January 10, 2011 – Any top technologies list is somewhat (totally?) arbitrary. Do you pick them based on how interesting the technologies are? How much end-user interest is behind them? The extent to which the technologies will benefit end users? How much revenue they’ll generate? Or all of the above? Let’s go with “all of the above.”
Here’s my list of some of the key storage technologies for this year (in no particular order), with links to related in-depth features and recent product news articles from InfoStor and our partner site Enterprise Storage Forum.
#1. Solid-state disk (SSD) drives
2011 will finally be The Year of SSDs. All of the major disk array vendors now offer SSDs (mostly from STEC, although competition will heat up significantly this year). Prices are declining rapidly as volumes increase and technology improves. Some vendors are positioning relatively inexpensive multi-level cell (MLC), as opposed to single-level cell (SLC), NAND flash for enterprise duty. SSD and controller vendors have solved most of the issues around reliability and endurance which, together with the price declines, eliminate the primary gating factors to end-user adoption of SSDs.
Market researcher IDC predicts that the total SSD market will grow at a 58% CAGR in unit shipments and a 44% CAGR in revenues over the next few years.
The fastest growing segment of the overall market is enterprise-class SSDs, where unit shipment are expected to surge at a CAGR of 74%, and revenues are expected to grow at a 54% clip, through 2014.
IDC expects the total SSD market to exceed $7 billion in 2014.
Related articles:
Why solid state drives won’t replace spinning disk (Enterprise Storage Forum)
Fixing SSD performance degradation, part 1 (Enterprise Storage Forum)
Fixing SSD performance degradation, part 2 (Enterprise Storage Forum)
SSDs hit mainstream stride
Intel ships miniature SSDs
SSD update: Toshiba, OCZ
Hitachi GST enters SSD market
STEC scores OEM win with IBM for MLC SSDs
LSI ships SSD-based accelerator card
#2. Data reduction (data deduplication and/or compression) for primary storage
Just like data deduplication for secondary storage swept the market and became mainstream over the last couple years, data reduction for primary storage will gain traction in end-user adoption over the next two years.
Interest in data reduction for primary storage picked up significantly last year due in large part to a number of factors, including NetApp’s evangelizing the technology, IBM’s acquisition of Storwize, Dell’s acquisition of Ocarina, and the entry of startups such as BridgeSTOR.
Related articles:
IBM to buy Storwize for real-time data compression (Enterprise Storage Forum)
Dell to acquire Ocarina for data deduplication
Startup BridgeSTOR enters data reduction market
Musings on the future of data dedupe (blog post)
Data deduplication: Permabit finds success with OEM model (blog post)
#3. Cloud storage
A few years after the term ‘cloud storage’ was introduced, vendors and users are still debating what it is. Let’s just call it storage-as-a-service, whether internal (private) or external (public, or hosted). There were probably more product/service announcements regarding cloud storage last year than any other technology. And there’s little doubt that will continue in 2011.
Related articles:
SNIA forms Cloud Backup and Recovery SIG
SNIA develops standards for cloud storage
SNIA completes cloud storage standard
Guidelines for implementing cloud storage
EMC debuts self-service platform for cloud storage
F5 ARX appliances integrate with cloud storage
#4. Data center convergence
Data center convergence can be viewed as the unification of storage, servers and networks, or, as the convergence of networks. In the context of the latter, we’ll see increased end-user interest in Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) in 2011, which was stalled over the last year due in part to the slump in IT spending. But as the IT world moves to 10GbE, the old FCoE-vs.-iSCSI debate will be renewed this year (with a lot of the debate centered on performance and cost issues).
I also expect a lot of controversy over the various approaches to converged (10GbE/FC/iSCSI) adapters, which are usually referred to as converged network adapters (CNAs). Expect a battle royale between vendors such as Emulex, QLogic, Intel, Broadcom and others.
Related articles:
Guidelines for FCoE deployment
FCoE I/O convergence and virtualization
Brocade moves FCoE beyond top-of-rack (Enterprise Storage Forum)
Broadcom claims 2 million+ IOPS on converged controller (blog post)
Intel’s card play in unified networking (10GbE+iSCSI+FCoE)
#5. Storage solutions for virtual servers and desktops
There has been a lot of innovation from storage vendors as well as virtual server platform vendors over the last few years in the area of optimizing storage for virtual server environments, particularly in disk arrays and backup/recovery software. But this year, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) deployments will take off, and just as virtual servers created a lot of storage challenges, so will VDI.
According to a Client Virtualization Straw Poll conducted by CDW, which surveyed 200 IT managers, 91% of the respondents plan to implement some form of client virtualization within the next 12 to 24 months. The primary drivers behind adoption of client virtualization are improved operational efficiency and reduced costs (expected savings were estimated at 20% of the IT budget, according to early adopters).
Related articles:
Storage considerations for VDI implementations
Seven steps to a successful VDI implementation
FalconStor adds VDI support to SAN Accelerator
Related blog post: The Top Ten storage acquisitions of 2010
Showing posts with label data reduction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label data reduction. Show all posts
Monday, January 10, 2011
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Ocarina: 4 dedupe predictions, and an OEM strategy
June 22, 2010 – A couple of recent news announcements/rumors have focused attention on data reduction (compression/deduplication) for primary storage, also referred to as primary storage optimization, capacity optimization, storage efficiency, and many other terms that may be confusing end users.
First, Permabit announced a software-only version of its data deduplication technology designed for storage hardware and software OEMs (see “Permabit deduplicates primary storage”). If Permabit succeeds in nailing a major OEM deal or two (and the company claims to have at least one in the works) this could be a game changer. For a second opinion on that, see Jeff Boles’ blog post.
Second, the rumors are still swirling around IBM’s alleged negotiations to buy primary storage compression specialist Storwize (see “IBM to acquire Storwize for $140 million?”).
I recently spoke to Murli Thirumale, CEO at Ocarina Networks, which is a Storwize competitor and soon-to-be Permabit competitor. Leading up to a product/strategy announcement that Ocarina made today (see below), Murli offered four predictions on data reduction for primary storage:
--“Every major storage vendor will have primary storage deduplication in their portfolio by 2011, whether by building it or buying it. And by 2012 every major host vendor – including servers and virtualization platforms – will have data reduction built in.”
--“The compression vs. deduplication argument will go away as users realize that you need both. Each technology has advantages/disadvantages for different data types and access patterns.” [Ocarina’s technology combines compression and deduplication.]
--“The industry will eventually have solutions integrated across all tiers of storage, rather than point solutions for different tiers. You shouldn’t have to re-hydrate across tiers or workflows. Once you shrink the data, keep it shrunk.”
--“Deduplication is not a feature; it’s a business. The data deduplication market will exceed $3 billion within five years. And I think it will ramp faster on primary storage than it did in the backup market.”
Which sort of leads into the announcement that Ocarina made today. In a strategy similar to Permabit’s, Ocarina announced a software-only, ‘embeddable’ version of its ECOsystem data reduction technology targeted at OEMs. (Ocarina’s existing data reduction technology is delivered as a software-hardware appliance.)
Ocarina may not be a household name, but note that its partners/resellers include, among others, HP, EMC, Hitachi Data Systems and BlueArc, although Ocarina didn’t make any OEM announcements for its embeddable software today. (It takes a long time to qualify and integrate technology like this into a vendor’s existing stack.)
One differentiator that Ocarina may have is a content-aware data reduction technology with a combination of data compression and deduplication. In addition, Ocarina CEO Thirumale says that the OEM version of the company’s technology can be applied anywhere in the IT infrastructure – from primary storage devices to archiving platforms – and on any type of data (e.g., files or blocks), enabling data to remain in compressed/deduped form throughout its lifecycle. In addition, the software can be implemented in a post-process, in-band or hybrid approach.
In other data deduplication news today, GreenBytes announced its entry into the European market with a variety of reseller partnerships. GreenBytes packages its data deduplication software in inline GB-X appliances that combine solid-state disk (SSD) drives and 2.5-inch SATA drives in what the company refers to as a Hybrid Storage Architecture (HSA). GreenBytes’ block-level deduplication can be used in NAS or SAN environments.
First, Permabit announced a software-only version of its data deduplication technology designed for storage hardware and software OEMs (see “Permabit deduplicates primary storage”). If Permabit succeeds in nailing a major OEM deal or two (and the company claims to have at least one in the works) this could be a game changer. For a second opinion on that, see Jeff Boles’ blog post.
Second, the rumors are still swirling around IBM’s alleged negotiations to buy primary storage compression specialist Storwize (see “IBM to acquire Storwize for $140 million?”).
I recently spoke to Murli Thirumale, CEO at Ocarina Networks, which is a Storwize competitor and soon-to-be Permabit competitor. Leading up to a product/strategy announcement that Ocarina made today (see below), Murli offered four predictions on data reduction for primary storage:
--“Every major storage vendor will have primary storage deduplication in their portfolio by 2011, whether by building it or buying it. And by 2012 every major host vendor – including servers and virtualization platforms – will have data reduction built in.”
--“The compression vs. deduplication argument will go away as users realize that you need both. Each technology has advantages/disadvantages for different data types and access patterns.” [Ocarina’s technology combines compression and deduplication.]
--“The industry will eventually have solutions integrated across all tiers of storage, rather than point solutions for different tiers. You shouldn’t have to re-hydrate across tiers or workflows. Once you shrink the data, keep it shrunk.”
--“Deduplication is not a feature; it’s a business. The data deduplication market will exceed $3 billion within five years. And I think it will ramp faster on primary storage than it did in the backup market.”
Which sort of leads into the announcement that Ocarina made today. In a strategy similar to Permabit’s, Ocarina announced a software-only, ‘embeddable’ version of its ECOsystem data reduction technology targeted at OEMs. (Ocarina’s existing data reduction technology is delivered as a software-hardware appliance.)
Ocarina may not be a household name, but note that its partners/resellers include, among others, HP, EMC, Hitachi Data Systems and BlueArc, although Ocarina didn’t make any OEM announcements for its embeddable software today. (It takes a long time to qualify and integrate technology like this into a vendor’s existing stack.)
One differentiator that Ocarina may have is a content-aware data reduction technology with a combination of data compression and deduplication. In addition, Ocarina CEO Thirumale says that the OEM version of the company’s technology can be applied anywhere in the IT infrastructure – from primary storage devices to archiving platforms – and on any type of data (e.g., files or blocks), enabling data to remain in compressed/deduped form throughout its lifecycle. In addition, the software can be implemented in a post-process, in-band or hybrid approach.
In other data deduplication news today, GreenBytes announced its entry into the European market with a variety of reseller partnerships. GreenBytes packages its data deduplication software in inline GB-X appliances that combine solid-state disk (SSD) drives and 2.5-inch SATA drives in what the company refers to as a Hybrid Storage Architecture (HSA). GreenBytes’ block-level deduplication can be used in NAS or SAN environments.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
The drawbacks to data reduction
July 8, 2009 – Data reduction, or capacity optimization, has succeeded in the backup/archive space (i.e., secondary storage), but applying data reduction techniques such as a deduplication and/or compression to primary storage is a horse of a different color. This is why the leading vendors in data deduplication for secondary storage (e.g., Data Domain, EMC, IBM, FalconStor, etc.) are not the same players as we find in the market for data reduction on primary storage.
A lot of articles have been written about primary storage optimization (as the Taneja Group consulting firm refers to it), but most of them focus on the advantages while ignoring the ‘gotchas’ associated with the technology. InfoStor (me, in particular) has been guilty of this (see “Consider data reduction for primary storage” ).
In that article, I focused on the advantages of data reduction for primary storage, and introduced the key players (NetApp, EMC, Ocarina, Storwize, Hifn/Exar, and greenBytes) and their different approaches to capacity optimization. But I didn’t get into the drawbacks.
In a recent blog post, Wikibon.org president and founder Dave Vellante drills into the drawbacks associated with data reduction on primary storage (which Wikibon refers to broadly as “online or primary data compression”).
Vellante divides the market into three approaches:
--“Data deduplication light” approaches such as those used by NetApp and EMC
--Host-managed data reduction (e.g., Ocarina Networks)
--In-line data compression (e.g., Storwize)
All of these approaches have the same benefits (reduced capacity and costs), but each has a few drawbacks. Recommended reading: “Pitfalls of compressing online storage.”
A lot of articles have been written about primary storage optimization (as the Taneja Group consulting firm refers to it), but most of them focus on the advantages while ignoring the ‘gotchas’ associated with the technology. InfoStor (me, in particular) has been guilty of this (see “Consider data reduction for primary storage” ).
In that article, I focused on the advantages of data reduction for primary storage, and introduced the key players (NetApp, EMC, Ocarina, Storwize, Hifn/Exar, and greenBytes) and their different approaches to capacity optimization. But I didn’t get into the drawbacks.
In a recent blog post, Wikibon.org president and founder Dave Vellante drills into the drawbacks associated with data reduction on primary storage (which Wikibon refers to broadly as “online or primary data compression”).
Vellante divides the market into three approaches:
--“Data deduplication light” approaches such as those used by NetApp and EMC
--Host-managed data reduction (e.g., Ocarina Networks)
--In-line data compression (e.g., Storwize)
All of these approaches have the same benefits (reduced capacity and costs), but each has a few drawbacks. Recommended reading: “Pitfalls of compressing online storage.”
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Data reduction redux: What's in a name?
May 7, 2009 – As mentioned in a previous post (see “Welcome to the data dedupalooza” ), I’ve been researching the topic of data reduction for primary storage for an upcoming article. One thing I’ve noticed is that the industry is playing fast and loose with the term ‘data de-duplication,’ sometimes using it in place of the more general ‘data reduction’ or ‘capacity optimization’ terms.
Maybe that was ok in the realm of secondary storage, but as you begin considering data reduction for primary storage you’ll want to be more specific about what technology a vendor uses, although all of the technologies produce the same result (to varying degrees): reduced storage capacity and costs.
In the secondary storage space, in addition to data de-duplication, some vendors use single instancing or compression or a combination of techniques. In the primary storage space, some vendors use data de-duplication, some use compression only, and some combine the two.
Again, all of these technologies have the same goal, but in the case of primary storage (and depending on the type of data sets you have), it may make a difference how a vendor is implementing data reduction. And it’s misleading to refer to any type of data reduction as ‘data de-duplication,’ despite the popularity of the term.
If you’re interested in data reduction (aka capacity optimization) to reduce your capacity requirements, delay new purchases, and slash power, cooling and space requirements, plan to attend our upcoming Webcast, titled “Leveraging Capacity Optimization to Reduce Datacenter Footprint and Storage Costs," Tuesday, May 12 at 10:00 PST, 1:00 EST. Presenters will include Noemi Greyzdorf, research manager, storage software, at IDC, and Peter Smails, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Storwize.
The Webcast will cover data reduction for all types of storage -- including primary, nearline and secondary data – and provide tips on how to maximize the benefits of capacity optimization. To register, click here.
Maybe that was ok in the realm of secondary storage, but as you begin considering data reduction for primary storage you’ll want to be more specific about what technology a vendor uses, although all of the technologies produce the same result (to varying degrees): reduced storage capacity and costs.
In the secondary storage space, in addition to data de-duplication, some vendors use single instancing or compression or a combination of techniques. In the primary storage space, some vendors use data de-duplication, some use compression only, and some combine the two.
Again, all of these technologies have the same goal, but in the case of primary storage (and depending on the type of data sets you have), it may make a difference how a vendor is implementing data reduction. And it’s misleading to refer to any type of data reduction as ‘data de-duplication,’ despite the popularity of the term.
If you’re interested in data reduction (aka capacity optimization) to reduce your capacity requirements, delay new purchases, and slash power, cooling and space requirements, plan to attend our upcoming Webcast, titled “Leveraging Capacity Optimization to Reduce Datacenter Footprint and Storage Costs," Tuesday, May 12 at 10:00 PST, 1:00 EST. Presenters will include Noemi Greyzdorf, research manager, storage software, at IDC, and Peter Smails, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Storwize.
The Webcast will cover data reduction for all types of storage -- including primary, nearline and secondary data – and provide tips on how to maximize the benefits of capacity optimization. To register, click here.
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