ST Mar-Apr 2023

STOR 

MAGAZINE 

STORAGE 

The UK’s number one in IT Storage 

March/April 2023 

Vol 23, Issue 2 

LIFE, THE METAVERSE 

AND EVERYTHING: 

A data storage specialist's guide 

ROUNDTABLE: 

DNA storage 

HARDWARE: 

The 'indispensable' hard disk 

STRATEGY: 

AIOps in storage management 

COMMENT - NEWS - NEWS ANALYSIS - CASE STUDIES - OPINION - PRODUCT REVIEWS

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The UK’s number one in IT Storage 

LIFE, THE METAVERSE 

AND EVERYTHING: 

March/April 2023 

Vol 23, Issue 2 

CONTENTS 

STOR 

MAGAZINE 


CONTENTS 

A data storage specialist's guide 

ROUNDTABLE: 

DNA storage 

HARDWARE: 

The 'indispensable' hard disk 


AIOps in storage management 

COMMENT - NEWS - NEWS ANALYSIS - CASE STUDIES - OPINION - PRODUCT REVIEWS 

COMMENT….....................................................................4 

Into the metaverse 

MANAGEMENT: AIOPS…..….......................................…..6 

AIOps can help to simplify storage management, which in turn will alleviate the 

pressures of skills shortages within IT, argues Eric Herzog, CMO, Infinidat 

10 

TECHNOLOGY: SSD……………....................................…….8 

Frederik Haak, Senior Marketing Manager SSD Product Marketing at KIOXIA Europe, 

discusses the requirements for the perfect SSDs for business applications 

ROUNDTABLE: DNA STORAGE…............................…..10 

DNA storage promises to store vast volumes of data in just a few particles for 

thousands of years - slashing both the footprint and energy needed to store our evergrowing 

data. Storage magazine asked a range of industry experts for their views 

16 

MANAGEMENT: CLOUD COSTS…….......................……16 

Boyan Ivanov, CEO at StorPool Storage, looks at how cloud providers can better 

manage costs in the current unpredictable market 

RESEARCH: CYBERSECURITY……........................…….18 

Cybersecurity woes continue to plague SMBs, argues Chris McKie, VP, Product 

Marketing Security and Networking Solutions at Datto, triggering a commitment to 

increase IT security budgets 

EVENT STORAGE AWARDS 2023…………….........…….20 

Nominations for the 20th Storage Awards close on March 24th - full details here 

18 

OPINION: ENTERPRISE I.T.…….................................…..22 

Tabitha Powell, Senior Specialist, Office of the CTO at F5, explains why enterprise 

architecture must evolve for digital transformation 

STRATEGY: HYBRID WORKING…………..................……24 

John Michael, CEO of iStorage, explains how corporate storage must change to meet 

the needs of a new working culture, and how upgrading hardware can simplify 

employee administration 

22 

TECHNOLOGY: METAVERSE……...........................…….26 

Manfred Berger, Senior Manager of Business Development EMEAI at Western Digital, 

offers a data storage specialist's guide to the metaverse 

ANALYSIS: HDD………..............................................…….30 

There are still numerous applications and environments where only the humble HDD 

will do, despite the ongoing growth in SSD use across the business and personal 

space, argues Rainer W. Kaese of Toshiba Electronics Europe 

RESEARCH: HPC STORAGE………...........................……32 

Specialist knowledge is the biggest challenge for managing high-performance storage, 

according to new research released by Panasas 

26 

CASE STUDY: DENTONS………………....................………34 

The world's largest law firm, Dentons, is leveraging a portfolio of technology from Pure 

Storage to expand its global presence, drive sustainable business practices, and 

provide comprehensive data security for clients 

www.storagemagazine.co.uk @STMagAndAwards Mar/Apr 2023 


MAGAZINE 

03

COMMENT 

EDITOR: David Tyler 

david.tyler@btc.co.uk 

SUB EDITOR: Mark Lyward 

mark.lyward@btc.co.uk 

INTO THE METAVERSE 

BY DAVID TYLER 

EDITOR 

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The March/April issue of Storage really does cover a vast variety of topics, even by 

our own ever-eclectic standards. One article from Toshiba describes how 

indispensable HDDs are, even in a world where SSD continues to grow market 

share. At the same time we have a feature from Kioxia on how important it is to select 

the right kind of SSD for data centre/enterprise use - not all flash is the same! 

Elsewhere we have an in-depth roundtable piece looking into DNA storage. These 

examples serve to illustrate the bredath and diversity of the storage sector as a whole, 

and also that in the real world there is very rarely a 'one size fits all' technology that 

will address everyone's requirements. 

For most - if not all - of our readers, their IT environment will have developed over 

time (often decades) to include a smorgasbord of different and sometimes competing 

hardware and software: hard drives, SSD and tape, of course, but in an increasingly 

'always-on' world we also rely on a bewildering array of online solutions where - from 

the end users' perspective - it almost doesn't matter what hardware sits behind their 

systems. 

The pandemic caused a seismic shift in how the world works, accelerating the rate of 

change far more than could otherwise have been envisaged by any outside observer. 

Hybrid working brings with it a whole range of additional challenges and 

opportunities. 

As working practices have changed, the potential for data breaches is now greater 

than ever. COVID-19 forced almost half of working adults to perform their jobs at 

home. Even with restrictions now lifted, 84% of those who worked remotely intend to 

continue doing so for a proportion of their working week. As a result, all kinds of staff 

staff regularly access sensitive company data outside of the office. 

John Michael of iStorage says in his article in this issue: "The integrity of business 

data has never been more critical. Regulatory demands are growing, the amount of 

data we store and analyse is increasing, and the impact that lost, stolen or even 

improperly stored data could have on a business has never been more severe." 

Elsewhere WD's Manfred Berger takes the discussion to the next level, considering the 

storage implications of the much-lauded metaverse: "The metaverse itself will need to 

be stored somewhere, albeit from a centralised or decentralised server or location. The 

data required to create and change multiple virtual worlds with vast environments and 

complex details that users can interact with will be immense." 

As these 'virtual worlds' become more integrated in our lives, data storage providers 

will be at the forefront in building the foundations of the metaverse. 

04 STORAGE 

MAGAZINE 

Mar/Apr 2023 

@STMagAndAwards 

www.storagemagazine.co.uk

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MANAGEMENT: AIOPS 

A 'SET-IT-AND-FORGET-IT' ERA 

FOR ENTERPRISE STORAGE? 

AIOPS CAN HELP TO SIMPLIFY STORAGE MANAGEMENT, WHICH IN 

TURN WILL ALLEVIATE THE PRESSURES OF SKILLS SHORTAGES WITHIN 

I.T., ARGUES ERIC HERZOG, CMO, INFINIDAT 

Regardless of economic uncertainty, 

businesses everywhere are pushing 

forward with plans for Industry 4.0 and 

key technology investments. They can't afford 

to do otherwise if they want to remain 

competitive. Yet, the potential to deliver on 

promises of advanced connectivity, AI, 

automation, machine learning and real-time 

data availability, is at risk - because of the 

ongoing shortage of IT professionals. It's a 

feature common to every sector within 

enterprise IT, including storage. 

80% of IT leaders report that skills gaps pose 

a 'high or medium risk to their team's ability to 

meet key objectives', according to the Skillsoft 

2022 IT Skills & Salary Report. Where the 

requisite skills are available, workers are 

commanding premium rates and salary 

inflation is running at an all-time high. Some 

companies admit paying up to 40% more for 

the right candidates. 

Against this macro backdrop IT budgets are 

being squeezed due to inflation, the threat of 

cyber-attacks and international compliance 

requirements. This makes infrastructure 

provision - like enterprise storage - ever more 

challenging to resource. 

Now a possible solution exists, thanks to 

ready availability of advanced AIOps 

capabilities at the storage layer in sectors 

where the right skills cannot easily be found, 

AI provides a route to 'getting things done' 

and solving the problem of talent scarcity, 

without compromises. 

Rather than removing jobs, AIOps 

technology brings continuity for enterprises 

who cannot recruit into key roles. It's a winwin, 

delivering many other advantages to 

enterprises and the start of a new 'set-it-andforget-it' 

era for enterprise storage. Given all 

the economic uncertainty, its timing couldn't 

be better. 

AIOPS SIMPLIFIES STORAGE 

MANAGEMENT 

Modern data centre environments are now 

highly complex, featuring multiple 

architectures and technology stacks, often 

with siloed applications. The storage layer 

lies at the heart of addressing many of the 

challenges created by this complexity. By 

using an artificially intelligent solution at the 

storage layer, organisations can exploit 

built-in infrastructure intelligence, facilitate 

easier service level delivery, and improve 

the efficiency of data centre operations, 

without worrying about how the technology 

itself operates. 

Used at the storage layer, artificial 

intelligence (AI) can also optimise 

performance by optimising the cache, 

creating a better understanding of 

workloads and behaviours, and delivering 

memory-speed access to data. Deep 

machine learning capabilities deliver 

enhanced cache utilisation, with the ability 

to accurately predict which workloads will be 

required so that they can be brought into 

the cache more quickly. 

These performance improvements are 

possible because the algorithms learn to prefetch 

any data likely to be required based on 

previous transactions and then retain it in 

memory on request. This machine-based 

learning also means the speeds of reading 

and writing, sequentialisation of inputs and 

outputs (I/Os) based on behaviour and 

understanding block sizes in relation to each 

other and to applications, are all enhanced. 

In addition to higher performance, using 

AIOps at the storage layer also supports 

06 STORAGE Mar/Apr 2023 


www.storagemagazine.co.uk 

MAGAZINE

MANAGEMENT: AIOPS 

"Modern data centre environments are now highly complex, featuring multiple 

architectures and technology stacks, often with siloed applications. The storage 

layer lies at the heart of addressing many of the challenges created by this 

complexity. By using an artificially intelligent solution at the storage layer, 

organisations can exploit built-in infrastructure intelligence, facilitate easier service 

level delivery, and improve the efficiency of data centre operations, without 

worrying about how the technology itself operates." 

greater consolidation of applications based on 

data utilisation, with multiple nodes that deliver 

enhanced redundancy. The system effectively 

keeps on learning and its capabilities 

continuously improve as the algorithm 

continues to be used. 

BENEFITS BEYOND THE STORAGE 

LAYER 

AI offers many benefits outside of the main 

storage layer too, through cloud-based 

applications to deliver a multi-system, detailed 

and granular view of and across workloads, 

platforms and data centres. This is particularly 

useful where resourcing challenges make it 

difficult to recruit the right calibre storage 

professionals. 

AI based support means management 

workloads are halved because a singular, 

consolidated dashboard can be created to 

cover the entire storage architecture. Other 

benefits include early issue detection and 

prevention, alerting and system management. 

Delivered through an open, cloud-based 

architecture, these solutions can be customised 

to fit various workflows, while predictive 

analytics can deliver trend analysis and 

reporting, anomaly detection and enhanced 

resource planning. This enables automated, 

actionable insights on areas such as 

performance and capacity, which can 

ultimately lead to better business decisions 

through integration with ServiceNow, VMware 

vCenter Ops and other pan-data centre/cloud 

AIOps packages. 

COMBINING STORAGE INSIGHTS 

WITH DEVOPS 

An intelligent storage solution delivers a lot 

more than high performance, improved 

storage utilisation and actionable insights to an 

enterprise. It is also possible to integrate 

development operations capabilities and at the 

same time, ensure that storage layers are in 

tune with the needs of system administrators. 

This gives direct access to broad and deep 

capabilities through proven solutions including 

cyber resilience, seamless migration, 

automatic file system extension, infrastructure 

as code and Storage-as-a-Service (STaaS) 

automation. In turn, solution deployment can 

be expedited while eliminating solution 

development risks, as well as improving 

integration capability with other third-party 

functionality, such as Ansible and other pandata 

centre/cloud DevOps packages. 

UNDERPINNING PERFORMANCE 

TRANSFORMATION 

At a time when storage resources are so 

challenged - both in terms of talent availability 

and high salary costs - implementing an 

intelligent storage architecture can help 

organisations minimise the consequences, 

without compromising performance. 

Integrating AIOps into the storage layer 

means the infrastructure can become selfmanaging 

and self-optimised, with 100% 

uptime. Direct access to DevOps capabilities 

ensures that functionality can be extended with 

simplified solution implementation, expedited 

solution delivery and reduced solution risk. 

Ultimately, AI is facilitating a new, 'set-itand-forget-it' 

era for enterprise storage 

management, reducing complexity, 

standardising processes across applications 

and service levels and reducing the burden 

of resourcing with skills that are in very 

short supply. 

Instead, with an AI powered storage 

infrastructure, less time and fewer people are 

needed to manage an increasingly advanced 

and powerful architecture, one that supports 

consolidation, breaks down siloes, supports 

diverse workloads and delivers an all-round 

improved return on assets employed. 

By bringing all these advantages together with 

AI powered storage, organisations can finally 

shift the focus away from overcoming short 

term resourcing challenges and emphasise 

really enhancing long term business value. 

More info: www.infinidat.com 


@STMagAndAwards Mar/Apr 2023 


MAGAZINE 

07

TECHNOLOGY: SSD 

ALL SSD OFFERINGS ARE NOT ALIKE 

FREDERIK HAAK, SENIOR 

MARKETING MANAGER SSD 

PRODUCT MARKETING AT 

KIOXIA EUROPE, DISCUSSES 

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE 

PERFECT SSDS FOR BUSINESS 

APPLICATIONS 

Many modern data centre 

applications require high 

throughput rates and low 

latencies, which is why SSDs are becoming 

the storage medium of choice. A wide 

product range is available on the market, 

with diverse form factors, interfaces and 

transmission protocols, as well as 

performance and endurance 

specifications. But which specifications do 

businesses have to watch out for when 

planning SSDs for specific activity fields? 

With digitisation forging ahead, growing 

data quantities have to be processed 

faster and faster, placing more demands 

on data centres. Characterised by high 

data throughput and low latency, SSDs are 

increasingly being used as storage media. 

By now, there is a massive selection of 

SSDs available on the market, suitable for 

an equally diverse range of applications. 

Consequently, businesses must take 

various factors into consideration 

when choosing a solution. On 

the other hand, this also 

enables them to use SSDs that 

seamlessly fit the planned 

application. 

The key parameters 

businesses should factor in 

are latency, write and read 

speed, form factor, interface 

standard and transmission 

protocol, as well as 

endurance, or the number of 

write cycles for which an SSD 

is designed. These must fit 

the planned 

application as well 

as the available 

and future 

infrastructure, while being technically and 

economically sensible. 

If businesses are looking, for example, to 

speed up the affordable mass storage of a 

server or storage system with an SSD 

cache, they will require SSDs that deliver 

great performance and last for many write 

cycles. SAS SSDs with a drive writes per 

day (DWPD) value of up to 10 are often 

combined as a cache with SAS hard 

drives. The DWPD value indicates how 

often the drive can be written per day, at 

full capacity, over its entire life cycle - 

usually the warranty period. 

If the system already has fast NVMe SSDs 

for mass storage, storage class memory 

(SCM) SSDs are more suitable for cache 

use, because they offer even greater 

performance and, depending on the 

model, more than 30 DWPD. These 

caching drives usually have a relatively 

low capacity - 400 GB to 3.2 TB - 

because they do not permanently store 

data, but rather serve as interim storage 

for faster provision. 

SSDs can also speed up many systems as 

boot drives, in this case generally 

requiring smaller capacities and lower 

endurance, with the operating system 

placing very low demands on the storage 

medium. Conversely, demands placed on 

SSDs that are used as storage in server 

and storage systems within data centres 

are usually much higher. They combine 

high storage capacities with high 

performance. Here, the required 

endurance depends on the applications. 

For applications requiring a relatively 

small number of write activities - such as 

the provision of media, a web shop or a 

file server - SSDs with low DWPD values 

suffice. For write-intensive workloads, such 

as database and analytics applications, as 




MAGAZINE

TECHNOLOGY: SSD 

"Overprovisioning with storage cells is already standard in SSDs. Because the 

cells wear out, algorithms try to distribute the data over the available cells as 

evenly as possible - if cells fail, the stored data is restored using correction 

processes and backed up on replacement cells. This is how enterprise SSDs 

manage to achieve much higher DWPD values, and with that, a longer service 

life than consumer SSDs." 

well as high-performance computing, 

companies need SSDs with higher DWPD 

values. Ideally, businesses are aware of the 

write loads and the data quantities that must 

be written onto the storage in a given day. 

THE FUTURE IS PCIE AND NVME 

Whereas SSDs with the PCIe interface have 

become standard in servers, SSDs with the 

SAS interface offer dual-port functionality, 

and thus redundancy, which is why they are 

still frequently used in storage systems. Here 

too, there is a trend toward PCIe, because 

this interface offers very low latencies with 

very high write and read rates together with 

the NVMe protocol. 

High-performance and relatively 

affordable storage systems can be 

integrated through the NVMe over fabric 

(NVMeoF) network protocol, which can also 

be used in existing TCP Ethernet networks. 

This is why manufacturers such as KIOXIA 

also offer PCIe SSDs with dual ports. 

Even with many SSDs still supporting SATA, 

these models are virtually only suited to 

upgrading existing systems, because they 

cannot leverage the actual potential of flash 

storage. The standard is not being 

developed any more, and many SSD 

manufacturers do not have any new SATA 

SSDs on their roadmap either. 

Therefore, there is no way around PCIe 

SSDs when developing new infrastructures. 

The slight uptick in SATA SSD sales figures 

over recent months is primarily attributable 

to many companies extending the life cycle 

of old systems as a result of the insecure 

economic situation brought about by the 

pandemic. 

The same goes for the 2.5-inch form 

factor, still popular because of drive 

compatibility with existing systems. By now, 

the Enterprise & Data Center SSD Form 

Factor (EDSFF) is establishing itself for 

SSDs. They are optimised for flash storage 

and allow for superior heat dissipation from 

the SSD surface - which is most important 

with the high-performance specifications of 

PCIe SSDs from the fourth generation up, 

as well as drives with high storage 

capacities. They consume more power 

because of their capacity, which is why they 

also produce more heat. 

CONSUMER SSDS HAVE NO 

BUSINESS IN DATA CENTRES 

If there are no system restrictions, for 

example regarding the number of slots or 

controller ports, high-capacity drives are 

usually the more attractive choice because 

of the lower costs per capacity unit. 

However, with 15 or 30 TB SSDs, the 

manufacturer might have specified lower 

write/read performances to avoid 

exceeding the specified maximum power 

consumption. Companies that need topnotch 

performance above all are 

therefore advised to opt for a larger 

number of smaller SSDs. 

Nevertheless, they should be aware that 

performance might deteriorate as the 

drive fills up, because the organisation of 

the flash storage in pages and blocks 

requires the controller to clear up more 

to write data. 

SSD manufacturers such as KIOXIA, 

however, continuously improve the 

algorithms used for clearing up drives, 

counteracting performance drops through 

increased overprovisioning. 

Overprovisioning with storage cells is 

already standard in SSDs. Because the 

cells wear out, algorithms try to distribute 

the data over the available cells as evenly 

as possible - if cells fail, the stored data is 

restored using correction processes and 

backed up on replacement cells. This is 

how enterprise SSDs manage to achieve 

much higher DWPD values, and with that, 

a longer service life than consumer SSDs. 

Moreover, contrary to consumer SSDs, 

the former come with power loss 

protection (PLP) through internal 

capacitors, which still provide sufficient 

power in the event of a cut to the power 

supply to store all data from the SSD 

cache, preventing any data loss. This is 

another reason why more affordable 

consumer SSDs are not suited to use in 

data centres. 

More info: www.kioxia.com 




MAGAZINE 

09

ROUNDTABLE: DNA STORAGE 

HONEY, I SHRUNK THE DATA 

DNA STORAGE PROMISES TO STORE VAST VOLUMES OF DATA IN 

JUST A FEW PARTICLES FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS - SLASHING 

BOTH THE FOOTPRINT AND ENERGY NEEDED TO STORE OUR EVER- 

GROWING DATA. STORAGE MAGAZINE ASKED A RANGE OF 

INDUSTRY EXPERTS FOR THEIR VIEWS 

Capacity, cost, and performance: 

three of your top data storage 

priorities? No wonder, and it's the 

same for many. The volume of data we 

produce is in overdrive; we're churning 

out a staggering 2.5 quintillion bytes of 

data each day - and that impacts the size 

of your data centre, how far your budget 

will stretch, and how quickly data can be 

moved. 

This growth is a major challenge for 

many data storage vendors today: 

requirements for storage capacity and 

longevity continue to expand with no 

signs of slowing down in sight. Enter 

DNA storage. A technology promising to 

store millions upon millions of gigabytes 

in just a few particles, for thousands 

of years. 

Sounds too good to be true? We 

gathered a group of experts, vendors, 

researchers, and analysts, to unpick this 

new medium's claims and help you stay 

ahead of this game-changing technology. 

A 'STORE EVERYTHING' FUTURE 

If you think the data we are producing now 

is off the scale, consider where we'll be in 

ten, 20 or even 30 years' time. CIOs are 

likely to be juggling much larger volumes 

of data then than their counterparts are 

now. Thomas Ybert, CEO and co-founder 

of DNA Script, a world leader in Enzymatic 

DNA Synthesis (EDS), explains: "Emerging 

technologies such as autonomous cars and 

artificial intelligence will further increase 

the need for unprecedented data storage 

requirements. The anticipated growth in 

data storage needs cannot be addressed 




MAGAZINE


"DNA storage works by encoding digital data into 

DNA sequences, which are then synthesised and 

stored. The data can be retrieved by sequencing the 

DNA and decoding the data. DNA encapsulated with 

salt remains stable for decades at room temperature 

and should last much longer in controlled 

environments like a data centre. DNA doesn't require 

maintenance, and data stored in DNA can easily be 

copied at low cost."- Giorgio Regni, Scality 

by current resource-intensive technologies." 

And what will happen to that data if there 

is nowhere to store it? Over to Curtis 

Anderson, Software Architect at Panasas: 

"We are currently - mostly - able to keep 

up … by prudent pruning of low-value 

data and the natural growth in the density 

of individual drives, along with the growth 

in the number of those drives. We will 

almost certainly require progressively 

deeper and deeper pruning of low-value 

data to stay ahead of that explosion. If 

DNA-based storage lives up to its promise, 

we will be able to stop pruning and simply 

store everything." 

Sabine Sykora, PhD. Application Scientist 

and Business Developer at Kilobaser, a 

team committed to the democratisation of 

DNA and RNA synthesis, points out we 

need to consider more than just capacity: 

"Unfortunately, all current archival storage 

media face fundamental limitations. Tape 

drives, for instance, suffer from media 

obsolescence. Data stored on tape must 

constantly be migrated to account for 

equipment failures and technology 

upgrades, thus making tape drives a highly 

inefficient storage medium that produces 

considerable amounts of electronic waste. 

Existing storage technology is becoming far 

too costly while at the same time leading to 

considerable negative impact on the 

environment." 

WISHFUL THINKING? 

Our experts continue to return to the 

environmental cost, and the fact that 

organisations will have to consider this 

impact more carefully in the future. Thomas 

Heinis, Professor in Data Management at 

Imperial College London, confirms: "Data 

centres today are considerable contributors 

to CO2 emissions…DNA as a storage 

medium does not need to be cooled and 

requires no electricity." 

Surely he can't really mean DNA, the 

'building blocks of life'? In fact, that is 

exactly what he means: digital data stored 

in synthetic DNA and, because that data is 

said to be retrievable for millennia, it is 

perfect for archiving large data sets for 

long periods of time. 

Do not write this off as wishful thinking. 

DNA storage is already in use, according 

to Giorgio Regni, CTO of Scality. "End 

users already benefiting from DNA storage 

include researchers who need to store large 

volumes of data, such as genome 

sequences," he explains. "In the future, 

DNA storage may be used by businesses 

and individuals to store data for long 

periods of time." 

Kilobaser's Sykora expands: "The 

application of DNA storage is already 

being realised for long-term storage… 

basically the backup of the backup. From 

this backup, everyone that stores 

information on DNA benefits as there is an 

alternative storage medium in use. 

However, there are currently only a few 

companies that can provide DNA storage 

with their own coding and infrastructure. 

This severely limits the number of end-users 

at the time being." 

IN FOR THE LONG HAUL 

Bernard Peultier is VP innovation at data 

protection software provider, Atempo. He 

agrees with Sykora's assertion that DNA 

storage is for the long haul. "You don't store 

data you want to keep for a few days or a 

few months in DNA. DNA is part of what I 




MAGAZINE 

11


"We are currently - mostly - able to keep up … by 

prudent pruning of low-value data and the natural 

growth in the density of individual drives, along with the 

growth in the number of those drives. We will almost 

certainly require progressively deeper and deeper 

pruning of low-value data to stay ahead of that 

explosion. If DNA-based storage lives up to its promise, 

we will be able to stop pruning and simply 

store everything."- Curtis Anderson, Panasas 

call alternative long-term storage. When 

you archive long-term, any archivist will tell 

you, you must store information in different 

types of storage to guarantee its durability . 

Don't store copies on the same type of 

storage, quite simply because if there is an 

unforeseen deterioration in the time of the 

storage, well then, you are in trouble." 

Daniel Chadash sits on the board of the 

DNA Storage Alliance, which is helping to 

address the growing demand for archival 

storage by using DNA as a storage 

medium. He explains where this type of 

storage is likely to be adopted: "The first 

users that will benefit from it will probably 

be in the digital preservation industries, 

media & entertainment, healthcare, and 

advanced scientific research that needs to 

preserve data for decades, if not forever." 

But any sector that is expected to store 

ever-growing data long-term could be in 

the frame. 

Sergei Serdyuk, VP of Product 

Management at NAKIVO adds: "As the 

need for high-density, low-maintenance 

storage keeps growing, more and more 

businesses from various sectors are 

investing in its development. Although 

energy-efficient, lasting data storage will 

have a positive impact on many industries, 

organisations in the data management 

sector will probably be the first to benefit 

once the technology moves from the lab to 

production." 

So: yes to archiving data, but DNA 

storage promises much more, according to 

Newcastle University's Professor of 

Computing Science and Synthetic Biology, 

Natalio Krasnagor. "I strongly believe that 

the most exciting applications have not yet 

been uncovered and that those will start to 

emerge sometime in the next few years. My 

lab is focusing on DNA data structures 

rather than archival storage. We believe 

that what is needed is the ability to not only 

store large amounts of data, but also to 

uniformly manipulate, sort, search and, 

more generally, to process that data, and 

to do so where the data is produced, 

stored, and consumed." 

A word of caution though, from research 

company Omdia's Principal Analyst in 

Advanced Computing for AI, Alexander 

Harrowell: "The main benefits are that the 

storage is very efficient, a lot of information 

is packed into a tiny volume of DNA, and it 

is stable without electrical power for the 

long term. The downsides are that 

accessing it is extremely slow and requires 

equipment, chemicals, and skills that are 

far rarer than say, those required to 

manage a tape drive." 

HERE COMES THE SCIENCE BIT 

That slow retrieval is in part what will limit 

adoption, say our experts. When you shrink 

data usually stored in data centres that can 

rival a small town in size and power 

consumption, to fit into a test tube, there is 

going to be a trade-off. For now at least. 

But why does it take so long to retrieve 

data stored in DNA? Scality's Regni sets out 

the detail: "DNA storage works by encoding 

digital data into DNA sequences, which are 

then synthesised and stored. The data can 

be retrieved by sequencing the DNA and 

decoding the data. DNA encapsulated with 

salt remains stable for decades at room 

temperature and should last much longer 

in controlled environments like a data 

centre. DNA doesn't require maintenance, 

and data stored in DNA can easily be 




MAGAZINE


"Unfortunately, all current archival storage media face 

fundamental limitations. Tape drives, for instance, suffer from 

media obsolescence. Data stored on tape must constantly be 

migrated to account for equipment failures and technology 

upgrades, thus making tape drives a highly inefficient storage 

medium that produces considerable amounts of electronic 

waste. Existing storage technology is becoming far too costly 

while at the same time leading to considerable negative 

impact on the environment."- Sabine Sykora, Kilobaser 

copied at low cost." 

DNA Script's Ybert elaborates further: 

"DNA is composed of four bases which 

can be used to encode information. The 

encoded data would need to be 

synthesised as DNA using the available 

nucleic acid printing technologies. DNA 

Script uses Enzymatic DNA Synthesis 

(EDS), which prints nucleic acids without 

the toxic chemicals used by conventional 

phosphoramidite chemistry printing 

methods. EDS is a 'clean' chemistry 

process that doesn't require the strict 

environmental conditions, hazardous 

waste disposal, or physical footprint like 

the conventional process." 

Another positive step towards greener 

data storage? Perhaps, but there is a way 

to go before we realise the potential 

benefits of this technology, according to the 

majority of our experts. 

SCIENCE FICTION - OR FACT? 

Although work is underway to bring DNA 

storage into the mainstream - DNA Script's 

collaboration with Harvard to manufacture 

DNA on a semiconductor chip is just one 

example - it could be some time before it is 

a staple in your data centre. The stumbling 

blocks? Time and cost. 

Kilobaser's Sykora: "To make DNA storage 

widely available, both processes - writing 

and reading - need to be moved out of the 

lab and into the office. To achieve this 

transition, both writing and reading need to 

become easier, cheaper, and faster." 

She continues: "The European Union has 

decided to fund several research projects 

aimed at making DNA synthesis cheaper 

and faster. The result of these projects will 

be new technologies that will bring DNA 

storage one step closer to broad 

application." 

Alessia Marelli is CTO at DNAalgo, a 

team of storage industry veterans 

developing DNA storage. She explains 

more: "There are a lot of companies 

working on DNA data storage right now. 

The DNA Data Storage Alliance is doing a 

great job trying to consolidate roadmaps 

and standards in this sector. Biotech 

companies are working on synthesis and 

sequencing to make it more affordable as 

costs and speed. Other companies like 

DNAalgo are working on encoding and 

decoding to make DNA data storage 

reliable. I think that in the following years a 

lot of progress will come, resulting in a real 

commercial product in five to ten years." 

ICL's Heinis supports Marelli's timeline: 

"We believe it will be available in around 

five years. DNA synthesis is too expensive 

and we will need to find ways to reduce the 

cost, by also adapting the technology to 

data storage, i.e., departing from the life 

science use case." 

Chadash of the DNA Storage Alliance 

also agrees: "Based on public 

announcements, we assume that at least by 

the end of this decade (2030), if not earlier, 

DNA storage solutions will be widely 

available and at a competitive price. Right 

now, many companies, most of them 

alliance members, are working hard to 

make it more affordable and scalable. The 

work is focused on writing DNA, to improve 

current technologies and commercialise 

new technologies, such as enzymatic 

synthesis and reading DNA, new 

companies are emerging with new 




MAGAZINE 

13


"As the need for high-density, low-maintenance storage 

keeps growing, more and more businesses from 

various sectors are investing in its development. 

Although energy-efficient, lasting data storage will have 

a positive impact on many industries, organisations in 

the data management sector will probably be the first 

to benefit once the technology moves from the lab 

to production."- Sergei Serdyuk, NAKIVO 

technologies, and existing companies are 

launching new products that reduce the 

price of reading." 

But not everyone takes this view. 

Enterprise Strategy Group's Practice 

Director, Cloud, Infrastructure, and 

DevOps, Scott Sinclair is doubtful. "Count 

me as a sceptic," he says. "Until the 

format becomes cheaper and faster to 

leverage, it will be difficult to leverage 

effectively. I'm not saying it won't happen, 

DNA storage just needs multiple 

innovations to be in the realm of 

consideration." 

Omdia's Harrowell is pragmatic: "There 

are demonstration projects that actually 

work, if you're willing to spend a lot of 

money per write and wait a long time for 

your data." 

But every technology starts somewhere, 

reminds Chadash of the Data Storage 

Alliance: "Some claimed that the internet 

would not succeed and would remain a 

science project between universities, and 

some doubted our need for flat screens or 

flash-based hard drives." 

He continues: "We are already past the 

science fiction phase as a few companies, 

including Twist Bioscience and Microsoft, 

have already shown that the technology 

works. The challenge now is to scale and 

commercialise it, just like with any other 

new technology." 

WHAT IS NEXT? 

When asked whether DNA storage will 

move out of its archival comfort zone, 

Ybert of DNA Script is sanguine: "We will 

see… We do not anticipate data storage 

to change quickly or overnight. We 

predict a coexistence between 'hot' data 

that is frequently accessed and stored on 

traditional systems and 'cold' data, which 

is archival, rarely accessed, and doesn't 

require immediate access. We've seen 

estimates that 70% of data stored is 

considered archival." 

ICL's Heinis agrees: "Archival is clearly 

the lowest hanging fruit as it builds on the 

longevity and durability of DNA. For it to 

come nearline, however, the process 

needs to be made substantially smaller 

and more efficient. It is a long road, but it 

is possible." 

Although the focus is on archival storage 

for now, there is potential for further 

applications, perhaps through 

parallelisation. Randy Kerns, Senior 

Strategist at Evaluator Group, explains: 

"The parallelism could be in sequencing 

which will speed the process, allowing it to 

perform at a level beyond the expectations 

for archival storage. Also, parallel 

operations against DNA to allow other uses 

is done with operations across multiple 

elements of data at the same time, similar 

to the arguments for computation storage 

with SSDs. An example may be 

implementing a search function that could 

run in parallel." 

THAT'S A WRAP 

So, although it is not completely the 

exclusive of sci-fi, DNA storage still has 

some way to go before it becomes a 

standard feature of most data centres. 

Currently in its infancy, with high costs and 

long retrieval times, the technology offers 

promise. And it might be the most futuristic 

storage that we have access to right now. 

When asked what comes next, let's give the 

last word to Anderson of Panasas: "I'm not 

sure yet, I'll have to ask my AI assistant." ST 




MAGAZINE

MANAGEMENT: CLOUD COSTS 

TOWARDS A MORE COST-EFFECTIVE CLOUD 

BOYAN IVANOV, CEO AT STORPOOL STORAGE, LOOKS AT HOW CLOUD PROVIDERS CAN BETTER 

MANAGE COSTS IN THE CURRENT UNPREDICTABLE MARKET 

Rising energy prices directly impact cloud 

builders like Managed Services Providers, 

Hosting Services Providers, Cloud 

Services Providers, enterprises and SaaS 

vendors. Since many of these companies 

operate their own on-premises cloud 

infrastructures, they are taking a hit as their 

overhead costs rise and derail their Total Cost 

of Ownership projections. 

This trend is forcing many companies to 

review and optimise power use by turning off 

sections of their infrastructure and seeking other 

cost-optimisation tactics. With this article, we 

provide an overview of how cloud providers 

can optimise their operating costs from a 

hardware perspective. 

HARDWARE PLANNING 

Hardware components are often considered 

'cash consumers' because, in addition to their 

upfront cost, each one requires operating 

expenses like electricity. So, doing the same 

job with less hardware can significantly 

reduce costs and free up cash for other 

purposes. 

While dual-socket servers - servers that 

support two CPUs - are commonplace in data 

centres, if a single-socket server can do the 

job, there is no need for a dual-socket. The 

presence of a second CPU tends to only lead 

to increased power consumption (by the CPU 

itself, the links between both CPUs, etc.) and 

can quickly eat up the single-rack power limit. 

However, if the case requires more CPU 

cores than a single unit can provide, the dualsocket 

architecture is probably more powerefficient 

than two single-socket servers. That is 

because the dual-socket node still uses a 

single chipset on the motherboard, the same 

NIC(s), GPUs, coolers, etc. 

Having two running nodes is an example of 

pure spending without value unless disaster 

recovery RPO and RTO objectives mandate it. 

Since doubling the hardware components 

(power supplies, coolers, NICs, etc.), two halfloaded 

physical servers will consume more 

power than one loaded at 85% to 90%. 

If the workloads and software allow it, the 

second node can be powered off and stay 

ready to be returned to work if the first one 

fails or needs maintenance, or if there is a 

need for additional resources to handle peak 

loads. Of course, there is a trade-off, boottime 

of an offline node versus power used by 

the same node to stay idle. 




MAGAZINE

MANAGEMENT: CLOUD COSTS 

"An integral part of offering hardware planning is to help customers design 

their cloud with the right hardware for their specific use cases. In the early 

stage of each project, always ask what components the customer plans to use 

for their particular use case (e.g., databases, IaaS services, web hosting, etc.), 

not only to confirm the hardware compatibility or check for known issues but 

also to help with the component choice. By achieving their goals with less and 

right-sized hardware, users ultimately achieve improved power saving as well." 

For larger cases, a chassis with a modular 

system design provides high density, 

performance, efficiency and cost-effectiveness. 

Such systems share some hardware (e.g., 

power supplies) and provide rack space 

savings (e.g., eight servers in 4U chassis). 

An integral part of offering hardware 

planning is to help customers design their 

cloud with the right hardware for their specific 

use cases. In the early stage of each project, 

always ask what components the customer 

plans to use for their particular use case (e.g., 

databases, IaaS services, web hosting, etc.), 

not only to confirm the hardware 

compatibility or check for known issues but 

also to help with the component choice. By 

achieving their goals with less and right-sized 

hardware, users ultimately achieve improved 

power saving as well. 

HARDWARE UTILISATION 

With the current shortages in the components 

market and significantly increased delivery 

times, obtaining new chips, compute, network 

and storage resources to achieve their 

hardware-planning objectives could be timeconsuming. 

This is the time during which a 

cloud builder's business suffers or cannot grow 

because of a lack of resources. 

This market situation forces companies to 

rethink and optimise their hardware utilisation 

to achieve their power-saving goals with what 

they already have. 

"Hardware packing" is a set of approaches 

aiming to run maximum valuable workloads 

on a minimal amount of hardware resources 

in use. There are three general points of 

consideration: 

Get rid of unused hardware components. 

Why spend power and money on a RAID 

controller while the server has only NVMe 

devices on PCIe slots or just a single boot 

device? Why buy and 'feed' a dual-port 

100GbE NIC while the motherboard 

integrated 2×10 GbE NIC is enough for 

the job? If the 100 GbE NIC is 

unavoidable (e.g., already bought or 

integrated into the motherboard), 

connecting it to a 10 or 25 Gbps network 

will use less power. The difference is not big 

for a single server, but it becomes 

significant for a fleet of hundreds of nodes. 

Concentrate workloads on fewer servers. 

Servers without bottlenecks can take on 

additional tasks, and thus the workloads in 

the cloud can be concentrated in a subset 

of nodes. Load-free servers will use less 

power while idle or even powered off until 

they are needed to take on peak loads. If 

the resources are enough, it is more 

efficient to pack 20 VMs on a single 

hypervisor instead of dispersing them over 

two, three or more nodes. 

Make a schedule of the workloads and plan 

the needed resources for them. During 

weekdays, developers and QAs could need 

thousands of VMs or containers for their 

regular jobs, but there is no need for such 

a fleet to stay online and consume power 

during the weekends. The nightly builds 

and tests could run on the same groups of 

nodes where the daily reports are 

generated during the working hours-there 

is no value in keeping spare resources 

online for both 24/7. 

The dynamic scheduling of the Cloud 

Management Platform in use can be helpful 

here. Depending on the level of automation, 

these schedulers can stop unnecessary 

workloads and free the used resources based 

on various criteria. Ideally, they could 

automatically migrate and pack workloads on 

only a few servers, freeing the rest and putting 

the off-loaded ones to sleep. 

BUILD FOR EFFICIENCY 

In the past the approach to building cloud 

infrastructure was often just to buy a ton of 

RAM, CPU cores and storage devices. 

Nowadays, this is no longer so easy. With the 

difficulty of sourcing hardware and rising 

electricity, building a cloud to be more efficient 

from inception is a more cost-effective way to 

go. Working with the right provider to build 

right-sized clouds capable of running 

demanding applications is an ideal approach 

to reining in costs due to hyperinflation or 

constrained energy supplies. 

More info: www.storpool.com 




MAGAZINE 

17

RESEARCH: CYBERSECURITY 

TAKING CYBERSECURITY SERIOUSLY 

CYBERSECURITY WOES CONTINUE TO PLAGUE SMBS, ARGUES CHRIS MCKIE, VP, PRODUCT MARKETING 

SECURITY AND NETWORKING SOLUTIONS AT DATTO, TRIGGERING A COMMITMENT TO INCREASE I.T. 

SECURITY BUDGETS 

The intensifying threat of ransomware and 

malware and its devastating aftermath has 

prompted small and medium-sized 

businesses (SMBs) to take additional measures 

to protect themselves against attacks. In a new 

survey, conducted by Datto, a Kaseya company, 

nearly 3,000 IT professionals in SMBs across 

eight countries provided insights into the steps 

they are taking to protect themselves against 

threat actors. 

Datto's annual 'State of Ransomware Report' 

determined that SMBs are taking cybersecurity 

more earnestly - from investing in more security 

products to utilising multiple security 

frameworks. However, with only 3 in 10 SMBs 

stating that they have a best-in-class recovery 

plan in place - there is room for improvement. 

Key findings of the report determined that 

SMBs recognise the need to make investments 

in cybersecurity and are actively increasing their 

IT security budgets. Although one-fifth of an 

SMB's IT budget is dedicated to security, 42 per 

cent of respondents reported an increase in 

their IT security budgets and plan to allocate 

additional resources. 

Findings further established that a strong 

defence against ransomware leads the 

SMB security purchasing priority list with 

antivirus software (57%) and 

email/spam protection (53%) 

topping budgetary priorities. However, less than 

half (43%) of SMBs conduct security awareness 

training, resulting in 42 per cent of SMBs 

blaming security issues on lack of training. 

Optimistic about rising IT security budgets, 

nearly half (47%) of SMBs plan to invest in 

network security in the next 12 months, and 45 

per cent plan to add cloud security. Further 

down the investment priority list are 

collaboration security tools (29%), endpoint 

security (27%), and business continuity and 

disaster recovery (BCDR) solutions at 25 per 

cent. 

While onboarding the right cybersecurity tools 

is critical to minimise downtime in the event of 

an attack, SMBs are becoming increasingly 

aware of the need to proactively monitor their 

security posture. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of 

respondents run IT security vulnerability 

assessments at least twice a year, with more 

than one-third (37%) running assessments three 

or more times a year. 

Contrary to popular belief, NIST is not the 

most popular cybersecurity framework. CIS 

(34%) and CMMC (30%) are the most 

frequently used, with COBIT (27%) and NIST 

(22%) close behind. While Zero Trust is highly 

recommended by experts, only 14 per cent of 

SMBs said their organisations use that 

framework and just 7 per cent voiced their 

concern about it not being used - leaving 

plenty of room for growth and opportunity. 

CYBER INSURANCE ON THE RISE 

Another piece of the cybersecurity puzzle, cyber 

insurance is a worthy investment that SMBs are 

increasingly considering. While there are 

numerous drivers for investing in cyber 

insurance, 42 per cent of SMBs with cyber 

insurance believe it is extremely likely that they 

will be exposed to a ransomware attack in the 

next year. Further, 7 in 10 SMB respondents 

revealed that a successful attack would 

seriously impact their business, with nearly 

three-quarters of SMBs saying that a 

ransomware attack would be a death blow to 

their company. 

Designed to offset the liabilities and 

repercussions of data breaches, cyber 

insurance is a key consideration for SMBs. 

Nearly three-quarters (69%) of survey 

respondents currently have cyber insurance in 

place and 34 per cent of those without cyber 

insurance are highly likely to purchase it within 

the year. However, due to costly data breaches, 

ransomware, and other security attacks, rising 

premiums, and stricter underwriting 

requirements such as mandatory multi-factor 

authentication; cyber insurance is now 

becoming more difficult for SMBs to afford or 

obtain. 

Generally, SMBs with cyber insurance are 

more likely to engage in other cybersecurity 




MAGAZINE

RESEARCH: CYBERSECURITY 

"With only 3 in 10 companies having a best-in-class recovery 

plan in place, 52 per cent of SMBs rely on a standard plan and 

16 per cent disclosed that their company didn't have a formal 

recovery plan; the majority of SMBs are leaving themselves open 

to complete data loss and significant business disruption. These 

statistics may be the reason that nearly half (47%) of respondents 

admitted that recovery from a cyber-attack would be difficult and 

why 16 per cent believe their company would never recover from 

a cybersecurity incident." 

solutions, as well as have more IT support, 

more frameworks (CSFs), and more security 

solutions already in place. Additionally, these 

companies have more than likely experienced a 

cyber security incident in the past. 

PHISHING TOPS SMBS THREAT 

CONCERNS 

In response to previous attacks, the majority of 

respondents saw phishing as the prime suspect 

for security issues: more than one-quarter of 

SMBs have experienced an attack on their IT 

service provider (16% in the past year), and 

almost one-third of respondents cited that their 

organisation encountered phishing and other 

viruses. Overall, nearly one-third of all SMB 

respondents encountered computer viruses in 

the past year and 21 per cent reported COVID- 

19 related scams or threats. 

The primary reasons behind these security 

breaches include phishing emails (37%), 

followed by malicious websites, weak 

passwords, and access management. In 

response to clarification for the reasons for 

these breaches, approximately 42 per cent 

believe their security issues were due to lack of 

training and 24 per cent cited poor user 

practices. These reasons clearly indicate that 

SMBs need to have strong security awareness 

training and phishing solutions, along with 

other cybersecurity measures, in place. 

PLUGGING CYBERSECURITY WEAK 

SPOTS 

Despite SMBs placing increased importance on 

cybersecurity, the majority of respondents (72%) 

think it is likely that their company will 

experience a phishing attack in the next year, 

which is a clear call to action for SMBs to 

prepare for worst-case scenarios. 

With only 3 in 10 companies having a best-inclass 

recovery plan in place, 52 per cent of 

SMBs rely on a standard plan and 16 per cent 

disclosed that their company didn't have a 

formal recovery plan; the majority of SMBs are 

leaving themselves open to complete data loss 

and significant business disruption. These 

statistics may be the reason that nearly half 

(47%) of respondents admitted that recovery 

from a cyber-attack would be difficult and why 

16 per cent believe their company would never 

recover from a cybersecurity incident. 

When asked about recovery after an attack, 

nearly half (49%) of respondents said their 

organisation relied on manual backup to 

recover data from their last cybersecurity 

incident and one-fifth (21%) were forced to 

reinstall and reconfigure all systems from 

scratch. Due to these slow and cumbersome 

recovery processes, approximately 45 per cent 

of businesses endured more than two days of 

downtime. 

Not only is the downtime detrimental to the 

business but it is also costly. In 2022, the 

average cost of downtime (including revenue) 

for SMBs was $126,000 USD. These are clear 

indicators that many SMBs don't have the tools 

such as a unified BCDR solution, a managed 

security operations centre (SOC), or an incident 

response strategy to minimise downtime and its 

associated costs. 

The survey results in combination with the 

cybersecurity talent shortage and lack of 

internal expertise are clear indications that 

many SMBs will need IT security assistance. 

Currently, only one in four SMBs outsource their 

security to a managed service provider (MSP) 

and one in six to a managed security service 

provider (MSSP). With the increasing complexity 

and frequency of cyber threats, SMBs will 

increasingly be in the market to outsource their 

IT security needs. 

The complete 'State of Ransomware Report' 

can be found at: 

https://www.datto.com/resources/datto-smbcybersecurity-for-msps-report. 

More info: www.datto.com 




MAGAZINE 

19

EVENT: 

EVENT: STORAGE AWARDS 2023 

STORAGE AWARDS: IT'S A DATE! 

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 20TH 

STORAGE AWARDS CLOSE ON 

MARCH 24TH - FULL DETAILS 

BELOW 

Following on from our big 

announcement in the Jan/Feb issue of 

Storage that this year will see the 20th 

annual Storage Awards, we are delighted to 

now be able to share more details of the 

event including venue information and of 

course the all-important dates for your diary - 

and also invite you to make your nominations 

before it is too late! 

Storage magazine editor Dave Tyler 

comments: "Twenty years is a phenomenal 

achievement for an event of this nature that 

relies so heavily on the goodwill and support 

of the industry itself - since we announced this 

milestone we've already seen unprecedented 

interest from across the sector in sponsoring 

and supporting the Awards, as well as of 

course attending on the night. If ever there has 

been a year where you really needed to get in 

quick to be sure of not missing out, this is it." 

That an awards night can reach 20 years of 

continuous success says a lot about the sector 

and the companies within it - as well as the 

continuous hard work of lots of people behind 

the scenes here! The big night is June 8th, and 

the ceremony will take place at the Leonardo 

Royal Hotel, Tower Bridge, London. 

If you would like to book your place at this 

year's awards get in touch to discuss your 

options, Lucy (lucy.gambazza@btc.co.uk) or 

Stuart (stuart.leigh@btc.co.uk) will be happy 

to help. 

These are the key dates for your diary: 

Nominations opened - 30th January 

Nominations close - 24th March 

Finalists announced & voting opens - 5th 

April 

Vote closes - 31st May 

Awards Ceremony London - 8th June 

Check out the list opposite for the full 

categories for this year's awards, and be sure 

to visit the website before March 24th to 

nominate. 

More info: www.storage-awards.com 




MAGAZINE

EVENT: 

EVENT: STORAGE AWARDS 2023 

STORAGE AWARDS 2023: CATEGORIES 

STORAGE INNOVATION OF THE YEAR 

ONE TO WATCH - VENDOR 

ONE TO WATCH - CHANNEL 

IMMUTABLE STORAGE COMPANY OF THE YEAR 

STORAGE MARKETING TEAM OF THE YEAR 

CONTRIBUTION TO THE STORAGE INDUSTRY 

CHANNEL EXCELLENCE AWARD 

RANSOMWARE PROTECTION COMPANY OF THE YEAR 

CLOUD BACKUP COMPANY OF THE YEAR 

DATA PROTECTION COMPANY OF THE YEAR 

ENTERPRISE BACKUP HARDWARE VENDOR OF THE YEAR 

STORAGE INNOVATORS OF THE YEAR 

DATA MANAGEMENT & MONITORING VENDOR OF THE YEAR 

OBJECT STORAGE VENDOR OF THE YEAR 

HYPER-CONVERGENCE VENDOR OF THE YEAR 

HYBRID STORAGE VENDOR OF THE YEAR 

"AS A SERVICE" PLATFORM OF THE YEAR 

FLASH/SSD STORAGE VENDOR OF THE YEAR 

PERFORMANCE STORAGE VENDOR OF THE YEAR 

CLOUD ENABLER OF THE YEAR 

SOFTWARE DEFINED STORAGE (SDS) VENDOR OF THE YEAR 

STORAGE PERFORMANCE OPTIMISATION COMPANY OF THE YEAR 

CAPACITY STORAGE VENDOR OF THE YEAR 

CHANNEL PARTNER PROGRAM OF THE YEAR 

MULTI-VENDOR SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEAR 

STORAGE REPAIR CENTRE AND BROKER OF THE YEAR 

SECURITY STORAGE RESELLER OF THE YEAR 

SPECIALIST STORAGE RESELLER OF THE YEAR 

CORPORATE STORAGE RESELLER OF THE YEAR 

STORAGE DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR 

STORAGE SOLUTION OF THE YEAR 

EDITOR'S CHOICE - PRODUCT 

EDITOR'S CHOICE - VENDOR 

CLOUD PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 

STORAGE PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 

CLOUD COMPANY OF THE YEAR 

STORAGE COMPANY OF THE YEAR 




MAGAZINE 

21

OPINION: 

OPINION: ENTERPRISE I.T. 

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON ENTERPRISE 

ARCHITECTURE 

TABITHA POWELL, SENIOR SPECIALIST, OFFICE OF THE CTO AT F5, EXPLAINS WHY ENTERPRISE 

ARCHITECTURE MUST EVOLVE FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION 

On the road to innovation, it's not 

uncommon for fundamental 

architectures - the guiding 

frameworks and standards - to be 

modernised in order to enable continued 

progress. Take for instance the telescope. 

We'll skip over optics and light theory and 

jump to the function that prompted a 

telescope's architectural framework. People 

wanted to be able to see "faraway things as 

though nearby". Working with the available 

technology they created a framework, 

which included optic lenses and a 

cylindrical tube. That was more than 400 

years ago. 

While early telescopes were confined to 

something people could physically peer 

through, scientists realised that with new 

technology capable of transmitting images 

over waves and launching things outside of 

Earth's atmosphere, the architectural 

framework should be updated. This 

eventually enabled the development of the 

Hubble telescope. It still called for lenses 

and a cylindrical tube, but the framework 

no longer required it to be physically within 

reach. Telescopes could be mobile and 

operated from afar, allowing for continued 

innovations. 

By contrast, today's enterprise architecture 

has not been modernised; it's like we're 

working with the initial outline of the 

telescope. By circumventing this important 

evolution organisations create more friction 

down the line. Why? Because it's generally 

harder to alter the foundation when it's 

already holding up a three-story home (not 

to mix metaphors). The digital 

transformation journey businesses are on is 

also a continuous road of innovation, and 

no one wants to arrive at a dead end then 

be forced to backtrack, but that's what 

digital businesses can expect if they don't 

modernise their enterprise architecture. 

OUTDATED FRAMEWORKS IMPEDE 

INNOVATION 

Current enterprise architectures (EAs) were 

being developed in the 1980s, and while 

there have been iterations of them since, 

widely adopted EAs are still utilising the 

same architectural foundations as when they 

were established. Take for example The 

Open Group Architecture Framework 

(TOGAF), which had its first version 

published in 1995. The foundation still 

consists of the same four architectural 

domains: business, application, data, and 

technical. 

That foundation was laid before the 

internet existed. And this is part of the 

problem. Today it is not uncommon to 

equate technology with the worldwide 

connection that is so ingrained in our 

everyday lives. While TOGAF has managed 

to support businesses up to now by 

versioning, including integrating the internet 

and new capabilities into its architecture, it 

wasn't purpose-built for today's possibilities - 

digital business. Our understanding of 

what's possible drives the need for 

modernising enterprise architecture. 

MODERNISE FOR MOBILITY 

As technological advances create new 

possibilities the enterprise architecture needs 

to adapt to new constraints - or lack thereof 

- to sustain continued innovation. 

Advancements like Wi-Fi and 5G have 

changed the landscape. Computer 

applications can leave the data center and 

users are no longer static, they're mobile. 

The pressure has been building for a 

modern architectural framework 

intentionally designed to account for these 

and other advances. Without this 

modernised enterprise architecture 

innovation will stagnate, hindering the 

transformation businesses need to truly 




MAGAZINE

OPINION: 

OPINION: ENTERPRISE I.T. 

launch themselves into the digital space. 

PROTECTING WHAT'S POSSIBLE 

In 2022 the US and collaborating countries 

completed and launched into space a new 

telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope 

(JWST). It was designed using a modernised 

architecture. With an updated understanding 

of what's possible - including the ability to 

detect and "see" infrared light instead of just 

visible light, the ability to transmit images back 

to earth from over one million miles away, 

and more - scientists believed there could be 

greater functions and capabilities of 

telescopes. With these increased possibilities 

came new challenges and therefore the 

architectural framework was yet again 

reimagined. 

The James Webb Space 

Telescope still utilises 

lenses and needs to 

collect light 

through a path, but instead of requiring a 

cylindrical tube to focus the incoming light, 

the architecture evolved for its new purpose - 

to collect the increased range of light that is 

infrared waves. This new purpose also 

presented a unique challenge. Everything 

above absolute zero registers as infrared light, 

so it was essential to mitigate interference 

from heat sources like the sun. 

The result was a modernised architectural 

framework to serve the evolved needs, which 

included the sunshield, spacecraft bus, optical 

telescope elements (OTE), and an Integrated 

Science Instrument Module (ISIM). 

Similarly, while modernised EAs must be 

purpose-built to 

support new 

capabilities available to organisations 

following the establishment of the internet, they 

must also address emerging challenges. For 

example, mobility threatens security and 

ubiquitous access and connection increases 

users and demand on the resources. These are 

just some of the points of friction introduced in 

the path to digital business by the traditional 

architecture domains, indicating a need for 

new domains and concepts in the framework 

to remove that friction - like security, 

automation, and digital services. 

Like the evolution and modernisation of the 

telescope, we have increased capabilities with 

today's technology compared with 30 years 

ago. The hardware is smaller, the 

communication languages are streamlined, 

and in general science has advanced 

providing for even more innovation. For 

businesses, this means the ability to connect 

with their customers in a new way - digitally. 

But the enterprise architecture on which they 

build needs to be 

purposefully designed with 

today's understanding of 

what's possible. 

We wouldn't imagine 

trying to restrict today's 

astronomical study to a tool we 

can hold in our hands, so why 

would we restrict our businesses 

to an architectural framework 

developed before the internet, 

mobile computing, and 

cybersecurity? 

More info: www.f5.com 




MAGAZINE 

23


STRATEGY: HYBRID WORKING 

REMOTE CONTROL 

JOHN MICHAEL, CEO OF ISTORAGE, EXPLAINS HOW CORPORATE STORAGE MUST CHANGE TO MEET 

THE NEEDS OF A NEW WORKING CULTURE, AND HOW UPGRADING HARDWARE CAN SIMPLIFY 

EMPLOYEE ADMINISTRATION 

The integrity of business data has 

never been more critical. Regulatory 

demands are growing, the amount 

of data we store and analyse is 

increasing, and the impact that lost, 

stolen or even improperly stored data 

could have on a business has never been 

more severe. HR departments know this. 

They have already faced the challenge of 

meeting GDPR requirements and have 

experienced how intimidating and 

complex such a task can be. 

The responsibility for preventing data 

breaches is not simply an IT issue. It is a 

burden shared by the entire organisation - 

and when onboarding, training and 

offboarding employees who may manage 

sensitive data, it is up to HR to ensure the 

severity of such breaches is impressed 

upon those that could potentially cause 

them. Every possibility must be 

considered, and every preventative 

measure taken, to ensure data breaches 

do not happen. 

THE NEW DATA NORMAL 

Working practices have changed, and the 

potential for a breach is now greater than 

ever. The COVID-19 pandemic forced 

almost half of working adults to perform 

their jobs at home. Even with restrictions 

now lifted, 84% of those who worked 

remotely intend to continue doing so for a 

proportion of their working week. 

Potential new employees may be enticed 

by the option of hybrid or home working, 

thus even probationary staff regularly 

access sensitive company data outside of 

the office. Hybrid working has changed 

the culture, and with it the rules. Data 

must go with a hybrid worker wherever 

they may be. 

Careless and callous behaviour happens: 

a worker might decide to sit in a coffee 

shop to work, potentially using insecure 

Wi-Fi or leaving their laptop unattended 

around members of the public. Hybrid 

workers must commute with that data, 

potentially misplacing it on public 

transport and allowing it to fall into the 

wrong hands. An employee tempted to 

seek employment elsewhere may take 

sensitive company data with them. 

From a data management perspective, 

any one of these situations presents a 

significant risk. And the common risks 

which existed prior to the pandemic - 

executives working on the train, reps 

making site visits, corporate espionage et 

al - have not gone away. For as much 

training as you can offer the workforce in 

safe data handling, mistakes can and do 

happen - but the right technology can help 




MAGAZINE

STRATEGY: HYBRID WORKING 

"Remote management makes offboarding simple. An 

employee at the end of their contract can simply have 

their access removed. With one setting in a management 

tool - one that, in theory, should be simple enough 

for anyone to use - anything stored on a company drive 

can remain locked down forever, keeping it safe 

whether the employee returns the hardware or not." 

ensure that a mistake does not turn into a 

disaster. 

THE POWER OF REMOTE 

CENTRALISED DATA MANAGEMENT 

Equipping employees with encrypted 

storage is step one. Only those with the 

correct credentials can access data on an 

encrypted drive. Without the appropriate 

key, encrypted data is completely 

unreadable and functionally useless. 

Depending on the hardware, the drive 

itself may even be completely inaccessible 

without the credentials to unlock it. Data 

stored on such a drive is inherently secure. 

Managing encryption does not 

necessarily mean issuing a simple 

password. The unlock method could be 

biometric, utilising your employees' phone 

sensors or fingerprint reader to confirm 

their identity. It could, if you choose, use a 

passcode on a dedicated device. 

Crucially, neither the encryption nor 

unlock method need be left to an 

employee to manage. IT departments - 

and even HR departments - can issue and 

remotely administer such drives using a 

simple interface at a central location. 

Central administration offers a surprising 

amount of power. Perhaps you've made an 

agreement with an employee about where, 

when and how they work. The right remote 

management solution can offer the tools 

to help make this happen. Geofencing, for 

example, prevents an employee unlocking 

such a drive if they are outside of a certain 

geographical radius - as large as a 

continent, country, or city, or as small as, 

say, their home and garden. Time limits 

can lock-down storage outside of working 

hours. An administrator could temporarily 

lock a drive, or offer a one-time relaxation 

of restrictions if, for example, an in-office 

employee has brought their drive to work 

but not the phone required to unlock it. 

MASTERING LOSS PREVENTION 

If an employee loses a drive, encryption is 

not the only line of defence. A remotely 

managed drive can be marked to be 

remotely wiped the next time it is inserted 

into a computer, and a new drive issued 

quickly using the credentials already 

present on a central system. Secure drives 

can also erase themselves should 

someone attempt to force entry or use an 

incorrect password too many times - 

meaning even a drive not yet reported as 

lost is inherently secure. 

Remote management makes offboarding 

simple. An employee at the end of their 

contract can simply have their access 

removed. With one setting in a 

management tool - one that, in theory, 

should be simple enough for anyone to 

use - anything stored on a company drive 

can remain locked down forever, keeping 

it safe whether the employee returns the 

hardware or not. 

It is not hard to see the potential that 

secure, remotely managed storage offers 

to streamline both data safety and 

employee administration in a new era of 

hybrid work. Backed by a consistent and 

well-considered security policy, the right 

hardware can vastly reduce the burden of 

administering the IT requirements of new 

and existing employees - and help to 

make data breaches a thing of the past in 

a work environment that's moving towards 

the future. 

More info: www.istorage-uk.com 




MAGAZINE 

25

TECHNOLOGY: METAVERSE 

LIFE, THE METAVERSE AND EVERYTHING 

MANFRED BERGER, SENIOR MANAGER OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EMEAI AT WESTERN 

DIGITAL, OFFERS A DATA STORAGE SPECIALIST'S GUIDE TO THE METAVERSE 

CoinWire and TK Ventures' latest report 

shows that 69% of people believe the 

metaverse will reshape social lifestyles, 

especially the way we consume entertainment 

and conduct our social activities. At a business 

level, the metaverse is expected to change our 

daily work functions: improved collaboration 

with colleagues, more involved staff training 

and a reduced need for office space. While 

the metaverse is still in its infancy, what would 

this emerging concept look like for a data 

storage specialist? 

Without a doubt, the past few years have 

rapidly accelerated our shift to digital across 

almost every sector. During the pandemic, 

many people needed to embrace this digital 

move in order to remain connected - primarily 

through social media as users turned to digital 

channels to better engage with the people and 

the brands they care about most. 

Extended Reality (XR) has also 

seen greater demand in recent 

years. When music artists and 

athletes were unable to perform 

in front of live audiences during 

the pandemic, XR bridged the gap 

between what is known as "the 

complete real" and "the complete 

virtual." A more recent and highly 

successful example is still ongoing at 

London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 

with ABBA Voyage. 

The virtual concert began its 

residency in May 2022 

and is looking to 

run until 

This new way of interacting with technology 

has given way to the rise of the metaverse, 

which is broadly linked to the worlds of 

Virtual (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). 

Experiences we traditionally associate with 

as being "real" are moving towards the 

metaverse. Initially critics called the 

metaverse the 3D replacement to the 

2D internet. 

EXTENDING REALITY 

But live events and in-person 

entertainment have already 

established a presence in this 

hybrid world of physical and 

digital experiences. 

According to YouGov, 

35% of Brits who have 

trialled the metaverse 

view it as an 

extension of a virtual 

reality experience. 




MAGAZINE


November 2023 at least. In the show, 

the virtual avatars depict ABBA as 

they once looked back in 1977. 

This was achieved through 

motion capture - making the 

show one of the most expensive 

live music experiences in history 

with a reported budget of 

$175 million. 

This demonstration is a great 

example of how media and 

technology can intercede. But 

data intensive platforms like this 

will require organisations to rethink 

their data storage strategies moving 

forwards to best push the envelope of 

creativity. As collected data grows, 

the sensitive data collated in the 

metaverse must be stored safely 

and securely. 

The emerging metaverse is also expected to 

change the world of advertising, finance, 

media consumption and the ecommerce 

landscape as we know it. On an individual 

basis, the metaverse is pegged to evolve the 

way we work and socialise with others. 

While the metaverse is still being 

developed and tested, organisations need 

to come prepared for the 'big bang' when 

the next-generation Quest 3 headset 

launches this year. 

Like a video game with additional 

downloadable content (DLCs) the 

metaverse's continual expansion will demand 

exponential storage. As the metaverse is a 

new market medium, consumers and 

businesses will need to place their trust into 

this world. To run the platform effectively and 

solidify that trust, storage manufacturers will 

need to provide robust, high-performance, 

and high-capacity storage solutions to 

support this new digital realm. 

'HOT' OR 'COLD' STORAGE 

SOLUTIONS 

The metaverse itself will need to be 

stored somewhere, albeit from a 

centralised or decentralised server or 

location. The data required to create 

and change multiple virtual worlds 

with vast environments and complex 

details that users can interact with 

will be immense. 

Together with NFTs (nonfungible 

tokens), avatars and 

user-generated content 

(UGC), the data sets 

collected by singular 

organisations will also 

need to be 

accounted for. 

Whether that be 

the data 

collected 

around user 

experience, 

individual 




MAGAZINE 

27


"The data required to create and change multiple virtual 

worlds with vast environments and complex details that 

users can interact with will be immense. Together with NFTs 

(non-fungible tokens), avatars and user-generated content 

(UGC), the data sets collected by singular organisations 

will also need to be accounted for. Whether that be the 

data collected around user experience, individual 

shopping preferences or impressions, it is paramount that 

this information be safely and efficiently secured by 

organisations venturing into the metaverse." 

shopping preferences or impressions, it is 

paramount that this information be safely and 

efficiently secured by organisations venturing 

into the metaverse. 

This is where the need for emerging 

technologies like 'hot' and 'cold' storage come 

into play. 'Hot' storage is required for live or 

real-time production data, which requires 

immediate access. As the metaverse develops, 

worlds are built, characters created and 

information exchanges occur in real-time, the 

need for hot, fast data storage will explode. 

These worlds and avatars will be constantly 

evolving. That data must be available to 

developers immediately, especially because 

of the AR and VR elements associated with 

real-time production. 

Secondary storage or 'cold' storage is often 

inactive or archived for future use like 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine 

Learning (ML). This data is retained on hard 

disk drives (HDDs) instead of solid-state 

drives (SSDs). The biggest consideration is 

how readily available you need that data to 

be. Data stored in cooler tiers can take 

service providers hours to access, which isn't 

useful for a constantly evolving virtual world. 

There will come a point where the 

metaverse will benefit from the use of cooler 

storage. For example, storing and sharing 

recordings of gaming sessions for individuals 

to view later or share with others. But hot 

storage takes precedence in the 

developmental stages that the metaverse 

currently finds itself in. 

Relating to user and commerce experiences, 

the collected data footprint could become 

quite large. This cold data will need to be 

stored privately, away from the data used to 

render the metaverse or the objects that 

feature and populate that world. Storing the 

captured data will be the next greatest 

challenge for brands, developers, and data 

storage providers. 

THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEXT 

PHASE 

For the metaverse to have the desired futuregazing 

impact organisations are looking for, 

the virtual realm requires innovation. 

As the metaverse sees its Big Bang, data 

storage providers need to consider multiple 

aspects of the data they're trying to store. For 

example, a tiered data storage strategy helps 

to differentiate the data sets into 'hot' and 'cold' 

storage tiers based on what information needs 

to be readily available or safely secured. 

These platforms need to withstand petabytes 

upon petabytes of data, thereby making 

storage a paramount issue for solution 

providers. Organisations need to ensure data 

is collected and stored securely, with capacity 

to store more as their portion of the 

metaverse continues to scale in size. These 

storage considerations need to be factored in 

without impacting the day-to-day connectivity 

of the metaverse and building consumer trust 

within the space. 

As virtual worlds become more integrated in 

our lives, data storage providers will be at the 

forefront to build the foundations of the 

metaverse. 

More info: www.westerndigital.com/en-gb 




MAGAZINE

ANALYSIS: HDD 

HARD DISK IS STILL INDISPENSABLE 

THERE ARE STILL NUMEROUS APPLICATIONS AND ENVIRONMENTS WHERE ONLY THE HUMBLE HDD WILL 

DO, DESPITE THE ONGOING GROWTH IN SSD USE ACROSS THE BUSINESS AND PERSONAL SPACE, 

ARGUES RAINER W. KAESE, SENIOR MANAGER BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT STORAGE PRODUCTS AT TOSHIBA 

ELECTRONICS EUROPE 

Since the introduction of flash memory, 

the end of the hard disk drive (HDD) has 

been predicted again and again - but 

the classic storage device persists and remains 

the standard in many application areas. 

society. Whether it's Industry 4.0 

environments, connected vehicles, 

streaming platforms or social networks - the 

huge and ever-growing volumes of data 

are stored on hard disks in data centres. 

According to TRENDFOCUS, 259 million 

HDDs were shipped last year - a case in 

point. Their total capacity reached 1.338 

Zettabytes, an increase of almost one-third 

compared to 2020. Never before have 

HDDs been shipped with more combined 

storage capacity. 

Here is Toshiba's view on which HDDs are 

indispensable today and will remain so in 

the coming years: 

Online storage in core and cloud data 

centres: Digital services now permeate 

almost all companies and large parts of 

HDDs are simply the most economical 

medium for these large online storage 

facilities; their capacity is constantly 

increasing due to the advancement of 

technology, while the price per Terabyte is 

continuously decreasing. 

Flash memory is much more expensive and 

could not be produced in sufficient 

quantities, so it is mainly used as a cache 

when the data throughput of hard disk 

arrays is insufficient. 

Network storage in companies and 

households: Network-attached storage 




MAGAZINE

ANALYSIS: HDD 

"SSDs are not expected to completely replace hard 

disks at any point. Since the need for storage 

space is growing virtually everywhere and only 

HDDs can deliver the high storage capacities at 

low costs that data centres, cloud and other 

application areas demand, both media will 

continue to coexist for years to come." 

(NAS) systems serve as central data 

storage and backup storage for many 

small and medium-sized companies, but 

also in more and more households. There 

they take over tasks as media servers and 

control centres for the smart home. HDDs 

are the ideal storage medium for these 

versatile devices - not only for cost 

reasons. 

Moreover, they can comfortably handle 

the transfer speeds in most company and 

home networks, where the high 

performance of flash memory would only 

be noticeable when transferring very many 

small files. In this case a caching SSD, for 

which some NAS systems have a separate 

slot, is sufficient. 

Video surveillance: The market for video 

surveillance is booming because people's 

need for security is growing, and systems 

are becoming cheaper and cheaper, 

making them affordable for private users. 

The now mostly high-resolution cameras 

deliver a video stream that hard disks can 

store perfectly - sequential writing of data 

at high speed is one of their strengths, 

and even the parallel recording of several 

HD streams does not pose any problems. 

They also offer a lot of storage space at a 

low cost, making them ideal for the large 

amounts of data generated by modern 4K 

and 8K cameras. 

External storage for computer users and 

gamers: Flash memory has displaced the 

hard disk from almost all client systems, 

but because the manufacturers of PCs, 

notebooks and games consoles often only 

install quite small SSDs for cost reasons, 

users today generally have less storage 

capacity available in the devices than in 

the hard disk era. 

At the same time, their storage needs 

are increasing because, for example, 

private photo collections photo collections 

are growing and new more sophisticated 

games can take up several dozen 

Gigabytes of storage space. Usually data 

will be stored externally in "the cloud", but 

people may prefer to have access to 

locally situated storage - due to cost 

reasons or security concerns. 

External hard disks with 2 or 4 Terabyte 

are therefore extremely popular, and are a 

simple and inexpensive way for many 

users to expand their storage. 

Archiving: When it comes to long-term 

storage of data, hard disks are the 

storage medium of choice, along with 

tapes. HDDs are somewhat more 

expensive for the same capacity, but they 

score points for shorter access times when 

certain documents need to be retrieved 

for an audit. 

In addition, HDDs can use 

deduplication mechanisms to reduce the 

amount of data to be archived, which can 

significantly reduce costs, depending on 

the type of data. 

SSDs are not expected to completely 

replace hard disks at any point. Since the 

need for storage space is growing virtually 

everywhere and only HDDs can deliver the 

high storage capacities at low costs that 

data centres, cloud and other application 

areas demand, both media will continue 

to coexist for years to come. 

More info: www.toshiba-storage.com 




MAGAZINE 

31

RESEARCH: HPC STORAGE 

ADDRESSING THE STORAGE CHALLENGES OF 

HPC, AI & ML 

SPECIALIST KNOWLEDGE IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR MANAGING HIGH-PERFORMANCE STORAGE, 

ACCORDING TO NEW RESEARCH RELEASED BY PANASAS 

Panasas has shared the results of a 

global survey on the challenges 

enterprises face in building and 

managing storage infrastructure for highperformance 

applications. Lack of 

specialist knowledge coupled with high 

resource needs was the most frequently 

ranked challenge (over 50% of 

respondents). 

The findings result from an independent 

survey by Vanson Bourne of hundreds of IT 

decision makers within enterprises with 

more than 1,000 employees across the US, 

UK, and Germany. Results reflect feedback 

across a broad range of industries, 

including financial services, manufacturing, 

commercial, retail, and more. 

Intersect360 Research forecasts that the 

high-performance computing (HPC) sector 

will continue to grow at a healthy rate, with 

HPC budgets expected to reach $59.2 

billion by 2026 at a 7.7% compound 

annual growth rate (CAGR). This growth is 

further fuelled by convergence of HPC with 

AI/ML and the role these technologies play 

in helping enterprises gain better insights 

to support business objectives. However, 

harnessing the power of HPC and AI/ML 

comes with new challenges. IT teams must 

have the tools and the people in place to 

manage the high-performance storage 

required to support current applications. As 

such, organisations must ensure that the 

storage infrastructure selected is scalable 

and versatile enough to successfully 

support future applications at scale. 

MULTIPLE CHALLENGES 

The survey results showed an 

overwhelming 96% of respondents across 

the US, UK, and Germany facing 

challenges in building and managing highperformance 

storage. In addition to over 

half of respondents (52%) citing specialist 

knowledge as the top challenge, other key 

findings include: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nearly 50% of respondents across all 

three regions cited high maintenance 

costs and high acquisition costs as the 

primary challenges at 45% and 43% 

respectively. 

Respondents from IT, tech, and telecom 

sector selected high maintenance costs 

as a challenge (44%) compared to high 

acquisition costs (36%). 

39% of respondents across all regions 

stated that it is time consuming to 

juggle multiple storage systems to cater 

for different high-performance 

workloads, while 38% find it time 

consuming to tune the overall 

infrastructure for each workload. 

US respondents across manufacturing 

organisations (68%) cited specialist 

knowledge and high resources needs 

as the biggest challenge. 

US respondents across financial 

services organisations (53%) cited 

storage infrastructure to support 

application scalability as the most 

common challenge. 

With high resource needs and specialist 

knowledge for performance storage 

configuration and management cited 

as the biggest challenge across all 

industries, it was ranked highest among 

these industries: business and 

professional services sector (61%) 

followed by the manufacturing sector 

(60%) and the IT, tech, and telecoms 

sector (57%). 

REAL WORLD SOLUTIONS 

Panasas solutions reduce TCO and 

address the simplicity, reliability, and 

scalability challenges survey recipients 

noted in managing their high-performance 

storage infrastructure. Global 

organisations across multiple industries 

leverage Panasas to support their most 

innovative HPC and AI/ML projects. The 

company's PanFS parallel file system 

software suite improves data visibility and 

mobility for high-performance workloads, 

ensuring optimal performance in the most 

data-intensive environments. The plugand-play 

Panasas storage solution is 

packaged within trusted hardware 

components to eliminate the specialist 

knowledge challenge cited by survey 

recipients as no training is required, 

empowering IT teams to play a more 

strategic role within their business. 

The Garvan Institute of Medical Research 

is widely recognised for its genomics 

expertise and aims to improve clinical 

practices such as assessing cancer risk and 

diagnosing children with intellectual 

disabilities. The company is known for its 

willingness to adopt new technology and 

needed a solution to boost genomics data 

performance levels while minimising 

installation and maintenance time 

requirements to reduce IT complexity and 

boost the productivity of 80 internal 

researchers. "Panasas lives up to its 

promise of terrific performance with 

negligible maintenance and administration 

time," said Dr. Warren Kaplan, Chief of 

Informatics at Garvan Institute of Medical 

Research. 

According to one IT leader at a large 




MAGAZINE

RESEARCH: HPC STORAGE 

industrial manufacturing companies in 

Europe, "Once Panasas is up and running, 

you just forget about it, which is exactly 

what we need." Another customer in the 

professional services industry noted, "Even 

when we bring on additional data, Panasas 

still performs exactly as we would expect. 

We can count on the solution to handle 

everything we can throw at it. That helps us 

meet our deadlines and ensure that clients 

get the information they need." 

The School of Arts, Technology and 

Emerging Communications (ATEC) at the 

University of Texas at Dallas invests in the 

next generation of media and 

entertainment professionals. "Every six to 

12 months, it seems that render practices 

and technologies change, increasing our 

file sizes. Panasas storage provides the 

scalability and high-speed processing 

necessary to finish even the most complex 

projects in a timely way," said Todd 

Fechter, Professor at the school. Fechter 

estimates that students now have one-third 

more time to work on their projects, 

because they no longer have to wrangle 

each image computer by computer. More 

efficient project rendering allows students 

to finish even the most complex projects in 

a timely way. 

SIMPLE AND RELIABLE 

"We know what it takes to successfully 

manage HPC and AI/ML data storage 

environments and the critical role these 

bandwidth-intensive applications play in 

supporting business growth," said Jeff 

Whitaker, VP of Product Strategy and 

Marketing at Panasas. "We long ago saw 

the challenges organisations face in 

managing storage infrastructures for highperformance 

environments, and these 

survey results reinforce those challenges. 

Our PanFS software suite demonstrates our 

commitment to delivering simple, reliable 

solutions that support multiple HPC and 

AI/ML applications from a single storage 

platform. Customers gain the necessary 

insight into data movement and usage 

patterns to ensure optimal workload 

performance across the enterprise and into 

the high-performance computing world." 

More info: www.panasas.com 




MAGAZINE 

33

CASE STUDY: DENTONS STUDY: 

RAPID GROWTH WITH A SECURE, 

SCALABLE BACKBONE 

THE WORLD'S LARGEST LAW FIRM, DENTONS, IS LEVERAGING A PORTFOLIO OF TECHNOLOGY FROM 

PURE STORAGE TO EXPAND ITS GLOBAL PRESENCE, DRIVE SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PRACTICES, AND 

PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE DATA SECURITY FOR CLIENTS 

services, and disaster recovery. 

Because FlashArray is encrypted at rest, 

Dentons knows that all-important security 

measures are baked into its storage. "Many 

new clients have a long list of security 

requirements that we need to meet before we 

can work with them," says Thurston. "With 

Pure FlashArray, we can quickly and easily 

meet many of those requirements, helping us 

to get up and running sooner." 

Law firms generate a huge number of 

documents, reports, and 

communications every day. If you're 

Dentons UKIME, the world's largest law 

firm - with over 21,000 professionals in 

over 200 locations across more than 80 

countries - then managing and storing 

that volume of data is a major 

undertaking. Add the fact that Dentons 

works with every kind of client-from 

individuals to global enterprises and 

national governments-and the complexity 

and urgency of its data needs become 

even clearer. 

After years of rapid growth, Dentons' 

mixture of storage arrays was struggling to 

cope, putting fundamental systems at risk. 

A move to Pure Storage changed that, 

giving hundreds of lawyers a dependable 

set-up to deliver world-class legal 

services. 

Over the last 12 years, Dentons UKIME 

has grown rapidly to become a truly 

global law firm. But the speed of growth 

presents challenges from an IT 

perspective, as Paul Thurston, CIO for 

Dentons, knows only too well. A few years 

ago, Dentons was running multiple 

storage systems - from a variety of 

providers - across its EMEA data centres. 

This complex set-up was difficult to 

manage and wasn't performing at the 

speed the company needed to support its 

growth. 

With a system running close to capacity, 

Dentons needed to consolidate and 

upgrade its storage. "We knew we needed 

a cloud-like offering that gave us flexibility 

and scalability that could match our 

ambitions," says Thurston. "With a 

consumption-based subscription 

approach, Pure Evergreen//One 

absolutely ticked these boxes." 

SECURE BY DEFAULT 

Dentons moved the bulk of its storage to 

Pure FlashArray, supported throughout by 

the Pure Evergreen subscription model. 

The heart of the business now runs on 

Pure, from the email system to the 

management platform, SQL database 

As a firm that advises many clients on ESG 

matters, sustainability will always be a priority 

for Dentons. Pure FlashArray consumes up to 

80% less power than competitors and 

reduces the data centre footprint, while the 

Evergreen//One subscription maximises 

utilisation and reduces e-waste. Thurston 

says, "In a legacy world, we had to replace 

our equipment roughly every five years. With 

Pure Evergreen//One, we're always working 

with the latest technology, without needing to 

deal with disruptive upgrades." 

A SMART, FLEXIBLE FUTURE 

As Dentons UKIME grows its global presence, 

it's also investigating new and innovative ways 

to deliver legal services. This includes a legal 

managed service offering via a self-service 

online portal for clients and a discovery tool 

built around AI and automation. 

"We're always looking to use technology and 

innovation to deliver services more cost 

effectively for our clients," Thurston 

concludes. "Pure's storage technologies 

provide the dependable foundation we need 

to deliver for clients today, as we explore and 

innovate for the future." 

More info: www.purestorage.com 




MAGAZINE

Performance Redefined 

Introducing 15 New Server Families That Redefine Modern Workload Performance With 

4 th Gen Intel ® Xeon ® Scalable Processors (formerly codenamed Sapphire Rapids) 

Learn More at www.supermicro.com/X13

ST Mar-Apr 2023

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