Virtualization is driving itself toward replacing onsite hardware and running from the “cloud”. This is something that I believe is very achievable in the not so distant future, but there is one comment or concern I hear often: “But it wouldn’t be able to compete against physical hardware” Physical Storage performance is dependent on the […]
December Theme Preview
Throughout November we focused on HCI deployment – diving into topics such as the pros and cons of ‘build your own’ HCI solutions, and comparing BYO HCI solutions with pre-configured appliances. If you missed out and would like to learn more about this topic, you can browse our full article archive by clicking here. This […]
Make Every Day a Black Friday with SvSAN
Make Every Day a Black Friday with SvSAN Black Friday is upon us and while many companies are helping you save money for one day only, here at StorMagic we have a clear message: Make every day a Black Friday for your storage by choosing StorMagic SvSAN! Underpinned by simplicity, cost-effectiveness and flexibility, StorMagic SvSAN […]
Busting 10 All-Flash and HCI Myths
This article continues on from our previous post: Have you developed ‘must have all-flash’ or ‘shiny new HCI toy’ syndrome? John Glendenning examines (and busts) 10 myths relating to all-flash and HCI solutions. Carrying on from my previous article addressing many IT professionals’ fixation with all-flash and HCI, I’d like to engage in a spot […]
Don’t miss our Remote Office Tech Tips YouTube series
Deploying and optimizing storage across remote sites can be an expensive and time-consuming undertaking for businesses of any size. Click here to access our full Remote Office Tech Tips series! While it may be tempting to cut corners, this can result in costly downtime, overall performance loss and premature upgrades in the future. For businesses […]
Have you developed ‘must have all-flash’ or ‘shiny new HCI toy’ syndrome?
John Glendenning examines the rise of all-flash/HCI mania, and explains why a correctly-provisioned and cost-effective approach is a better fit for many businesses. Have you developed ‘must have all-flash’ or ‘shiny new HCI toy’ syndrome? If you have – don’t panic. You’re not alone as many share your affliction and it’s probably not too late […]
New Case Study: The Maho Group
Based on the picturesque Caribbean island of Sint Maarten, The Maho Group has been an established name in the region’s leisure, real estate, gaming and resort industries for over 35 years. The group’s property portfolio includes a number of locations across a range of Caribbean hot spots, as well as resorts at Maho Beach and […]
StorMagic SvSAN Data Sheet – disponible ahora en Español
Our SvSAN data sheet is now available in Spanish! StorMagic makes edge computing simple. Our virtual SAN product, SvSAN, is designed specifically for small and large enterprises with one to thousands of locations that require highly available compute and storage at the lowest possible cost. If you’re looking for more information about SvSAN, our SvSAN […]
Meet StorMagic at the Solihull VMUG UserCon
Head over to booth 13 at the Solihull VMUG UserCon to meet the StorMagic team! StorMagic are proud to announce that our team is heading to Solihull this week to attend the upcoming UK VMUG UserCon. If you’re heading to the UserCon on Thursday 16th November, don’t forget to head over to booth 13 to […]
SvSAN White Paper Spotlight
Our SvSAN white paper has been updated! Implementing effective edge computing solutions can be challenging. Elevated hardware costs and additional maintenance/deployment challenges mean that expanding your operation can quickly become a headache-inducing experience. StorMagic SvSAN makes virtual SANs simple for edge computing: eliminating the need for expensive and high-maintenance physical SANs and simplifying your edge […]
Is Your Business Ready For Hyperconverged Infrastructure?
Are you looking for hyperconverged infrastructure? Maybe. I suspect that few of you are actually sending out a request for proposal (RFP) for hyperconverged infrastructure. That’s not how, in my experience, most of you who are IT professionals think about solutions. What you do think about is the fact that you have a budget that […]
What’s Stopping You? The Top 3 Misplaced Concerns in Deploying HCI
Where scalability and ease of deployment are key requirements of storage infrastructure for most distributed organizations, hyper-converged infrastructure models are enjoying a lot of attention from technology evaluators. Research from the likes of ESG and TechTarget’s Storage Market Landscape Study concur that adoption of these integrated computing platforms (ICP) is already high and that a […]
Meet the StorMagic team at the Silicon Valley VMUG UserCon
The Silicon Valley VMUG UserCon is about to begin! StorMagic is proud that announce that we will be sending a team to attend the Silicon Valley VMUG UserCon on Wednesday November 8! Head over to booth 23 at the Doubltree by Hilton San Jose, to meet the StorMagic team and find out how your business […]
Hyperconvergence: How distributed enterprises can benefit from the SDS approach
Why are organizations choosing hyperconverged infrastructure? For SMEs and distributed enterprises, a hyperconverged infrastructure is an attractive proposition in combining compute, storage, networking and virtualization into something that can be scaled out easily and meet the demands of applications across a variety of sectors. A key component within any appropriate hyper-converged proposition is ‘virtualization’, removing the need […]
Why Build Your Own Hyperconverged Infrastructure Solution?
Hyperconverged Infrastructures (HCI) are a hot topic, it seems that every server vendor in the IT industry is talking about them and have an offering or play in the space. But, what exactly are hyperconverged infrastructures? Simply put, hyper-converged infrastructures are solutions that combine compute, storage, networking and virtualization into a single platform. As with […]
New White Paper: BYO vs. Appliance – A Comparison of HCI Deployment
New white paper – available to download now! In line with our November theme (hyperconverged infrastructure deployment), we’re proud to announce the release of our latest white paper: “Build Your Own vs. Appliance – A Comparison of HCI Deployment”. This white paper is ideal for those who are interested in deploying hyperconverged infrastructure and want […]
November Theme Preview: Hyperconverged Infrastructure Deployment
November is upon us, and so is the latest StorMagic monthly theme: Hyperconverged Infrastructure Deployment! Over the coming weeks, we’ll be posting new content on www.stormagic.com relating to hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) and how it can help your business by supercharging your storage – regardless of the size of your business or number of branches. HCI […]
All-flash arrays, Storage Tiering and Storage Caching
IT shops are always on the lookout for ways to improve application performance without negatively impacting availability and adding cost or complexity. Of course, adding more servers to the environment could do the trick – but comes at a steep cost and in many cases, added complexity (more servers means more things to manage and […]
Case Study Spotlight: Cisco Secure Ops
High security that required high availability Cisco’s Secure Ops is a managed cybersecurity solution for Operational Technology networks. Before implementing SvSAN, their original architecture ran in their datacenter and was dependent on non-HA local storage – intended to minimize downtime and provide a good level of performance for their clients. When they revised the architecture […]
Replacing an Old SAN
Aging SANs put your business at risk Is your SAN getting old? Is the maintenance becoming increasingly expensive and time-consuming? Has it failed recently? Are you running out of much-needed capacity? If the answer to any of the above questions is ‘yes’, then perhaps you’re already looking into replacing your old SAN with a newer […]
Case Study Spotlight: ITsjefen AS
Mission: improve system performance ITsjefen AS is a hosting and managed services provider based in Tronheim, Norway. As part of their mission to offer impeccable highly available service to their customers, Solutions Architect Anders Kringstad realised that they needed to improve system performance. After reviewing the hyperconverged market – and deeming usual suspects unsuitable – […]
Simple Storage for Complex Companies
Storage can quickly become complicated as businesses branch out Large organizations know more than most about how difficult it can be to ensure continuity of business operations. Maintaining business up time across multiple branch offices is a big challenge, even for the most experienced of IT administration teams. ‘Inevitability’ is an IT administrator’s sworn enemy. […]
Check out our new Case Study: ANA Aeroportos
High-flying storage in Portugal’s top airports ANA Aeroportos manages 10 of Portugal’s biggest and busiest airports including the capital’s largest, Humberto Delgado Airport. As the airport authority for some of Europe’s most important transportation hubs, ANA needed a reliable and flexible solution that fit within their budget constraints. That’s where SvSAN came to the rescue […]
VMUG Boston 2017: Meet the StorMagic team!
VMUG Boston is just around the corner! StorMagic is heading to Boston on October 19 for the latest iteration of the city’s VMware User Group meeting! Head over to booth 17 on Thursday to meet the StorMagic team and find out how you can harness the power of SvSAN to achieve your storage goals. Click […]
Missed our last webinar? Full recording and presentation slides now available!
Missed our last webinar? Full recording and presentation slides now available on-demand! Last week, we hosted the latest in our StorMagic webinar series: “A New Alternative to All-Flash Arrays: Predictive Storage Caching”. We hope all of our attendees had a great time – it was fantastic to host so many interested people, and receive so […]
Close the performance gap with Predictive Storage Caching
New white paper – available to download now! In the spirit of our October theme, we’re proud to announce the release of a brand new Predictive Storage Caching-related white paper: “Closing the Performance Gap – SvSAN Caching”. This white paper is the perfect introduction for those wanting to learn about the practical applications of Predictive […]
If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It
“If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It” My old man used to drill this statement into me like a copper screw, living firmly by the timeless adage of “if you mess with it, you’re going to break it”. For the most part he was right – everything I played with as a kid often ended […]
Welcome to the Edge: the Need for IoT Edge Computing
IoT is on the rise . . . The Internet of Things (IoT) is a hot topic right now, experiencing dramatic growth driven by the increasing number of devices being used, from sensors, actuators and valves in a chemical factory to home automation control systems (Nest, Apple HomeKit, Phillips Hue) to wearable fitness trackers (Fitbit, […]
IP EXPO Europe 2017 Round-Up
IP EXPO Europe: “Europe’s #1 Enterprise IT Event” For 2 days last week, ExCeL London was transformed into a veritable tech oasis. Showcasing everything from cutting-edge new software (which naturally included SvSAN) to TV’s very own Brian Cox, IP EXPO Europe provided something for everyone – and no one left the event feeling disappointed. The […]
October Webinar: A New Alternative to All-Flash Arrays
Looking for an alternative to expensive all-flash arrays? Throughout October, StorMagic will be exploring all-things related to Predictive Storage Caching. As well as posting new blogs and whitepapers, we’re hosting the next installment of our StorMagic webinar series: “A New Alternative to All-Flash Arrays: Predictive Storage Caching”. Join StorMagic storage expert and systems engineer Luke […]
October Theme Preview: Predictive Storage Caching
October is just around the corner . . . To mark StorMagic SvSAN being selected as one of the ‘Top 25 IoT Solution Providers of 2017’, we celebrated by promoting IoT themed content throughout September. If you missed out on any of our September IoT articles – ranging from its application in manufacturing to new […]
Mitigating the impact of Green IT initiatives on high availability
Organizations all over the world are becoming more reliant on technology in order to operate as the demand for IT resources continues to grow exponentially. And yet, many IT managers are trying to meet the challenge of reducing carbon footprints without sacrificing performance or productivity. In this blog, we share several tips on how businesses […]
Industrial IoT: From Monitoring Things to Monitoring a Process
Industrial IoT is a natural extension of historical process control systems. In the past, each machine or system had its own monitoring and alerting function, to signal when conditions were out of tolerances for that particular machine. To monitor a process across multiple stages, however, often required the person responsible for process control and quality […]
IP EXPO Europe 2017: StorMagic to Attend ‘Europe’s Number 1 Enterprise IT Event’
The IP EXPO story so far Since the first event in 2005, IP EXPO has grown to become known as one of the largest and most exciting enterprise IT event series in Europe. Initially launched as a cloud computing event, the Expo now encompasses 6 distinct events under one roof: Cloud and Infrastructure Europe, Cyber […]
Could your disaster recovery plan be less than adequate?
Many disaster recovery plans (DRPs) focus attention on the “big” threats that have the largest impact such as natural disasters and man-made events. While these are all important and need to be both addressed and planned for, the probability of some of these events occurring could be extremely low. Sonny Bennett looks at where organizations […]
Evolution of Storage: Part 5 – Into the future – Software-defined storage
Storage technologies have been constantly evolving over the past few decades, from dedicated application resources, through server consolidation, to the latest innovations in space saving and performance such as thin provisioning, caching using SSD or RAM, and data deduplication. This technological development has lent itself to the requirements of large data center environments, yet largely […]
Leveraging the Internet of Things? The cloud is not your holy grail
Even if you have rudimentary estimating capabilities and you spend a little time doing back of the napkin calculations, you’ll quickly figure out that the notion that “all data is going to the cloud” is patently absurd. In the world of the industrial Internet of Things (IoT), data is collected “in the field.” And in […]
Evolution of Storage: Part 4 – Rise of the (virtual) machines – Server virtualization
Storage technologies have been constantly evolving over the past few decades, from dedicated application resources, through server virtualization, to the latest innovations in space saving and performance such as thin provisioning, caching using SSD or RAM, and data deduplication. This technological development has lent itself to the requirements of large data center environments, yet largely […]
StorMagic Named as a Top 25 IoT Solution Provider in 2017
CIO Applications Magazine recently announced its Top 25 IoT Solution Providers of 2017, and StorMagic has been included in the list. Software-defined storage has a key part to play in the adoption and expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT). The sheer volume of data generated by IoT applications continues to rise unabated and the […]
Evolution of Storage: Part 3 – Server consolidation and shared SAN/NAS storage
Storage technologies have been constantly evolving over the past few decades, from dedicated application resources, through server consolidation, to the latest innovations in space saving and performance such as thin provisioning, caching using SSD or RAM, and data deduplication. This technological development has lent itself to the requirements of large data center environments, yet largely […]
Evolution of Storage: Part 2 – Dawn of shared storage – JBOD arrays
Storage technologies have been constantly evolving over the past few decades, from dedicated application resources, through JBOD arrays, to the latest innovations in space saving and performance such as thin provisioning, caching using SSD or RAM, and data deduplication. This technological development has lent itself to the requirements of large data center environments, yet largely […]
VMware’s new HCI Acceleration Kit (almost) hits the mark
Yesterday at VMworld Las Vegas, as part of their major news release for the day, VMware announced a new HCI offering targeted at distributed IT environments – the HCI Acceleration Kit. We at StorMagic agree with almost everything they are talking about – except the complexity and cost. VMware’s new HCI solution requires three physical […]
Evolution of Storage: Part 1 – Dedicated Application Resources
Today, organizations are able to choose from a wide variety of technologies when it comes to deploying new storage architecture. Software-defined storage solutions such as StorMagic SvSAN have paved the way for a more cost effective, simple and space-conscious approach to storage – one that contrasts greatly with the physically large and expensive technologies of […]
Why Now is the Time for an SDS First Strategy
Server virtualization transformed the datacenter and radically simplified server and application deployment. Server utilization became much more efficient, and provisioning new systems much simpler. Because it brought so many benefits to IT, companies began adopting a virtualization first policy as early as 2007. Big organizations like the State of California CIO’s office implemented a virtualization […]
Software-defined storage goes mainstream with the release of Windows Server 2016 – Part 3
StorMagic CEO, Hans O’Sullivan, examines the release of Windows Server 2016 and with it, Storage Spaces Direct in this three part series of blogs. Part 3 explores where StorMagic and other vendors fit now that Microsoft have entered the market. Software-defined storage (SDS) solutions have been around for several years and with Microsoft’s Windows Server […]
Software-defined storage goes mainstream with the release of Windows Server 2016 – Part 2
StorMagic CEO, Hans O’Sullivan, examines the release of Windows Server 2016 and with it, Storage Spaces Direct in this three part series of blogs. Part 2 delves into the details of Storage Spaces Direct. Software-defined storage (SDS) solutions have been around for several years and with Microsoft’s Windows Server 2016 launch that includes Storage Spaces […]
Software-defined storage goes mainstream with the release of Windows Server 2016 – Part 1
StorMagic CEO, Hans O’Sullivan, examines the release of Windows Server 2016 and with it, Storage Spaces Direct in this three part series of blogs. Part 1 focuses on the history of software-defined storage. Software-defined storage (SDS) solutions have been around for several years and with Microsoft’s Windows Server 2016 launch that includes Storage Spaces Direct, […]
StorMagic’s SvSAN – Targeting HCI’s ROBO Sweet Spot
Howard Marks from Deep Storage and frequent writer for Network Computing discusses how StorMagic’s approach to software-defined storage is designed to keep costs low while improving performance and maintaining highly available clusters. Over the past ten years hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) has gone from leading edge technology to become the fastest growing method for building an IT […]
StorMagic joins The Home Depot Foundation in supporting veterans and their families
StorMagic’s CEO and Technical Services Director lend a hand to Home Depot’s charity initiative. As part of The Home Depot Foundation’s work to improve the homes and lives of U.S. military veterans and their families, StorMagic recently sent CEO, Hans O’Sullivan and Technical Services Director, Luke Pruen to help construct playhouses for veterans’ families as […]
Managing IoT Data at the Edge of the Enterprise
StorMagic chairwoman Sally Duckworth explains why the masses of data generated by the Internet of Things matters for data storage and management – both at the edge of the enterprise in remote and branch sites, and within the datacenter. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the networking of physical devices, vehicles, buildings and other items […]
What to Expect in 2017 for Software-Defined Storage
StorMagic CEO Hans O’Sullivan offers his insight into what he believes will be the trends in software-defined storage over the course of 2017. The storage market is in the midst of a revolution: the biggest shift in storage technology since networked attached storage was introduced over 30 years ago. Software-defined storage (SDS) — a technology […]