Best storage technology ever

In your opinion, which is the best storage technology? Yes, that question.

I wanted to write this commentary because someone with a PhD posted that question in a different context (below) on Facebook last week. It obviously touched a nerve with me because these are the same kinds of questions I get a lot through the latter half of my career. Next year will be my 30th year, and they have been primarily evolved around storage (a lot!), data and Oil & Gas petro-technical computing and subsurface data management.

Best software for Big Data Analysis?

So, obviously, like a specialist doctor at a meeting, many would gather and ask that question over and over again. Too many to c0unt.

Do what the Irishman does

More often than not, the real reason behind that question is always about something else. And to find out more, do what the Irishman does. Always answer the question with another question.

Side story. I learn this Irishman anecdote from an Irishman while working at NetApp® 21 years ago. I am looking at you, Niall Doherty!

So, like a Malaysian Irishman, my answer to that question is “What are you trying to solve?

Don’t sell the storage technology

That question has been stirring in my mind. Which is the best storage technology for <fill in your requirement here>?

First think of “don’t sell the storage technology“. If and when we follow the adage of People, Process and Technology, technology should be the last thing to pitch. Technology is fleeting. It is the shiny thing that does not dazzle once the shine wears off. My anecdote (which I posted on Facebook) is:

The secret to storage technology selling

There is no such thing

Perhaps my answer is vague. A better answer should be “There is no such thing“. You have to find the right tool to the job. Which is the job is we as consultants have to find out, shape it, scope it, frame it. Furthermore, with the fluidity and the flow of data changes over time. So, what might be best for the moment, may not be for the next.

Bruce Lee said “Be like water my friend”

The end.

 

 

 

 

Bookmark the permalink.

About cfheoh

I am a technology blogger with 30 years of IT experience. I write heavily on technologies related to storage networking and data management because those are my areas of interest and expertise. I introduce technologies with the objectives to get readers to know the facts and use that knowledge to cut through the marketing hypes, FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) and other fancy stuff. Only then, there will be progress. I am involved in SNIA (Storage Networking Industry Association) and between 2013-2015, I was SNIA South Asia & SNIA Malaysia non-voting representation to SNIA Technical Council. I currently employed at iXsystems as their General Manager for Asia Pacific Japan.

2 Responses to Best storage technology ever

  1. QStora says:

    You have a wealth of experience and insight in the field of storage and with so much working experience in some of the greatest storage technology companies in the storage industry. I hope you are interested at a new software-defined storage offer, QStora.

    It is a process-level high-performance software-defined storage controller, which is easy to install with a highly optimized 140MB zip package. It can convert the commodity servers and their internal HDDs and SSDs to a high-performance virtual storage array, and provide virtual targets and logical volumes through standard iSCSI protocol.

    QStora can be installed on the Linux operating system for 64-bit x86, no matter it is physical servers, bare metal servers, virtual machines and even container instances. Runs as a group of user-mode processes, does not rely on any specific version of Linux kernel, does not monopolize the entire hard drive, and does not interfere with the execution of any other processes. It can run in the same Linux instance concurrently with other applications.

    We spent more than four years to develop QStora, it is completely independent of specific hardware, because we believe that the real software-defined storage should be able to be downloaded, installed and used like other software.

    QStora is still in the trial operation stage now, it is free to download, install and use. We hope that you can send us feedback on all kinds of problems you encountered during the use of QStora and would appreciate it if you could help us promote QStora in the storage industry. Thank you very much for your help.

    For more details, please visit https://www.qstora.com/.

    Thank you. Hope to hear from you soon!

    QStora team.

    • cfheoh says:

      Hello QStora team

      Thank you for your calling in the comments field. I am always reading and learning about new storage development, and I would be happy to hear you out. You can email to me at chinfah@katanalogic.com

      Thank you and all the best

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.