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What is “Cloud Storage” Anyway?

Leed Geek Nurture

Josh Hoffman
What is “Cloud Storage” Anyway?

We’ve talked here before about the ubiquity – and arguably the overuse – of the term “cloud” as it applies to, well, pretty much everything. But when it comes to cloud storage, the distinction is pretty important. As Chuck Hollis – VP of Global Marketing and CTO at EMC – points out, cloud storage is more than just a big pile of disk. Mr. Hollis outlines three key ways in which cloud storage is more than just a collection of disk space: clouds are built differently, clouds are
operated differently, and clouds are consumed differently than traditional IT.

For more detail on each of these concepts, be sure to have a look at the rest of Mr. Hollis’s post, Can You Call a Big Pile of Disk “Cloud Storage”?

While I have you, if you find yourself free this Wednesday, October 14th at 1pm Eastern Time, please join me for a FREE WEBINAR entitled Best Practices in Business Continuity for SMBs, presented in conjunction with Open Road to Savings. This session will cover the
major principles of disaster planning and recovery for small and medium businesses. I hope you’ll be able to join us.

Industry News

Can You Call a Big Pile of Disk “Cloud Storage”?

What’s the difference between “cloud storage” and just a big pile of disk? Chuck Hollis – VP of Global Marketing and CTO at EMC – has a blog post this week that will explain what it really takes to build “cloud storage.”

What Is On The Horizon That Will Shape Storage Strategies Tomorrow?

Even in the current times, where budgets are under scrutiny due to the economic situation, the storage industry is not standing still. New technologies are constantly developed and companies need to decide which technologies will be of benefit to them in the long run. This article by Carla Arend, IDC Group, looks at some of the storage technologies that will shape storage strategies today and tomorrow.

Microsoft Finalizes Exchange 2010

Microsoft said this past week that it has finalized the code for Exchange 2010, the next version of its e-mail and communications server. Exchange 2010, which has been ahead of the rest of the Office family in development, becomes the first of the Office 2010 wave of products to be finished.

Virtualization Opens Up Opportunities for Cost-Effective BCDR Plans

Businesses rely on keeping people and information connected no matter where or when unplanned problems occur. With security top of mind for today’s IT decision makers, companies need a disaster/recovery plan that covers the systems, infrastructure and processes that prepare organizations for disruptive events to ensure critical data remains
securely stored.

Creative Ways to Trim Your IT Budget

While managing the books for your company may not be your day job (or anything close to your idea of a good time), in this economic climate, everyone is expected to contribute to cutting costs. Use the tips in this article to help identify ways to trim your IT budget
without cutting too close to the bone.

News from AppAssure

FREE WEBINAR – Best Practices in Business Continuity for SMBs

Join me this Wednesday, October 14th at 1pm EDT for this free webinar discussion disaster recovery and planning for small and medium businesses.

Use Storage More Efficiently

Some thoughts on the latest article from Storage magazine on a critical topic: making the most efficient use of your storage.

Free Utility: VHD Mount ShellExtension for Hyper-V

Just a quick reminder about the release of our VHD Mount ShellExtension – the first utility in our Hyper-V Toolset. This tool offers a library that mounts and unmounts VHD files using
the VDI interface or Windows PowerShell scripts available in Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7.

Finally this week, some questions answered by our favorite scripting geeks, The Microsoft Scripting Guys. Learn how to use a script to check for open TCP ports on a remote host, automatically generate a password based on a user’s name, and more. Every IT pro should have these scripting tools in their belt!

Have a great week,

-Josh

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