Musings on storage, tuning, backups and more – delivered with a no-nonsense approach. By Dimitris Krekoukias
This is going to be another post that was inspired by sheer frustration.
It’s one thing talking to someone about adopting a totally new platform and meeting with resistance – I get it, it’s not what they’re used to, it’s new stuff, they don’t know if it will work etc. etc.
Continue reading “Are you using the features of your existing platforms? And, if not, why not?”
I’m in MN prepping to teach a course (my signature anti-FUD extravaganza), and thought I’d get a few things off my chest that I’ve been meaning to write about for a while. Some Stravinsky to provide the vibes and I’m good to go. It’s getting really late BTW and I’m sure this will progressively get less coherent as time goes by, but I like to write my posts in one shot.
There was some weird backlash against my site and my person recently – see here and here and in the comments here. Chuck Hollis got all uppity about whether I work at NetApp (with, for) or not.
I find it interesting that this only came up when I wrote something pro-NetApp. Wasn’t even anti-EMC.
Continue reading “So, are there any independent bloggers? Really?”
I’m all for a good fight, but in the storage industry it seems that all too many creative liberties are taken when competing.
Let’s assume, for a moment, that we’re talking about the car industry instead. I like cars, and I love car analogies. So we’ll use that, and it illustrates the absurdity really well.
Competing against Pillar at an account. One of the things they said: That their RAID5 is superior in reliability to RAID6. I wanted to put this on the public domain and, if true, invite Pillar engineers to comment here and explain how it works for all to see. If untrue, again I invite the Pillar engineers to comment and explain why it’s untrue.
Continue reading “Pillar claiming their RAID5 is more reliable than RAID6? Wizardry or fiction?”
It’s no secret that, in most companies, the technology folks are primarily the ones deciding on which new technologies to adopt – after all, they are the ones that understand the technology, right? Business owners explain the business problem to the technologists, and the techies take it from there – and ultimately present 2-3 different solutions that will work and the business picks the cheapest (and/or the vendor that employs the rep that provides the most golf outings).
Continue reading “Should techies or business owners decide on technology (or both)?”
It’s been a while since I wrote anything – unlike some, I actually have a day job and don’t use ghostwriters! Well, at least that’s my excuse.
My admiration for RecoverPoint is well known (see older post, which is referenced internally within EMC as a great pro-RecoverPoint article). It really is a good product and, next to VMware, my favorite EMC acquisition.
Continue reading “Is EMC under-sizing RecoverPoint and Avamar deals to win business?”
So, let’s talk about this not-so-hypothetical customer… They have:
They asked me to propose a solution that will back everything up and cross-replicate the backups between the sites. They want to move as far away from tape as possible.
Much has already been written about this imminent acquisition of Data Domain by either NetApp or EMC and, since opinions are like you-know-what, and I have one, here it is… if I ramble, forgive me. I have too much to say and I’m trying to be PC… I wrote and subsequently erased all kinds of stuff that could probably get me in trouble (the more you work with a company the more dirt you uncover, and I have several earth movers’ worth).
It’s after 4AM, I can’t sleep since I’m in pain after a car accident and I’ve had altogether too much caffeine. I’ve already watched 3 movies. BTW, “I am Legend” – WTF! Never have I seen a decent book butchered so much! The ideas in the book were so much stronger. Seriously, go get the book and forget the movie. Sorry, Will.
Continue reading “So, how frequently do you really test DR?”
As a matter of course, I deal with all kinds of IT manager types during the course of a campaign.
Sometimes said managers are well-versed in technology. Other times they have biases, are bigoted, and so on. Which is fine, I’m more opinionated, cranky and obnoxious than most.
No, I don’t mean Gandalf, I mean the software kind. And before I’m accused of being Gates’ live-in cabana boy (it’s all baseless rumors), let me clarify.
Since opinions are like you-know-what, and since I’m decidedly anatomically complete in that respect (some, indeed, claim all of me is composed of implied anatomical part, so maybe that’s why I’m so opinionated), I thought I’d throw my $0.2 in the pot and not stay silent. The whole issue irks me quite a bit, actually.
Well, aside from visiting Flames and helping fix a severe customer problem. Those were rewarding. I still haven’t pooped that steak, BTW.
I was supposed to only stay for 1 day in Manhattan, fix the issue, ba da bing. I ended up staying an extra day – had no extra clothes and no time to get anything. Washed my undies on my own and used the hair dryer over a period of hours to dry them. I learned my lesson now and will always have extra stuff with me.
I’m not known for retractions and I’m not posting one. I did however check out the new DD boxes and the really big ones are far more capable than the old ones.