Storage Means Business

Constellation ES gives you the power to choose

Mark Wojtasiak — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:52:26 +0000

Last week, Seagate announced availability of the Constellation ES enterprise 2TB hard drive. The real story behind this product is here.

What is not mentioned much in the circles of discussion around this drive is PowerChoice.

Seagate defines PowerChoice as…

“PowerChoice enables the host to tailor the drive’s power savings settings for performance and power consumption via mode pages (SAS) or Set Features commands (SATA). This configuration flexibility ensures that users can specify the optimal idle time thresholds (that is, how long the drive’s command queue is empty) for their particular storage applications. Users can choose to let the drive control PowerChoice itself through default timers, or they can disable PowerChoice altogether.”

How does it differ from what else it out there in terms of enterprise drive power consumption?

WD says, “Active Power Management is a feature on WD drives with GreenPower Technology that “monitors work load and automatically invokes idle mode whenever possible to further reduce unnecessary power consumption.”

It sounds like the difference is choice or no choice…

…you choose.

Follow Seagate on Twitter

Seagate: http://twitter.com/seagate
Seagate SMB: http://twitter.com/seagate_smb
Seagate Enterprise: http://twitter.com/seagate_it_ent
Seagate Consumer: http://twitter.com/seagate_con

Funny 1998 Product Review: Sony Mavica

Mark Wojtasiak — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:46:09 +0000

Just for fun…in the past I posted images, timelines, anything that was moderately humorous on Friday’s.

I stumbled across another great avenue for a few laughs…product reviews from years past. At least for those of us that remember these products and can remember how awesome it was to have a digital camera that used floppies! My first born was captured on a Sony Mavica…

Check out this product review from 1998 on the cutting edge Sony Mavica series of digital cameras. Here’s a quote for a taste:

“The original Mavica camera weighed almost 1.3 pounds and was a bulky 3 inches thick. The FD71 weighs 1.2 pounds and is 2.5 inches thick, making it a bit easier to hold and tote around. And whereas the original model took about 8 seconds to save a photo to a disk, this version averaged a more tolerable 4 seconds.”

Find some other great reviews from decades ago?

… let me know.

OEMs drive SMBs to “downsize”

Mark Wojtasiak — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:56:33 +0000

Check out Andy Moon’s post on TechRepublic “SMBs receiving attention from 800-pound gorillas“. Andy provides a great summary of some key OEMs giving yet even more attention to SMBs. The likes of Microsoft, Google, HP, and Dell are referenced in the post.

The key takeaways for me, lie more with the strategy Dell and HP have for SMBs. It appears both are emphasizing sustainability. Dell is helping SMBs go green by implementing solutions that consume less energy. HP has an initiative called the Small Footprint Assessment that analyzes SMB’s efficiencies in terms of capacity, and energy. I assume both are pushing small form factor servers and storage solutions.

Small form factor servers and storage consume less power, take up less space therefore more scalable, and quite frankly are going to be the standard in any data center in the next 3-5 years. One catalyst behind this movement to smaller is better….the hard drive. Enterprise drives are smaller, faster, more energy efficient, and continue to grow in capacity. And now, they aren’t just reserved for high performance mission critical applications. Business critical or nearline applications that don’t require a ton of performance, but demand capacity and efficiency can also go small form factor with the availability of Seagate’s Constellation drive.

The sweet spot for SMBs is a sweet combination of both. Perhaps high performance servers with 2.5-inch 10K drives (Savvio) , and bulk storage using 2.5-inch 7200RPM drives (Constellation).

Anyway you look at it, the OEMs want SMBs to go smaller…because that ultimately will allow them to get bigger.

What’s your take?

Surveillance solutions for SMBs… sound familiar?

Mark Wojtasiak — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:50:35 +0000

Security Director News had a great editorial by Jumbi Edulbehram that describes how the SMB market is prime for IP surveillance.

Interesting that the same points were raised years ago, and still today, about traditional IT solutions for SMBs. The features in terms of solution requirements between surveillance and IT are much the same. It seems much like IT, SMBs are looking for the swiss army knife solution for security…. one solution that can do many things, at the same time not do too much:

Don’t simply offer scaled down versions of “enterprise-class” security solutions
Security solutions need to be cost effective and be integrated (include all hardware, software, and services) with no hidden costs
Simple to use and manage. SMBs typically do not have the IT staff on hand to manage a complex security infrastructure
Interoperable, meaning the security solution needs to integrate well into the existing infrastructure

Replace the word “security” with “IT” and this sounds all to familiar to the SMB. Then again, why would your priorities change?

I expect a wave of integrated security solutions for SMBs to hit the market this year. I wonder if some enterprise customers might view them as “good enough” for their needs as well. Afterall, many already have when it comes to servers and storage.

What are your seeing out there?

Comcast adds backup to your “utility” bill

Mark Wojtasiak — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:20:24 +0000

Today, Comcast announced online backup services (Secure Backup & Share) for Comcast high speed internet subscribers.

Powered by Mozy, Comcast services offer 2GB of backup Free with your Comcast subscription, $4.99/month for 50GB, and $9.99/month for 200GB.

Many of us look at our monthly high speed internet as a utility like gas, electricity, phone, so adding it to my monthly Comcast subscription is simple enough for me. It consolidates billing and provides a single interface for both my internet access, email, and now backup. My only concern, is 200GB enough? I have thousands of photos, music files, etc. so I doubt 200GB is going to cover me.

For the small business based out of the home (SOHO), 200GB may also be a limitation. Prioritizing what content to backup online via Comcast is not an option for me, nor for the SOHO. That just adds another step of complexity and data management to my backup routine. Just give me unlimited space, and I would sign up in a second…. at least 500GB of space…preferably 1 TB to plan for the inevitable data growth.

Does the same hold true for you SOHOs?

Backup the next entitlement
Seagate and Microsoft – a match made in heaven?
Startups – every second counts

Increase exposure means data breaches looming?

Mark Wojtasiak — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:21:10 +0000

Check out Channel Web’s slideshow of the 15 Biggest Data Breaches of the Decade painful for the companies and the consumer.

It seems as if data breaches are becoming more common as more and more information gets digitized, and as more industries go digital (i.e. Healthcare). In all actuality, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center, data breaches were actually down in 2009 from 656 in 2008 to 498 in 2009, marking the first time they have reported a drop since it began counting in 2005.

On the flip-side, the actual number of exposed records increased dramatically from 35 million to 220 million over the same period. So data breaches are down, but exposed records are up.

I go back to the growth of digital information and the digital culture in which we live. The more information digitized, the more likely it could be potentially exposed. Don’t get me wrong, I am a full believer in going 100% digital, as long as the companies I choose to do business with and provide information to are 100% secure. That goes for the government too!

Peace of mind to me would be assurance that the notebooks, servers and storage public and private entities deploy are encrypted down to the source…the physical hard drive itself. What the heck, throw it in your value proposition: “your data is 100% protected with Government Grade encryption”…. you may be more likely to get my business.

What say you fellow digital junkies?

The great whitebook experiment continues

Mark Wojtasiak — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:05:59 +0000

I give Intel kudos for not giving up.

The whitebook movement has had its share of problems over the years, but let’s face it, as a hard drive guy, I want to see the whitebook market succeed as much as the next guy. Unfortunately, we have little control over the many of the key issues facing channel system builders. We too are at the mercy of what the notebook ODMs offer in terms of design to the channel.

We have drives with encryption, thin drives, big drives, drives with drop sensors, and who knows what else is coming. It would be great if system builders had the options to build, brand, and sell:

Secure notebooks
Thin Notebooks
Netbooks
Rugged Notebooks

Anything that isn’t a “me-too” product that costs more than what the OEMs can build, brand, and sell. I confess, I have not been in the whitebook space for years now, so I could use a little education from system builders on what their needs are. Where they feel they can compete and make money. What their customers are asking them for.

Chime in. Maybe this round of experiments will really pay off for the channel.

Keep pushing Intel!

Related Posts:
2010 comeback – the whitebook?

Seagate Savvio 10K – a channel game changer?

Mark Wojtasiak — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:16:32 +0000

The new 4th generation Seagate Savvio 10K is the latest 2.5-inch 10,000 RPM drive to grace Seagate’s enterprise portfolio. Seagate’s Savvio product marketing manager – Teresa Worth – calls it a game changer for the channel. Why? I asked her the same question, and this is what we found out:

SMB: What makes Savvio 10K.4 so special?
Teresa: Seagate’s Savvio 10K4 is the first 2.5-inch 10K RPM drive to offer up to 600GB capacity and the first drive ever to offer a 2 Million Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) and .44% Annualized Failure Rate (AFR).

SMB: How is the Savvio 10K.4 different from the previous generation, the Savvio 10K.3?
Teresa: Seagate will continue to sell both drives. The Savvio 10K.4 doubles the capacity of the Savvio 10K.3 providing up to 600GB capacity. In addition, it provides Protection Information (PI) support to help ensure data integrity and supports either 6Gb/s SAS or 4Gb/s Fibre Channel. In addition, is it has Self-Encrypting Drive models available (6Gb/s SAS only).

SMB: Why is this important to the channel?
Teresa: Channel partners are excited about Savvio 10K.4 in the enterprise for several reasons. First, the 450GB and 600 GB capacity points hit the sweet spot for external storage solutions. Second, the new reliability benchmark means fewer support calls and costs to end users and channel partners alike. Finally, the SED models enable the channel to offer unique, security enhanced solutions.

So it gives the channel: choice (interface), scale (capacity), differentiation (encryption), trust (reliability).

I think the real game changing aspect of this drive really comes down to capacity. System builders in the channel can now offer high performance 10,000 RPM, 2.5-inch mission critical storage, at the capacity of nearline or business critical storage. Throw in encryption and the highest reliability rating, and you got one sustainable solution.

Where do you see the opportunity?

IT’s version of Audi’s Green Police

Mark Wojtasiak — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:15:32 +0000

One of the best Super Bowl commercials this year was Audi’s Green Police ad for the A3 TDI.

It’s stirring some controversy according to a USA Today article.

One area where “green” has been getting some traction (no pun intended) is in IT. Companies are paying more attention to Green IT, not exclusively for environmental reasons, but more so for the long term sustainability, cost cutting, and simplicity of moving to a more power conscience IT infrastructure.

One example is Spiceworks, the highly touted free IT management software company for SMBs, now offers a plug-in that can track energy consumption of devices on the network, when they are being used, when idle, etc. that helps IT managers make decisions that can trim costs and conserve energy.

Maybe Audi made you laugh, maybe they made you angry, depending on what side you’re on. Needless to say, companies like Spiceworks are using software technology to help any SMB IT Manager be their own version of the “green police”.

And it’s a good thing…there’s no arguing that.

What was your favorite Super Bowl ad?

image by: agreenliving.org

With 1 Billion broadband users … who has the power?

Mark Wojtasiak — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:38:25 +0000

InStat recently released a study that indicates that global broadband subscribers will reach 1 Billion by 2013.

In 2009, the number was 578 Million…. so basically, the number of high speed internet subscribers will double in the next 3 years.

2006: 294 Million
2009: 578 Million
2013: 1+ Billion

More users with a bigger pipe, means greater the access to information, entertainment, knowledge, and the more we consume…the more we create and share.

For businesses, this is critical to success. The more people with broadband, the greater their ability to access information to make buying decisions. The more likely they are to share their experiences (good and bad) with others. At the same time, the greater your ability to reach out to them, to engage, listen, learn, and improve. We all know the internet is a powerful thing…and with over 1 Billion people using it more and more everyday, the more powerful it can be for both the business and the consumer.

But then again, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
— Spiderman; Ben Parker