either piece, please contact me by email in the first instance.

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Computer Weekly: storage features, November 2023

I am currently researching the following features. Deadlines for suggested interviews or contributions inline.

The all-flash datacentre: Has its time come?

Deadline: Thursday, 26 October, 1200hrs.

This piece will look at the idea of an all-flaws datacentre, and examine why it might, or might not, happen. It will:

  • Set out to define the all-flash datacentre
  • Map out a timescale for its arrival
  • Set out counter arguments – in which cases are non-flash storage media still more appropriate?
  • What types of organisations can benefit from the all-flash datacentre and which workloads can benefit from continued use of hard drive storage
  • Will it be cost that eventually signals a move to all-flash? Or are there other factors at play?

Storage for ERP systems

Deadline: Monday 30 October, 1700hrs

What are the data storage requirements for modern ERP systems?

ERP systems have developed significantly over the last decade, especially with the widespread move to the cloud. But what does an IT department need to do, to make sure the business has the right infrastructure to support its ERP systems over the next 5-10 years?

This will include:

  • What does ERP do? 
  • What are ERP’s storage I/O requirements? 
  • How do on-site and cloud ERP deployments fit together?
  • What is needed to support ERP’s databases?
  • What storage technologies does that translate to, on premises or or in the cloud?
  • Are there other developments in the field of ERP that will affect data storage requirements?

Please email your submissions in the first instance. I will be looking to complete interviews within a week of the submission deadlines.

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Upcoming articles: Computer Weekly, October 2023

Please see outlines below for features I am currently researching.

Disaster Recovery in the cloud:

This piece will look at at the rapidly-developing market for cloud-based disaster recovery services. The piece aims to cover:

  • What is DRaaS?
  • What variants exist?
  • Who can use it and what are the use cases?
  • What does it cost compared to in house DR?
  • Who offers DRaaS services?

Deadline for leads/case studies etc: Tuesday 26th Sept

When to move to cloud, and when not?

What are the use cases for cloud storage, and when is it better to keep storage on premises (or in your own datacentre)?

It will cover:

  • The benefits of cloud storage
  • Why on-site storage often significantly cheaper than cloud
  • What are the benefits and drawbacks of use of cloud storage for different workloads?
  • What are the different ways an organisation can leverage cloud storage?
  • Where is use of cloud storage heading, possibly including cloud native apps, bursting to cloud, containerisation)

Deadline for leads/case studies etc: Tuesday 17th Oct.

Please email your submissions in the first instance.

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Upcoming articles: Compliance, data storage and generative AI

The first of two articles will look at how data is handled by generative AI applications, such as chatGPT or Bard.

I am looking for analysts or other industry experts who can address the following points:

  • When you use a chatbot or generative AI tool, where does all the generated content go, in terms of physical storage?
  • What are the compliance implications of using a chat tool? 
  • Does a user’s data go into the training pool for AI learning?
  • How is chat-like content backed up? How do I backup chat content in the enterprise.
  • If my company wants to train and offer chat-like functionality, what are the storage (and compute) requirements?

Note the deadline for input for this first article is Wednesday 7th June, 1700 London time.

The second part will look at how generative AI could be (or even is) being used to manage data storage and compliance.

  • Can it be used for storage configuration, setting up backups, checking compliance etc?
  • Can chat tools be used to streamline reporting back to users?
  • Can they be used to categorise data?
  • Can they be used to protect data against ransomware or other threats?

The deadline for input for this article is Wednesday 14th June, 1700 London time.

Please email with your suggestions/leads.

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Upcoming article for Computer Weekly: data classification tools

This piece – for the Storage section of Computer Weekly – will provide an overview of data classification tools. We will also look at how analytics tools and data classification overlap (and indeed, how analytics is hard to do without data classification). So I am open to hearing from vendors and end users in the storage, data science and business analytics camps.

We aim to cover:

  • What is data classification and why do we need it?
  • What kinds of tools can help with data classification?
  • What do they do? Are there different categories of tools
  • Who are the key provider, including those in the cloud?

I don’t anticipate using direct vendor quotes but I am open to vendors sending a brief summary of their capabilities in this space, along with any end user examples or case studies.

The deadline for leads is Tuesday, 21 March, 1700hrs London time.

Please email me in the first instance.

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Computer Weekly features: June 2022

I am researching the following features for Computer Weekly, with deadlines in June:

Data gravity

What is data gravity, what implications does it have for data storage, and to what extent can it be mitigated

The piece will over these points:

  • What is data gravity? (for a definition see this TechTarget article)
  • What causes it? 
  • Give examples, large and smaller-scale perhaps, on-prem and cloud, any trends (eg, to edge?)
  • What impact does it have on data storage?
  • What impact does it have on cost, management etc.
  • What can be done, from a storage perspective, to mitigate data gravity?

Deadline for contributions: Monday 6 June.

Global file systems 

What are ‘global file systems’, who are the main vendors and what are the key differences between their products?

What are the common features of the ‘global file system’ products offered by vendors

What customer challenges do they solve?

How do they differ from file-and-sync services or just using the cloud?

Note, this piece will build on an earlier article (here) but will focus on the specific vendors in the space and their offerings. Please contact me directly for information on the vendors.

Deadline for contributions: Monday 13 June.

Backup maintenance

What do you need to do to ensure backups are maintained and reliable?

This is an advisory article setting out what should be done to ensure backups are maintained, and work. This will include cloud, virtualised and container environments.

Points we hope to cover include:

  • Ensuring all sources that need to be backed up are backed up
  • Ensuring backup targets are maintained and accessible
  • Potential areas of risk or failure, including hardware and human factors
  • Testing
  • Potential human, infrastructure etc failures
  • The need to keep backup software up to date.

Deadline for contributions: Friday 17 June.

For all these articles please contact me by email in the first instance, if you are contributing to a specific article please note that in the subject line. Many thanks.

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Computer Weekly storage features: October 2021

I am currently working on the following features, and would appreciate technical and other background material (generally, CW does not quote vendors:)

Five things you need to know about hybrid cloud in 2021 (deadline for input: 7th October)

How is hybrid cloud is seen by customers and vendors currently?

  • How is hybrid cloud used?
  • What are the top use cases for hybrid cloud deployments?
  • What are the limitations of hybrid cloud? What does it actually mean in practice?
  • What are the pitfalls of a hybrid cloud architecture?
  • What use cases are least suited to hybrid cloud?
  • Where next for hybrid cloud? (possibly more widespread use of containers allowing for bursting to the cloud as an easier option than currently?)

5 ways HCI has changed in 2021 (deadline: 20 October)

Hyper-converged infrastructure seems to be here to stay as an on-prem solution. But how is it changing in 2021 to meet new IT trends?

Areas could include:

  • HCI being used with containers
  • Being able to scale storage and compute independently (they’re calling it ‘disaggregation’)
  • Vendors dropping products (eg, NetApp)
  • HCI as a service (may be available from many vendors with a consumption model)
  • HCI at the edge

Five reason customers repatriate data from the cloud (deadline: 3 November)

Why do businesses repatriate data from the cloud?

Restoring backups/business recovery is the obvious one, but analytics and possibly regulatory investigations / compliance are others.

The piece will set out the main reasons, and look at the mechanics and costs of data repatriation too.

As ever, please email any leads or submissions.

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Upcoming data storage articles for Computer Weekly

I am looking for input for two upcoming articles for the data storage section of Computer Weekly.Article 1: How has backup changed, post the pandemic?

In this article we will look at how the changes in working patterns during the pandemic, including home working, have changed backup requirements, practices, and technology.

Areas we will look at include:

  • Backing up remote and employee-owned devices
  • Backing up SaaS applications and cloud instances
  • The impact on maintenance of IT, especially data centres
  • How remote / home working impacts restore and recovery processes

This is not an exhaustive list, and I am open to other suggestions, as well as examples.

The deadline for leads or information is 1700hrs, Friday 14th May.

Article 2: Storage metrics explained

What are the main storage metrics used in the industry? What do they mean, and how do we use them? This explainer piece will set out the most important terminology. We are also interested in new and emerging metrics, maybe those driven by new types of storage technology.

The deadline for leads or information is 1700hrs, Tuesday 18th May.

To submit information or interview leads for each article please use these links to send an email:

Pandemic and backup tech

Storage metrics

Many thanks.

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Upcoming article: why use tape storage today?

For Computer Weekly I am writing a feature on tape.

As a data storage medium, tape has been on the verge of obsolescence for decades. But the format endures. Why are IT and data managers continuing to choose tape?

The piece will look at:

  • The limitations and benefits of tape in today’s data centric environments
  • New and emerging tape formats and technology enhancements, such as software defined tape
  • How tape works with other storage media, including the cloud
  • Key use cases for the various tape technologies currently on the market.

The deadline to suggest interviewees or to share research is Wednesday, 5th August at 1700 BST. Initial submissions by email please.

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Upcoming commission: unstructured data compliance

For Computer Weekly, I’m looking at the compliance issues around gathering, storing and processing unstructured data.

This article will examine the likely compliance risks in unstructured data, and suggest potential solutions. It will ask:

  • What is unstructured data? How does it compare to structured and semi-structured data types?
  • Why is compliance an issue at all?
  • Why is achieving compliance of unstructured data potentially problematic?
  • What are the key steps to achieving unstructured data compliance?

As businesses gather ever greater volumes of unstructured data, and develop new ways to process and analyse the information, compliance becomes increasingly important. This is especially the case when organisations start to combine data sets, and use advanced analytics to search for insights in the information. Does the original consent to hold and process the data carry over to this type of application? And what happens when unstructured data is mixed with other data sets?

For the piece I am keen to have comments from data scientists, compliance experts, academics, lawyers and end user IT organisations. As the deadline is quite short, please send pitches, initial comments and leads to me by 1200 London time, June 13th by email please.