Evaluator Group occasionally publishes free resources. The documents below are free, but require a simple registration to download. Please click on the registration button above, and a password will be mailed to you.
List of Free Documents
HDS: Building a Storage Environment for Super-Efficiency
admin, 2012-04In this paper, John Webster enumerate the attributes of a storage environment designed for sustainable, high velocity growth, and reviews Hitachi Unified Storage (HUS) as a platform for sustainable storage and data management
HDS: Hitachi’s Approach to Storage Capacity Efficiency
admin, 2012-04This report examines and details the Hitachi approach to delivering storage capacity efficiency via its USP V and VSP platforms. In doing so, it will highlight how Hitachi looks at the overall economics of storage by reducing relevant operating expenses which they address with the characteristics of their storage systems and software
Storage Optimization for VDI – VMUG Presentation
admin, 2012-04Leah Scoeb and Russ Fellow presents the real world issues surrounding VDI and implementation. Description: EGI explores the critical storage features needed for Virtual Desktop Initiatives (VDI). The focus is on storage system features required to meet the performance, and the critical TCO levels necessary for a successful VDI project
Storage Education Series: Storage Performance Concept 101
Leah Schoeb, 2012-04Leah Schoeb reveals all the Storage Performance Concepts 101 in our Storage Education Series. This is the first of a series on Storage Performance where she explores the performance in physical and virtual environments, and covers various ways that can help diminish storage system bottlenecks. Introduction There are many applications that are sensitive to timely
SNW Spring 2012 – Writing Storage RFPs in 2012
admin, 2012-04John Webster’s presentation on writing storage RFPs at SNW Spring 2012 Description The data storage industry has changed dramatically over the past few years. The traditional Request for Proposal (RFP) does not address these changes or the challenges faced by IT organizations. Therefore, a new way of defining storage requirements to leverage this evolving technology
SEPATON and NetBackup 7.1
John Webster, 2012-04In this whitepaer, John Webster reviews the integration of SEPATON’s enterprise class, DeltaScale disk-based data protection platform with Symantec’s NetBackup software that together provide a scalable solution specifically designed for the data intensive environments of large enterprises. Integration is done via SEPATON’s implementation of a plug-in for the OST API. We also highlight the comments
Starboard Sotrage Systems – AC72 Lab Validation
admin, 2012-04In this test analysis, Evaluator Group assesses Starboard Storage Systems’ AC72 system; The evaluation focuses on several aspects with a particular focus on performance. The validation consisted of quantitative test efforts, which sought to characterize measurable attributes, along with a limited amount of qualitative validation. Preview: Evaluator Group assessed Starboard Storage Systems AC72 system in
Content Centric Applications
admin, 2012-03Evaluator Group covers NetApp’s E-Series storage system, examining both design and architecture as well as it’s ability to attain high RAS and performance for content centric applications. Preview: The way in which businesses process, analyze and utilize information is changing, and with these changes comes an evolution in information technology. A new type of application
Thin Provisioning Block Storage – A Maturing Technology
Randy Kerns, 2012-02Thin Provisioning Block Storage – A Maturing Technology is the forth paper in the Storage Efficiency Series. continuation of the focus on storage efficiency, covering the storage system feature thin provisioning and how it can be used for data center optimization. The Storage Efficiency Series includes: Storage Efficiency- IT Perspective Storage Efficiency – Vendor
Dell Acquires AppAssure for Data Protection — Client Advisory Note
admin, 2012-02In this client advisory note Evaluator Group covers the Dell acquisition of AppAssure and provides analyst commentary of the acquisition’s impact on Dell Storage
Exchange Optimization –Metalogix Archive Manager
admin, 2012-02Email with Microsoft Exchange is one of the most critical applications in almost all businesses and organizations. The continued growth in the number of emails and the amount of data transferred via email creates an increasing set of problems for Information Technology. Keeping the Exchange environment under control and optimized to meet the organization demands
Storage System Design for Mixed Workloads
admin, 2012-02Consolidating different storage platforms into a larger, more efficient system can offer multiple benefits — reduced operational costs, reduced power and cooling requirements, reduced physical space, and reduction in overall system costs. But what’s required of a storage system to support mixed workloads? Download this white paper to understand the architectural and feature requirements necessary
EMC VFCache Announcement – Client Advisory Note
admin, 2012-02On February 6, 2012, EMC announced the VFCache product which was previously previewed to analysts as Project Lightning. The VFCache product consists of both hardware and software that resides within a server to enhance performance for some applications
VDI-IOmark BlueArc Test Report for Mercury 110
admin, 2012-02This report covers the results from the VDI-IOmark testing BlueArc’s Mercury 110. VDI-IOmark is a storage specific benchmark designed to test storage systems performance with a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) type of workload, the report was audited for accuracy by Evaluator Group
CommVault Simpana 9 Lab Validation
admin, 2012-02Evaluator Group assessed CommVault’s Simpana 9 software in December 2011. There were several areas of focus during the testing, which included qualitative factors, along with certain quantitative testing. The test objectives were to 1) Validate new Simpana 9 software data protection and recovery scenarios for virtual environments, 2) Assess the capabilities of Simpana SnapProtect, 3)
NetApp’s Open Solution for Hadoop
admin, 2012-01Apache Hadoop has gained considerable attention from the enterprise IT community as a data analytics alternative to traditional BI systems and data warehousing. And while this is not the only alternative currently available, it has become highly visible. However, with heightened visibility comes heightened scrutiny. Hadoop’s shortcomings have also become more visible to enterprise IT
Quantum DXi6700 Lab Validation
admin, 2012-01Evaluator Group assessed Quantum’s DXi6700 data deduplication appliances in September 2011. There were several areas of focus during the testing, which was both quantitative and qualitative. Testing results show the Quantum DXi6700 systems were able to attain peak performance quickly while running only a few concurrent backup jobs. Evaluator Group’s testing showed that data recovery
Comparison of Mainframe and Open Systems Storage
Randy Kerns, 2011-12This short presentation compares terminology and IO processes between mainframe and Open Systems Storage. There is a quick reference table for terminology translation.
Evaluator Group – Quantum DXi6700 Lab Validation Podcast
admin, 2011-12Evaluator Group’s Russ Fellow discusses the Lab Validation of the DX6700 Deduplication Systems. The evaluation confirms that the DXi6700 provides a price-performance advantage over all competitors in the midrange – surpassing the closest systems in speed at nearly half the published price – and that it leads in the areas of ease of use, scalability,
Storage Efficiency – Vendor Perspective, Section III: Data Protection
Randy Kerns, 2011-10This educational series paper from the Evaluator Group is part two of a two part explanation in the storage efficiency practice where the first paper had the focus on the Information Technology operation perspective. This paper presents several vendors’ perspective on storage efficiency. It is not intended to be judgmental; only reporting on the vendor
Tape in a MAC OS X Environments
admin, 2011-10All around us the need for storing data is growing. Individuals and companies alike are experiencing exponential growth in the amounts of data we consume, process and ultimately retain. One of the primary factors pushing this is the massive growth in digital media. The current generation of high definition video and now the addition of
Storage Architectures
admin, 2011-10Graphical representation of different storage architectures
SNW Fall 2011 Presentation: Shared Storage for Shared Nothing
admin, 2011-10We’re seeing dramatic growth in the use of Big Data database architectures (Hadoop MapReduce for example). While these are best known in the context of web-based applications and development activities, they are no longer confined to the web. Cloudera, EMC Greenplum, IBM Netezza, NoSQL, and ParAccel are all examples of database architectures that are being
HP Information Supply Chain
admin, 2011-10IT administrators have traditionally considered the tiering of data, data protection, and archiving as independent processes—narrowly focused and specific to a particular application or storage objective. The reality is that these topics are all related. Buying more primary storage will eventually force the need for more backup storage capacity. The need to add capacity to
SNW Fall 2011 – SNIA Tutorial: Storage Optimization for VDI
admin, 2011-10Russ’ presentation explores the critical storage features needed for Virtual Desktop Initiatives (VDI). The focus is on storage system features required to meet the performance, and the critical TCO levels necessary for a successful VDI project. The recommendations are taken from hands on experience implanting VDI projects in mid-sized and large IT environments. Particular attention
Storage Efficiency – Vendor Perspective, Section II: Storage Vendor
admin, 2011-10This educational series paper from the Evaluator Group is part two of a two part explanation in the storage efficiency practice where the first paper had the focus on the Information Technology operation perspective. This paper presents several vendors’ perspective on storage efficiency. It is not intended to be judgmental; only reporting on the vendor
Storage Efficiency – Vendor Perspective, Section I: Systems Vendor
admin, 2011-09This educational series paper from the Evaluator Group is part two of a two part explanation in the storage efficiency practice where the first paper had the focus on the Information Technology operation perspective. This paper presents several vendors’ perspective on storage efficiency. It is not intended to be judgmental; only reporting on the vendor
Advancing VMware Data Resilience
admin, 2011-08A discussion of VMware's VADP and Data Protection with Hitachi
Hitachi Responds to vSphere 5
John Webster, 2011-08Within many enterprise data center environments, the migration of applications from physical to virtual servers using VMware has reached a tipping point. The applications and workloads that were easiest to move—typically those devoted to test and development, print and file serving, and non-critical applications —have been migrated to virtual machines. Now comes the more challenging
Understanding Big Data Analytics — A SearchStorage Article by John Webster
admin, 2011-08Now that the cloud computing bandwagon is out of gas, vendors have jumped on the next one to roll down the pike: Big Data. And as with previous hype cycles, Big Data is now a source of confusion for users as vendors put forth their own unique and often conflicting definitions of the term. The
HP’s Converged Storage – A Vision for Emerging Customer Requirements
admin, 2011-08On June 6, 2011, HP announced its Converged Storage strategy—the most significant storage announcement HP has made since the 2010 acquisition of 3PAR. HP Converged Storage represents a number of product portfolio and market direction statements that establish HP’s unique approach to storage going forward
Directions on Storage for “Big Data” Applications
admin, 2011-08In a summary of articles from CNet/Data-Driven, John Webster highlights the future of storage supporting “Big Data Storage” and “Big Data Analytics&#
Announcement Summary of HP’s Special Financing Programs for HP 3PAR Utility Storage
admin, 2011-08HP 3PAR Special Financial Programs
The Big Data Landscape
admin, 2011-07Now that cloud computing bandwagon is out of gas, vendors have jumped on the next one to roll down the pike: Big Data. And as with previous hype cycles, Big Data is now a source of confusion for users as vendors put forth their own unique and often conflicting definitions. The most common source of
Cloud Storage for IT Conservatives
admin, 2011-06Cloud services providers have been phenomenally successful over the past three years. Evaluator Group has observed both large and small companies turn to cloud-based services providers for blending their on-premise capabilities with alternatively managed IT infrastructure. Cloud and other IT service providers enable new business models, while allowing businesses to streamline their operations and add
EMC Avamar for NAS: Accelerating NDMP Backup Performance
admin, 2011-06It almost goes without saying that storage administrators continue to grapple with managing ever increasing volumes of data. On average, Evaluator Group sees a 50% annual growth rate in the amount of data stored among its user clients. Certainly one of the first places we see the stress that rapid data growth creates is on
Big Data Analytics – Can SAN/NAS Meet the Demand?
admin, 2011-06The practitioners of Big Data Analytics processes are generally hostile to shared storage. They prefer direct-attached storage (DAS) in its various forms from solid state disk (SSD) to high capacity SATA disk buried inside parallel processing nodes. The perception of shared storage architectures—SAN and NAS—is that they are relatively slow, complex, and above all, expensive.
Extending VAAI API’s to Heterogeneous Storage
admin, 2011-06John Webster discusses VAAI and HDS implementation for heterogeneous environments
Storage Efficiency – IT Perspective
admin, 2011-04This is part of a two part series reporting on the measurement and approaches for Storage Efficiency. This document may be obtained free of charge
Optimizing VDI Price – Performance
admin, 2011-04Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) projects are experiencing significant interest from both business and IT users. Evaluator Group has been speaking with a number of organizations piloting and deploying VDI projects. Successful VDI deployments have common aspects that deliver both the user experience desired, while meeting the cost and operational efficiencies’ desired. In particular, success as
Big Data: How New Analytic Systems will Impact Storage
admin, 2011-04John Webster's presentation from SNW 2011 on Big Data Analytics and the impact on Storage
Disaster Recovery in the Cloud
admin, 2011-04Review of Disaster Recovery as a Service(Cloud) and Geminare's offering
Writing Storage RFP’s in 2011
admin, 2011-04John Webster discusses strategies and requirements for RFP's in 2011. This tutorial was presented at SNW Spring
Linear Tape Systems by Tandberg Data
admin, 2011-04The Linear Tape File System (LTFS) from Tandberg Data provides a file system interface for storing, retrieving, and managing files on LTO-5 and later tape cartridges. Having a file system format similar to disk file systems on tape provides a new level of usage that did not previously exist for tape. Familiarity with using files
Quantum DXi Lab Validation Podcast
admin, 2011-03Russ Fellows and Camberley Bates review the Quantum Lab Validation of the DXi 6000 Systems
Automated Tiering without Data Migration
admin, 2011-03Automated tiering drove many storage technology discussions in 2010. We saw EMC introduce FAST—EMC’s approach to implementing SSD among its primary disk storage platforms. We also saw the acquisition of 3PAR by HP and Compellent by Dell. 3PAR’s InForm and Compellent’s Fluid Data platforms feature automated, in-the-box storage tiering where data is shuttled among SSD,
Automated Tiering: Evaluating the Criteria
admin, 2011-02There are several technology and marketing messages competing for headlines. The concepts that resonate are those that make life easier for IT users, lower costs or do both. Storage tiering is an idea gaining traction as it is able to provide real value to users, both by lowering administrative burden, and the ability to improve
Quantum DXi6000 Lab Validation
admin, 2011-02EGI Lab Testing and Validation of Quantum's DXi6000 Data Protection offering, covering D2D, Deduplication and Replication
Enterprise Data Protection:Scale versus Sprawl Podcast
admin, 2011-02Understanding the costs for Scale vs Sprawl in architecting a data protection / deduplicated environment. This paper includes results from customer interviews and discussion of Sepaton.
Bulk versus Archive Storage. There is a Difference.
admin, 2010-11Discussion on the difference and planning considerations for bulk versus archive storage types
QLogic 3GCNA: NexGen Fabric Convergence
admin, 2010-102010 has been a time of unprecedented change. As server and storage virtualization deployments advance, virtual desktop implementations in the thousands of units are also added to the IT agenda. And while it’s become an old storage industry saw, capacity growth continues unabated. In spite of widespread acceptance of facilities like data compression, deduplication, and
Storage Efficiency: Integrating Strategies for Data Protection, Tiering and Archiving
admin, 2010-10This paper discusses the relationship between data protection, tiering and archiving and provides guidance for planning the storage strategy
Greenplum Data Computing Appliance – An appliance for big data analysis and real-time decision making
admin, 2010-10Discussion on Big Data Analytics and EMC's Greenplum announcement
HP D2D Test Validation Report
admin, 2010-09Test and Validation review of HP's StoreOnce D2D data protection solution
Virtual Desktop Implementation – Considerations for Storage
admin, 2010-06Virtual Desktop Implementation and scale out poses significant challenges to the IT infrastructure. This paper explores the considerations for storage and designing for scale-out
Effective Storage Management for Virtual Environments: Evaluating IBM SVC and TPC for Server Virtualization
admin, 2010-05We believe that server virtualization creates a new set of cases to be made for implementing storage virtualization technologies and SRM tools before, during, and after migrating critical applications. Here we look at IBM’s approach
Unified – What’s next? Discussion on Market Trends
admin, 2010-03Randy Kerns discusses trends and expectations for the Unified storage market
Scale-up versus Scale-out Confusion
admin, 2010-02Discussion on the architecture of Scale-up and Scale-out storage
SNW Fall 2009 – Securing the Cloud: Using Cloud Computing without risking data security
admin, 2009-10Security has always been a critical aspect of IT Storage. However, the proliferation of networking technologies and protocols, combined with the emergence of Cloud Storage has made security more important and difficult than ever. In this presentation, we will examine some of the technologies and standards that are available to solve these issues, and show
Data De-Duplication –Why, When Where and How? — InfoStor Article by Russ Fellows
Russ Fellows, 2009-10The topic of data de-duplication has received a lot of attention from vendors and IT administrators alike. Both are looking to reduce the pain associated with exponential data growth most data centers are experiencing. Data de-duplication began to emerge roughly ten years ago, but has only recently become a mainstream technology. Just three years ago,
Data Center Transformation
admin, 2009-10Russ Fellows discusses designing the data center of the future using current infrastructure and new technologies. Discussion includes cloud computing, data deduplication, virtualization and green strategies
Securing the Cloud – Cloud Computing Without Risking Security
admin, 2009-10Russ Fellows examines some of the technologies and standards that are available to solve Cloud Computing Security issues, and how companies can design an architecture that is scalable and secure
Virtualization — the Foundation for Data Center Transformation
admin, 2009-09Discussion on Virtualization, Storage Virtualization and the necessity for Data Center Transformation. Highlights of various architectures
Cloud Computing – How Real Is It?
admin, 2009-09The terms Cloud Computing and Cloud Storage have been gaining popularity over the past year. Russ Fellows discusses rationale and considerations for the implementation of public or private cloud strategies