Bruce Wayne would need petabytes of storage to support his nocturnal hobby
I saw The Dark Knight. The thing I like most about this movie and its predecessor Batman Begins is their plausibility. Unlike most superhero movies, they are able to account for the hero’s “powers” with (mostly) credible technology. Not cheap or easy, but almost feasible.
So…what are Batman’s storage requirements? (more…)
Categories: Data Security · Random · Surveillance
Tagged: Batman, encryption, facial recognition, storage, Surveillance, The Dark Knight
Home storage: an alternative to home servers?
Here’s a video tour of the Maxtor CentralAxis from Seagate. It’s an interesting alternative to a home server without the complexity.
Centralized, intelligent home storage that plays content everywhere. A candidate for Keeper of the Content in the home market?
Let’s hear from you…CentralAxis vs. a home server?
Categories: Digital Home · Products
Tagged: CentralAxis, external storage, home server, Maxtor, Seagate, video
China’s 253 million users surpass the United State’s 223 million
China’s now the largest market for the web. But the most significant part of The Channel Wire’s post is that China is just getting started. 81% of Chinese people still don’t use the internet, while most Americans are already on the grid.
73 million are mobile users. Music and IM are the most popular ways the Chinese use the web.
The internet’s new world
The world map of internet use is being rewritten. Sheer population size will drive the opportunity in the future as adoption rates resemble those of the electrical grid.
And while Chinese, Indian and Brazilian consumer storage consumption is not high today, video consumption and the low cost of terabytes means that storage growth will outpace even the internet.
Will these countries choose the Cloud or their homes to keep their content? The jury’s still out.
Where do you think they will keep their stuff?
Categories: Digital Home · Industry trends
Tagged: China, internet, storage
Businesses save twice with lower energy bills and a 50% kickback
Storage vendors often talk about how much money their customers will save in energy costs with systems that consume less power.
3Par and PG&E are making this message a bit more tangible.
Byte and Switch says PG&E will now rebate 3Par customers half of the power savings projected to come from using 3Par’s thin provisioned solutions.
This is a big deal. Utilities are recognizing the growing impact of data storage on their power grid. This is PG&E’s way of voting for more power efficient systems from the storage community.
IT is moving out of the shadows
Expect to see more rebates and other encouragement from the “ecosystem”. IT is becoming more visible to society, and will share more and more of the public policy dynamics long experienced by the auto and energy industries.
Would a rebate on your power bills impact your technology selection?
Categories: Datacenter · Industry trends · Storage Systems
Tagged: 3Par, PG&E, power consumption, rebate, Storage Systems
Data Domain, Avamar and ExaGrid all report strong sales growth
Byte and Switch profiled three separate data deduplication vendors: Data Domain, Avamar and ExaGrid. Each is having a great quarter, with sales up significantly.
Dedupe is still young, but it’s accelerating fast into mainstream enterprise traffic.
Categories: Backup · Datacenter · Storage Systems
Tagged: Avamar, Byte and Switch, data deduplication, Data Domain, deduplication, EMC, ExaGrid
More content, more pixels, more copies, more channels
Gearlog reports that NBC will use a half a million gigabytes of disk storage to cover the Beijing Olympic games.
That’s right: 500 terabytes. A half petabye. For one event.
The new demands of digital video broadcasting
Why so much? Triple the hours of coverage of the 2004 Games, and many more channels (broadcast and web). I’m sure there’s a Digital HD multiplier in the equation as well.
NBC will use Omneon MediaDeck and MediaGrid servers and storage, and Seagate Barracuda ES hard drives to pull this off.
The strangest part: by the 2012 London Olympics, this solution will look quaint and seriously under-sized.
Categories: Business Solutions · Industry trends · Servers · Storage Systems
Tagged: Barracuda ES, Beijing, MediaDeck, MediaGrid, NBC, Olympics, Omneon, Seagate, video production
Seagate is backing up its pro-SSD words with “let’s get it done” actions
Anton Shilov at Xbit Labs reports that Seagate is co-chairing a JEDEC committee with Micron to develop SSD standards. Contrary to Anton’s comments, Seagate is on record as being pro-SSD.
Standardization will accelerate adoption of SSDs into the storage device world currently dominated by spinning disks. Having leaders from both worlds drive the standards means the job will get done right the first time.
For those with doubts about Seagate embracing a future that includes SSD, actions speak louder than words.
Categories: Industry trends
Tagged: Bill Watkins, Flash, JEDEC, Micron, Seagate, SSD, standards
According to Hugh, it’s the Porous Membrane
I started blogging to reach out to customers. I quickly learned that the biggest value for me wasn’t what I said but what I heard from readers and other bloggers. The process has brought fresh air into Seagate’s understanding of our customers – what they need, want, like, dislike, get bored with, can’t live without.
Here’s Hugh MacLeod’s take on why blogging pays off for businesses: the Porous Membrane.
Join the conversation! You’ll be amazed at how much you and your company will learn.
Categories: Random
Tagged: blogging, Hugh MacLeod, porous membrane, Seagate
Video surveillance drags massive storage wherever it goes
Dot Hill’s US Army contract reported by Byte and Switch points to a big increase in data collected and exploited by the military over the next few years. A key driver will be integration of surveillance data into battlefield and strategic decision making.
Sound familiar? The video surveillance data tsunami that has already washed over the Gaming industry has reached the military’s shore.
Look at video’s effect on casino storage:
A new universal storage need
Video surveillance is racing into the mainstream as well. This is a high growth, high capacity space to grow your storage business.
You don’t have to look far to participate – uh, your customers?
Categories: Storage Systems · Surveillance
Tagged: Byte and Switch, casino, Dot Hill, Surveillance, US Army, video surveillance
