snl vendors predictions long - storagenewsletter · this poses a new challenge for organizations:...

MarketPredictionsfrom38vendorsJanuary2018

Companies:AvereSystems,C3DNA,Caringo,CloudEndure,Cloudian,

Cohesity,Coraid,DataCore,DatosIO,Datrium,DDNStorage,DriveScale,E8Storage,Elastifile,Hedvig,Igneous,Iguazio,Infinidat,iXsystems,Kaminario,Komprise,Minio,NetApp,NooBaaStorage,Panasas,Panzura,Portworx,PrimaryData,ProphetStor,Quantum,Qumulo,

Reduxio,Rubrik,SpanningCloudApps,StorONE,StrongBoxDataSolutions,VexataandWekaIO.

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2018VendorsPredictions 2

AvereSystemsScottJeschonek,DirectorofCloudSolutionsDanNydick,TechnicalDirectorCloudDominationSlashesCloudCostsandSlowsSpendingOnDataCenterInfrastructureNotsolongago,enterprisesaroundtheworldwerespendingover$140billiononon-premisesdatacentersystems.Butinthepastcoupleofyears,therapidadoptionofpublicandprivatecloudserviceshassparkedamajorreallocationofITbudgets.Enterprisesaremovingawayfromrelyingsolelyonon-premdatacentersystemsandareboostingspendingonITinfrastructurefordeploymentincloudenvironments.AccordingtoIDC,cloudservicesandinfrastructurewillreach$266billionin2021.Theavailabilityofcloudapplicationsinbusinessenvironmentshashelpedcreateacloud-basedworkforce,makingitiseasierthaneverforemployeesorcontractorstoworkremotely.ThisisjustoneexampleofwhymorecompaniesareoperatingwithnolocalITinfrastructure.Cloudprovidershaverecognizedthisrelianceonthecloudandwebelievetheywillcontinuetofocusonreducingthebarrierstomigratingtothecloudintheyearahead.Morecompanieswillpullfromtheirdatacenterbudgetsandapplythefundstobuildingcloud-readybusinessapplicationsandimprovingsecurity.Also,basedonthecompetitivenatureoftoday’stopcloudvendors,theoverallcoststructureofthecloudisexpectedtocontinuegoingdown.MoreRobustCloudSecurityBoostsConfidenceinUsingtheCloudWorriesaboutdatasecurityhavemademanyenterpriseshesitanttostoresensitiveIPinapubliccloudenvironment.Buttheincreasingsophisticationofinternetattackshavemadeitalmostimpossiblefornon-expertstokeeptheircorporatenetworksandserverssecure.Toprotectdata,weexpectmorewillingnessfororganizationstomovetheirsensitiveIPtothecloudtoleveragethesecurityinfrastructureandexpertiseofthemajorcloudproviders.Thisposesanewchallengefororganizations:protectingdatafromthecloudprovidersthemselvesandsecuringdataasitflowstoandfromthecloud.Weexpecttoseecloudvendorsincreaseeffortstoimproveorganizations’confidenceinthesecurityoftheirdatainthecloud.Whatwillthislooklike?Weexpecttoseemoreabilityforuserstomanagedatasecurityinthecloud.Thiswillincludeexpandingaccesstofeaturesthatprotectsensitivedata,suchasuserspecifiedencryptionkeys,securekeystorageappliances,encryptionofnetworktraffic,andencryptionofdataatrest.Additionally,webelievecloudvendorsareputtingeffortintodevelopingradicallynew(butcurrentlyimmature)technologiestosecurelyoperateondata,suchashomomorphiccryptography.Homomorphiccryptographyallowsanentity(suchasthecloud)todosearchesandcomputationsonencrypteddata,withoutneedingthekeysoraccesstotheplaintext.Thiswillallowcustomerstousethecloudforcomputationwithoutgrantingthecloudvendoranyaccesstotheactualdata.CloudComputing=MoreServerlessTechandHostedServicesOrganizationsoftenspendsignificanttimeandeffortmanagingcomputeinfrastructure,acostwhichisnotcentraltotheirmission.Nolongerhavingtomanagethisinfrastructurehasalwaysbeenoneofthemainbenefitsofmovingapplicationstothepubliccloud.Thecloudvendorsareprovidingincreasinglyhighlevelmanagedservicesthatallowcustomerstoconcentrateontheirmissionwithoutneedingtobedistractedbymanagementofvirtualmachines,webserversordatabases.We'llseeincreasinguseofhosted,scalablewebservices(suchasGoogleAppEngineandAWS'sBeanstalk)andofserverlesstechnologiessuchasAWSLambdaandGoogleCloudFunctionsasamorecost-effectivewaytomanageanddeploycomplexenterpriseapplications.Weexpectthecloudvendorstocontinuetheprogressiontohigherlevelmanagedservices,suchasfullymanageddistributeddatabases(GoogleCloudSpanner),andnewabilitiesforthirdpartiestosellapplicationshostedinthepubliccloud(AzureManagedApps).Myth:TheFileSystemisDeadThedeathofthefilesystemandnetworkfilesystem(NFS)hasbeengreatlyexaggerated.In2018,wewillcontinuetoseescenarioswhereorganizationswanttogoallinonthecloud,buttheystillhavefile-basedapplicationson-prem.Inmanycompaniestoday,peoplewhohaveexistingworkflowsusingfilesdon’tbothermakingthemovetothecloud.Inordertoreapthebenefitsofcloud,organizationsmustgoallinonthecloud.

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LifeSciencesandExplosiveGrowthinCentralizedResearchHubsWe’reseeingexplosivegrowthincentralizedresearchhubs,wherekeyinstitutionsareevolvingintoServiceProviders.Theecosystemscreatedbysuchinstitutions/organizationsofferresourcestootherorganizationsthatmaynotbeabletoaffordtheirown.Onekeyexampleistheever-increasingthroughputofsequencingtechnology.Today,asequencercanhandlemultiplesequencingjobssimultaneously,dramaticallyincreasingthecapability.Thesesequencersarestillexpensive,andsoalargerorganizationmayhavemultipleunits.Justasthepubliccloudsdo,aLifeScienceServiceProvidercandistributethecostofoperationsbyofferingsequencingandpost-sequencinganalyticsservicestodownstreamorganizations.Thedownstreamorganizationsbenefitbyleveragingbest-of-breedtechnologieswithouthavingtoabsorbtheentirecapitalexpense.Combined,theecosystemendsupgeneratingmassiveamountsofdata.Mostsignificantly,someoftheseServiceProvidershavebegunlookingtousingthepubliccloudastheiranalyticanddistributionlayer.Thepubliccloudoffersconnectivityandon-demandcomputationalcapabilitiesthataresimplytooexpensiveforasingleinstitutetoscaleeffectively.Thisway,adownstreamcustomercansendrawmaterialforsequencingtotheServiceProvider,whointurnmaymakethesequencedoutputavailableinthecloud.Fromthere,thedownstreamcustomercaneitherchoosetoacquirethesequencedoutputandanalyzeitlocally,orcouldleverageon-demandcomputationassetstoruntheiralignmentandvariantpipelinedirectlyinthecloud.C3DNARaoMikkilineni,InterimCEOVirtualPrivateDatacenterandworkloadmobilitywillunifyPublicandPrivateCloudsMigrationofmissioncriticalcoreworkloadssuchasOracledatabasestackwillmovetoahybridwithOraclecloudasaeasyhome2018willbeallaboutapplicationsandtheirmanagementandnotaboutinfrastructureandit’smanagementCaringoAdrianHerrera,VPMarketingTheEuropeanUnion(EU)GeneralDataProtectionRegulation(GDPR)andMoreMajorBreachesIntoday’sdigitalworld,itshouldcomeasnosurprisethatransomwareandmajorsecuritybreacheswillcontinuetooccur.LawmakersaroundtheworldwillcontinuetopasslegislationlikeGDPRinresponse.In2018compliancewithGDPRandtheneedtorespondtosecuredatabreacheswilltakeITexecsbysurpriseofferinganopportunityforthoseinthedatamanagementandstoragespacetoprovidetechnologiesthatcanquicklyidentifypersonalandsensitivedatastored.TheMetadataDelugedrivenbyArtificialIntelligence(AI),MachineLearning(ML)andIoTwillAccelerateAsAI,MLandIoTapplicationscontinuetobecomepartofthemainstream,thedataaboutinteraction,analysisandconsumerbehaviorwillincreaseexponentially.StoragetechnologiesthatintegrateNoSQLsearchwillhelpbyenablingorganizationstocaptureeverythingtheywant,withoutdefiningaschemaforfuture,butyet-to-be-defineduse.MajorBrandswillContinuetoMoveOffofAWSasAmazonContinuestoDominateManyIndustriesWhileS3isseenbymanyasadefactoAPIforinternetaccessiblestorage,therewillbemorepopularbrandsinthebrickandmortar,M&EandwebapplicationspacemovingoffofAWS.ThebenefitthatAWSbroughtbystreamliningoperationsandreducingtimetomarketwillbeovershadowedbythethreatotherAmazonbusinessunitsrepresenttomanyorganizations’primarybusiness.ThiswillnotimpactAWS’soverallgrowthbutIpredictsomehighlyvisiblemigrationstoAzureandamovebysometobringthemoststrategicoperationsandnear-linearchivesin-house.

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CloudEndureGilShai,CROWewillseeashiftoftraditionalDRaaSproviderswhoarecurrentlyusingtheirowndatacentersandprivatecloudslookingtosellofftheirdatacentersandoffertheirservicesusingpubliccloudinfrastructureinordertoreducecapitalandoperationalcosts.ThepubliccloudmarketwillcontinuetoconsolidatewherethecurrentleadersAWS,GCPandAzurewillbejoinedbypubliccloudprovidersfromAsia,likeAlibabaCloud.ThesmallproviderswillcontinuetodisappearThetransitiontoCloudDisasterRecoverywillcontinuetostrengthenandmoreandmoreenterpriseswillmovetheirdisastersitetothepubliccloudforthebenefitsofcost,flexibilityandvisibility(vs.anonpremisedisastersite).WewillalsostarttoseeCloudtoCloudDisasterRecoveryCloudianGaryOgasawara,VPEngineering2017sawmanychanges:explodingdatagrowthinstoragedrivenbyAI/ML/DLanddata-intensiveformats,theriseincloudstorageasaservice,andthedeclineofflashmemoryprices.In2018,Ibelievewe’regoingtoseeanincreaseinorganizationstakingadvantageofobjectstorageforstructured/taggeddataandwe’llseeobjectstoragecreatingstructured/taggeddatafromunstructureddata;metadatawillbeusedtodigoutfromtheavalancheofdatageneratedbyartificialintelligence;andasdatavolumesexplode,organizationswillstartadoptingneweconomically-friendlystoragestrategies.Objectstorageforstructured/taggeddata,andobjectstoragecreatingstructured/taggeddatafromunstructureddata,willbeincreasinglyimportantTherecentpastsawanexplosionofanalyticstechnologyasbusinessesdemandedtoolstounlockinsightsfromtheirvastandgrowingsetsofdata.Nowthatthosetoolsareavailable,thependulumwillswingbacktothedemandsideoftheequationandforcebusinessestopaymoreattentiontocollection,managementandstorageofthatincreasinglyvaluabledata.Theamountofdatathatbusinessesarecollectingisspiking–witnessIntel’sstatementlatelastyearthattheaveragecarwillgenerate4000GBofdataperhourofdriving.Butit’snotjusttherawdatathat’scausingthespike.Emergingdataformatsarecausingaspike,too,aswecollectmoreunstructureddata-thinkofthevideocapturedbyaTeslaandsharedwiththecompany.Inordertousethisdata,youhavetounderstandit.Thatneedforrapidunderstandingisdrivingaspikeindatataggingandanassociatedspikeinthecollectionofmetadata.Asdatavolumeincreases,thevalueofstructuredortaggeddataincreasesdisproportionatelytothevalueofunstructureddata.Thisdataiscollectedbysensorsofvarioustypes–wearandusesensorsbuiltintomachines,videoandradarrecordersandtransmittersincars,andmedicalequipmentthatcapturespatienthealthinformation,forexample.Asthatdata-anditsassociatedmetadata-isleveragedforbusinessadvantage,it’slikelytospawnevenmoredata.Asbusinessesanalyzetheseenormousdatasets,theywillstarttoidentifyadditionaldatatypesthatcouldleadtofurthercorrelationsandadditionalbusinessadvantages,whichwilljustifythedeploymentofmoresensorstounderstandmoreaboutthereal-worldexperiencesofcustomers.Thedatafromthesesensorswillgenerateincreasedneedforgreaterstoragecapacityandadvanceddatastoragemanagement,whichwillleadtomoreinsightsandmoresensors,andonaton.We’reatthebeginningofacycleinwhichbusinesseswillstrivetounderstandmoreabouttheircustomersdigitally,anditwillincreasethestrainonITtokeepgrowingstorageinfrastructureswhilepreservingtheusefulnessofthedata.AIwillTriggeranAvalancheofData–AndHelpDigOutfromIt,withtheHelpofMetadataBusinessistakingadvantageofarangeofnewtechnologies–artificialintelligence,high-qualityvideo,InternetofThings,analyticsandmore.Thethreethingsallthesetechnologieshaveincommonisthatthey

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arealldata-intensive,andtheydemandever-greaterstoragecapacity-andtheywilldependontaggeddatatofunctionmosteffectively.Itdoeslittlegoodtostorevastamountsofdataifyouhavenowaytoaccesswhatyouneedtoretrieve,orifyoudon’thaveanyideaofwhichdataassetsexistinthefirstplace.Metadataisthekeytoextractingvaluefromthedata.Structured/taggeddataareatypeofmetadata,ormodelofthedata.Themetadataandmodelsareahigher-levelofabstractionbeyondtherawobjectdataandarerequiredforanalytics.Withoutmetadata,theunstructureddatacapturedbydataformatslikevideobecomesanunsearchableliabilityinsteadofanasset.Withmetadata,thedatacanbenavigated,analyzed,understoodandputtouse.Agoodexampleofthisisinthemanagementofvideoassets;mediaandentertainment,surveillanceandsecurity,andevenautomotiveusesofvideoareincreasingdramatically.Butit’snotreasonabletoexpectyouremployeestowatchendlesshoursofvideoinsearchofthesingleclipyouneed.Instead,facialrecognitionsoftwarebuiltonAIwillbeusedtosiftthroughtensofthousandsofhoursofmaterialtotagrecognizedfaces,meaningthatwhentheneedarisesit’sasimpletasktolocatejusttherightclipofclips.AsAI/MLgeneratesandusesmetadataandmodels,systemsthatcanefficientlyandeffectivelymanagethemetadataandmodelsbecomecritical.AIwillbecomeanindispensabletoolforfindingthemostvaluabledatawithinenormousdatasets.EconomicsWillForceBusinessestoAdoptNewStorageStrategiesasDataVolumesExplodeNotonlyisdataatremendouslyvaluableasset,butbusinessesarecreatingmoreofit,fasterthaneverbefore.Thatmeansthatbusinessesmustinvestinnewstrategiesforsafeguardingandprotectingdata–butatthesametime,theyhavetostoredataineconomicallyresponsibleways.That’snotaseasyasitmightsound.Configurabledatapoliciesthatcontrolhowthedataarestoredonceinsideastoragesystemwillbecomecritical.Thesedatapoliciescancontrolthedurability,cost,availability,andotherpropertiesofthedataaccordingtodynamicoptimizationcriteria.Asimpleexampleismovingdatafromhottocoldstorage.Buttheoptimizationcriteriaarecontinuouslyvariable,andcanreflecttradeoffsbasedonbusinesspriorities.Forexample,ausermaywanttotradedatadurabilityforlowercost.Oneoftheparadoxesofdatastorageisthatthemoreyoustoreinprimarystorage,themoreperunitofstorageitcosts.Thatwasbearablewhenaterabytewasconsideredalotofstorage,buttodaymostlargebusinesseshavemultiplepetabytesofdataundermanagement.Isitaffordabletokeepitallinprimarystorage?Orisitsmartertolookforsecurearchivingcombinedwithadvancedsearchtoolstokeepdatacostsdownwhilemakingsureyoucanfindthedatawhenyouneedit?Theconceptoftieredstoragehasexistedfor20years,butitwasdeemedanunnecessaryexpenseasdiskstoragepricestumbledintheearly2000s.In1995,storagecostsforaGBofdatawerearound$1000.Withinfiveyears,thecostperGBplummetedtolessthan10centsperGB,andtodayitcostsaround3centsperGB.Therewasnoneedtoinvestinstoragemanagement–drivecapacitywassoinexpensivetherewasnoreasontoconsiderit.Today,however,thevolumeofdataisflippingtheeconomicformulaonitshead.Storagepricesthatonceseemednegligiblearenowlookinglikelessofabargainsincetheamountofdatastoredissoenormous.Theseeconomicfactorswillpromptbusinessestorevisittheseoldstrategiesinthecomingyear.Harkeningbacktothepastiseasierforacoupleofreasons:thatarchiveddataismuchmorequicklyavailabletoday,andsearchtechnologyhascomeaverylongway,allowingarchiveddatatobeexaminedaseasilyasdatainprimarystorage.

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CohesityMohitAron,CEODatacentreswillcontinuetoshrink,throughtheapplicationofhyperconvergencetoboththeprimaryandsecondarystoragepartsofthedatacentreIbelievethiswillapplyacrosstheboardtoalltypesofusersandusecases.Themainreasonisthathyperconvergedsystemsareeasiertomanage,theytakelesspowerandspace,andarelesscostly.Ioftenusethesmartphoneanalogy,comparingthesedevicestohyperconvergedsystems,anddrawingaparallelwithwhathappenedintheconsumerworldwithsmartphones.Beforethesesmartphones,weallusedtocarryseparateitems,notably,aphone,amusicplayer,acamera,aGPSdevice,aflashlight,acalculatoretc.Then,thesmartphonecameandconsolidatedallofthatonasingleplatform,asingledevice.Ifyouwanttotaketheanalogyfurther,thedatacentreisthebagyouwouldneedtostorealloftheseparatedevices,thatyoudon’tneedanymorewiththesmartphone!Itcanjustgoinyourpocket.Hyperconvergenceisdoingthesamethingtothevarioussilo'dworkflowsinadatacentre,andovertimeitwillmaketheneedforcentraliseddatacentresobsolete.Notonlywilldatacentresshrinkinsize,butinthenextfiveyears,wewillbegintoseechangingdatacentremodelsThankstoedgecomputing,evenIoTdeviceswillbecomeminidatacentres.Thiscan’tbedonewithouthyperconvergence.Inatraditionaldatacentre,youhaveIUor2Uor3U–inracks.Inaself-drivingcarforexample,youdon’thaveracks,butstill,theIoTdevicethatisthisautonomousvehicle,isbasicallyamobiledatacentre.Moreandmore,theformfactorofdatacentreswillbedifferent,andtherewon’tbeaone-sizedfitsallstrategy.Thesechangeswillmakeitpossibletohaveholisticdesignsandmodels,perfectlyfitforspecificneeds.Consolidatedbackupapplianceswillbecomemainstream-thetraditionalpracticeofputtingtogetherenterprisebackupsolutionsbyusingmultiplesilo'dsolutionsfrompotentiallymultiplevendorswillbefrowneduponWithCohesity,westartedthistrend,butnowthestorageincumbentsarerespondingwithsimilarapproaches.Iexpectothervendorswillfollowtoo.Thereasonthistrendwillbebiggerismainlybecauseofthesimplicityoftheapproach.RatherthanputtingtogetherasolutionbybuyingproductsfromdifferentvendorsandmanagingthemusingdifferentlicensesandUIs,customersjustfinditsimplertodealwithoneconsolidatedsolution.CoraidBrantleyCoile,CEOIt'sgoingtobeaveryinterestingyear.Itismy40thyearinthebusinessandI'veseenalot,butI'veneverseenthekindofchangesthataregoingonnow.There'salotIseeinmyfoggedupcrystalball.ButifIhavetopickthetopthree,itwillhavetobethefollowing:CiscowilltakesitselfprivateWithshrinkingrevenues,Robbinswillpullenoughcashtogetherandgetthecompanyoutofharmswayofrenegadeshareholders.Myoldalmamaterismakinggoodmoneybuttherevenueforenterpriseproductsareonthedecline.Toavoidashareholderrevolt,andtheCEOrevolvingdoordisasterthatwouldfollow,thecompanywillfollowMikeyDell'slead.Asaprivatecompanyitwillhappilycreatewealthforthenextfortyyears.PureStoragewillbeboughtbyCiscoSystemsIhavezeroinsideinsightonthisone.Butit'sanaturalforCiscototakePurewithitasitgoesprivate.GiancarloknowshowtofixoperationslikePure,and,beingthepastheirapparenttotheCiscothrone,heknowshowtobuildanorganizationthatwillfitsmoothyintothebigenterprisecompany.MoreandmorestoragestartupswillfollowCoraid'sleadandavoidventuremoneyNoVC.NoIPO.Notforsale.WithEMC,Dell,andCISCOprivate,theneedtoboostonestoplinebyacouplehundredmillionisn'tneededanymore.Moneyloosing,VCfundedstoragestartups,publicornot,havea

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verylimitedmarket.Justlikemostofhistory,newcompanieswillhavetomakeaprofitearlyandgrowonprofits.Thecustomersarethebigwinnershere.Companiesrunbythesamepeopleoveralongperiodoftimecreatebettertechnologies,evolvebetteroperations,andjustdon'tstopservingtheircustomerswithbetterandcheaperproducts.Historyisfullofexamples.DataCoreGeorgeTeixeira,CEOThisnewAgeofDigitalTransformationrequiresReal-TimeResponseandthereforeSoftware-DefinedTechnologiesbecomeessentialtoreducedisruptionDigitalTransformationcanbehighlydisruptive.Intoday’s24x7businessenvironment,real-timeresponserateswillbecomeevenmoreparamounttocustomerexperience.Thisisadrivingfactorbehindthedigitaltransformationinitiativesformanyorganizations.Today’senterprisesaredemandingsimplicityandsoftware-definedagility;ultimately,theywanttomakeinfrastructureinvisible,movetomorecloud-likeservicemodelsanddealwithrunningtheirbusinessesandcoreapplicationsversusgettingboggeddownwithinthecomplexityoftheunderlyinginfrastructure,hard-wiringsystemsordrowninginthedetailsofrunningIToperations.However,digitaltransformationcanbebothexpensiveanddisruptive.CEOscan’tdriveoperationalsavingsfastenoughtofunditandwanttobecarefulabouterodingprofitmargins.Thereisamorepracticalapproachtodigitaltransformation:adoptingahybridapproachthatmaximizescurrentITinvestmentswithsoftware-definedsolutionswhilesuccessfullyevolvingandbuildingoutdigitaltransformationinitiatives.Inmoreinfrastructure-relatedareaslikedatastorage,wherecomplexityandthedegreeofITintegrationisincreased,thepowerofnextgenerationsoftware-definedandhyperconvergedstorageapproachescangreatlysimplifyandautomatetheprovisioning,managementandorchestrationofresourcesanddataaccess.Asmartsoftware-definedapproachavoidsthe“ripandreplace”hardware-mindedmodelsofthepasttobettersupportdigitaltransformationbymakingtheinfrastructuremoreinvisibletotheapplicationsandusers.Movingforward,thesenewandmorepowerfulsoftware-definedtechnologieswillbesupportiveofmoderncloud-likeinterfacesandtechnologieslikecontainers,makingthemveryadaptabletosupportthisdigitaltransformationmodel.Applicationworkloadsespeciallythosebuiltoncriticaldatabasesneedtobemoreresponsiveasbusinessbecomesreal-time.However,changesandoptimizationstodatabasesandespeciallytheirassociatedlegacyapplicationworkloadscanbeverydisruptiveaffairs.Therefore,newsolutionsareouttherethatcantakeadvantageofinnovationslikeparallelI/Ocannowbedownloadedtoallow“plugandplay”self-tuningsoftwarethatrequiresnoprogrammingorhardwarechangesandyetincreaseperformanceandimproveresponsetimes.DataCoreasanexampleisworkingdiligentlytodelivermoreofthesetypeof‘non-disruptive’solutionstoawiderrangeofapplicationsandusecasesin2018.It’saHybridCloudWorld–Software-definedsolutionsarethebridgeDespitetheever-growingpopularityofthecloud,therewillalwaysbeaneedforon-premisetechnology.Someapplicationsalsofacelargerobstaclesinmovingtothecloud;latency,intermittentconnectivity,andregulationrequirementsbeingprimaryexamples.Asaresult,hybridcloudtechnologieswillcontinuetogrowinimportancein2018andbeyond.Fundamentally,hybridcloudapplicationscanhelpenterprisesmoreeffectivelyachievemission-criticalbusinessobjectivessuchasacceleratingresponsetimesandprovidingmoreefficientdisasterrecoveryascriticaldataiscontinuouslyreplicatedwithinthisquickly-deployablehybridcloudconfiguration.Theinfrastructure,whetherlocatedon-premiseorinthecloud,needstobecomeinvisible.Datacanbeanywhere,andaccessandresponsivenesstomeetcustomerexpectationsdrivewhatmatters.Software-definedsolutionsarekeytobridgingtheseworlds.

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MakingInfrastructureInvisible:Software-DefinedandHyperconvergedBecomeHybrid-ConvergedIDCforecaststhatthesoftware-definedstoragemarketwillgrowatarateof13.5%from2017-2021,growingtoa$16.2Bmarketbytheendoftheforecastperiod.Software-definedisthebridgetodigitaltransformationthatunifiesoldandnewtechnologies.Itmakesunderlyingchangesinvisibletotheapplicationsonwhichorganizationsdepend.Nextgenerationsoftware-definedstoragesolutionswillcontinuetheirmomentumastheybridgethegapbetweencomplicatedlegacyinfrastructureandmodern“invisible”storageinfrastructureneeds.However,whilethemovetogreatervirtualizationhasmadethedatacentermoreagileandeasiertodeploy,itcamewiththepriceofgreatercomplexity.AtDataCore,havinghadauniqueindustryvantagepointwherewehaveseentheevolutionofsoftware-definedstorageoverthepast20years,whatisobviousisthatITteamscannolongerdealwiththedifferentsilostomanagetheirresourcesanddealwithallofthecomplexityanddetailsinvolved.Software-definedarchitectureistheessentialbridge,notonlyacrossdeploymentmodelalternatives,butalsobetweenon-premisesandcloudinfrastructures.ButITwillneedhelpfromtechnologiessuchasautomationandmachinelearningtotakesoftware-definedstoragetothenextlevel.Nextgenerationsoftware-definedstoragewithitsemphasisonanalytics,automationandlow-latencyperformancetosupportdataanywheremodelsiscriticaltogettingcomplexityundercontrolandbreakingthechainstoallowgreaterfreedomofmobilityfromprivateclouds,tomulti-sitecloudsandthepubliccloud.Ahotsegmentofthesoftware-definedstorage(SDS)marketoverthelastfewyearshasbeenhyperconvergedstorage.DataCoreitselfhasseenwellover60%growthratesinitshyper-convergedsolutionsoverthelastyearalone.In2018,hyperconvergenceandSDSwillblurtheirlines,andhyperconvergencewillbecomeasubsetofanoverallsoftware-definedmodelwherecustomerscanhavetheflexibilitytochoosehowtodeploy,whetheronphysicalhardware,virtualmachines,onappliances,orinthecloud.Theendresultisstilloptimizingbusinessproductivityandagility.Thetwomethodswillcontinuetoblendintomoreofa“hybrid-converged”modelthatispartofalargercontinuumofinfrastructuremodernizationandconvergence,anduserswillbeabletoeasilymoveamongdeploymentoptions–fromstoragevirtualization,throughconverged/serverSAN,tohyperconverged,tocloud,tohybrid-converged–allunderthecontrolofaunifiedmanagementplanespanningexistinglegacyinfrastructureandnewhybrid-convergedinfrastructure,withthesoftware-definedflexibilitytoabsorbfuturetechnologies.DatosIOPeterSmails,VPMarketingandBusinessDevelopmentMulti-CloudGoesMainstreamToenabletheirdigitaltransformations,enterprisesareincreasinglymovingawayfromphysicalinfrastructuretothecloudandin2018thatmigrationwillincreasinglybemarkedbyamulti-cloudapproach.Thisshiftisevidencedbypubliccloudprovidersallreportingstronggrowth,ledbyAWSwhoreported$18Brevenuerun-rateand42%growth!However,ratherthanrelyingononecloudprovider,companiesareusingmultiplecloudsfordifferentworkloadstoachievebenefitssuchasavoidingcloudlock-in,enhancingfunctionalityandimprovingcost.Tosupportthisshifttomulti-cloudandhybrid-cloudarchitectures,legacysolutionswillincreasinglybereplacedbynewstorageanddatamanagementsolutionsthatprovideelastic,scalable,cloud-nativecapabilitiesandhelpenterprisesacceleratetheirdigitaltransformations.Non-RelationalDatabasesDominatetheHybridCloudWorldThebiggestdatabaseeventfor2017wastheMongoDBIPOrepresentingstrongmarketvalidationthatnon-relationaldatabasesarebecomingthelinguafrancaofdatainthehybridcloudworld.InthenewYear,thisnewbreedofmoderndatabasesincludingDynamoDB,DataStax,andCouchbasewillcontinuetosolidifytheirpositionsasthestandardplatformformodernapplications.

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DataAwareDataManagementBecomesTableStakesOnMay25in2018,GDPR,themostsweepingchangetodataprotectioninthepast20years,willgointoeffect.Underthenewsetofregulations,bothU.S.andEuropeancompanieswillneedtodemonstratecompliancewhenitcomestomanaging,storingandsharingdata–nomatterhowmassivethedatasets.OneofthebiggestissuesnextyearwillbeGDPRArticle17enablingusers’righttobeforgotten,whichwillincreasedemandforstorageanddatamanagementsolutionsthataredata-aware.Whetherit’sapplication-specificbackupandrecoverytoprotectagainstransomware,orintelligentquery-baseddatamovementtosupporttest/dev,CI/CD,orGDPRinitiatives,organizationswillrequiredatamanagementsolutionsthataredataawareandenablethemtoprotect,mobilize,andmonetizetheirdataacrossanycloudboundaries.DatriumBrianBiles,CEOHybridcloudmaturesThehybridcloudmarketisquicklymaturingasleadingHCIvendorsinvestindisasterrecovery(DR)automationthatrunsacrossonpremiseandcloudinfrastructures.Forexample,VMwareisincreasinginvestmentinSiteRecoveryManagerforDRautomationandorchestrationwithVMwareCloud.NutanixispromisingDRautomationwiththeirXiDRservice.Datriumwillreleasemarketleadingmulti-cloudDRautomationin2018thatwillgrowtocomplementitsnew,hyper-efficientCloudDVXonAWS.Thesumofalltheseadvancementswillacceleratethehybridcloudmarkettoevenhighergrowthratesandmaturity.IoTinfrastructurechallengespushITinfrastructurelimitsIoTrequiresITinfrastructuretoingestmulti-petabytedatasetsandthenimmediatelymakethedataavailableforanalysisatalargescale.IoTsoftwarefromPTCThingworx,SAPHANA,andCiscoSystemsoftenstruggletofindmoderninfrastructurethatcanmeettheirdemandingrequirements;thisdatamustbecapturedandprocessedefficiently.DatriumDVXisdesignedtosatisfythesehyperscaledemandswithbothoptimizedwritethroughputtoscaleoutdatanodesandmaximumreadperformancefromthecomputenodes,socustomerscangainthebenefitsofIoT.PrimaryandbackupstorageconvergeManycompanieshaveattemptedtocombineprimaryandbackupstorageintoasinglecostoptimizedsystem.Todate,nonehavesucceeded,butleadingHCIprovidersarestilltryingasweenter2018.VMwareoutlinedtheirplanstomovetowardconvergingprimaryandbackupatarecentVMworld2017session.Cohesitysuggestscustomerscanrunnon-criticalworkloadsliketrest/dev,archive,andanalyticsagainsttheirbackupstorage.Simplivity’scustomersurveyfound51%oftheirbuyersretiredtheirbackuprecoveryinfrastructureafterinstallingSimplivityappliances.Withsimplerscalabilityandalways-onerasurecoding,compression,anddedupe,Datriumhasconvergedprimaryandbackupstoragebyleveragingserver-basedflash,advanceddatamanagementsoftwareandcostoptimizedcapacity;activedataIOprocessinghappensinserverflashwhilealldatacopieslanddirectlyonscaleoutbackupstorage.Indeed2018willbeabreak-outyearfortheconsolidationofprimaryandbackupdata.BlockchainfindsitswayintomainstreamITinfrastructureManyITinfrastructureproviders,bothsmallandlarge,areleveragingblockchaintechnologytoimprovetheirproductsand,asanexample,securetheidentityofonlineconsumersandservices.IdentitymanagementcompanyOktaisworkingtohelpstreamlinecumbersomeandexpensiveIdentityProofingflowsleveragingblockchain.Datriumisalsoapplyingblockchainconceptstoverifytheintegrity,locationandsecurityofthedataacrosstheDVXsystem.

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DDNStoragePaulBloch,CEO

DatagetsshiftedupanotherrungoftheladderandmovestothetoptableforenterprisesThebusinesscoreofglobalenterprisesandtheirITdepartmentswillbedrivenclosertogetherbythecompetitiveadvantagesofAnalyticsandIoT.HPCandAIgetmarriedLotsofpotentialforHPCapplicationsandneuralnetstoworktogetherandsubtlyshiftourthinkingofwhatEXAScalelookslike.2017sawthestartofNVMeintostoragemarkets2018willseeNVMegomainstreamandrequirementsforSpeciallybuiltappliancestodeliverperformanceforspecificapplications.DriveScaleGeneBanman,CEOSoftwareComposableInfrastructureBecomestheNewITMandateIn2018,moreorganizationswillmovetowardSoftwareComposableInfrastructure(SCI)tomanageenterprise-scaledatacenterassetswithexistinginfrastructure–providingorganizationswithpubliccloudflexibilityaswellasthesecurityandcostsavingsofanon-premisesolution.Asdataprojectscontinuetoscaleinfinitely,cost-effectivestorageandcomputewillbecomemorecriticaltoacompany’soverallefficiencyandbottomline.CompaniesDon’tBecomeGlobal,TheyStartGlobalTheglobaleconomyisnotgoingaway.Thatmuchisclear.Whatwewillstarttoseein2018istheideaofcreatingaglobalbusinessatacompany’sinception.Rightnow,alargeportionofstartupsfocusmost,ifnotall,oftheireffortsontheU.S.andNorthAmerica.WithsuchalargeconcentrationofcompaniesinSiliconValley,organizationswillturntheirattentionstootherareasoftheworldearlierintheirevolutionandwithmorevigorsoasnottolimitstartupmomentumandpotentialgrowth.E8StorageZivanOri,CEOTheNVMeprotocolwillbecomethestandardforsolidstatedrivesovertimeSingleport2.5"andPCIecardformfactorshavealreadybeenincorporatedintoserverofferingsfromallmajorvendors,withhigherperformancethanSATAfornearlyequal$/GB.Dualport2.5"formfactorSSDswilldrivetheadoptionofNVMeinstoragesystems,andadoptionwillaccelerateasthe$/GBapproachesthatofSASSSDs.Togoalongwiththat,variousstandardsareemergingtosupporttheNVMeprotocolovervarioustransportmediums(RoCE,Infiniband,FC,etc).EarlyvariantsofthestandardshavealreadybeenbroughttomarketbyemergingstoragevendorssuchasE8Storage.However,2018willseebroaderdeploymentofNVMecompliantofferingsfromabroaderrangeofvendors.HighspeedEthernetcontinuestooutpaceotherstorageprotocols,andwillincreaseasdatatrafficisincreasinglymovedtoEthernetInfrastructurehardwaresuchasnetworkadaptersandswitchescapableof200GbEwereintroducedin2017,andfielddeploymentsshouldbeginin2018enterprisedatacentersupdatetheirnetworks.TheintroductionofveryhighcapacitySSDsin2016and2017,aswellasthecontinuedcostreductioncurve(2016supplyshortagesnotwithstanding)arefuelingthetransitionofallflasharraysfromnicheapplicationstogeneralpurposecomputingacrossthedatacenters.ManyworkloadspreviouslyrunonHDDareeithermovingtoallflasharrays,oralternativelymovingtocloudbasedservices.

StorageNewsletter


ElastifileAmirAharoni,CEOTheRiseofHybridITGladiatorsManycompaniesbigandsmallarearmingthemselvesrightnowfordeadlycompetitiveadvantagethroughtrulydynamichybridcloudworkflows.In2018wewillseetheanewwaveofbattlesinthearena,acceleratingthebusinessprocessesacrossacombinationofon-premandon-cloudresourcesformaximumagilityatthelowestcost.ThesenewHybridITweaponsincludecloud-burstingfortemporarypeakcapacities,workflowsthatapplyon-cloudcomputeorspecializedGPUresourcesbeforemovingbackon-prem,andintegrativeanalyticsthatdynamicallypulldataacrosssites,clouds,andserviceproviders.WeseethesegladiatorsmovingaggressivelyinFinTech,Oil&Gas,LifeSciences,Media&Entertainment,andmore.Andeventhoughdatahaschainedthemdowninthepast,itcannowbetheirsharpestswordwithnewdatafabricsolutions..."Strengthandhonor!"(MaximusDecimusMeridius,Gladiator)EnterpriseEggsinMulti-CloudBasketsAscustomerslearnthelessonsoftheirinitialforaysintoclouddeployments,theyaremovingdecisivelytomulti-sourcedcloudIaaS(andavoidingthenewestincarnationofvendorlock-in).Mostenterpriseswillhaveatleastdual-sourcecloudserviceprovidersthattheywillleverageon-demandaspricing,location,features,orregulatorypreferencesdictate.Thiswillbecomestandardin2018withmainstreamsolutionsformulti-cloudappanddataportability,standards,DR,regulatorycompliance,andeveneffectivehackstothedreadedegressfees..."Donotputallyoureggsinonebasket"(WarrenBuffett,TheOracleofOmaha).TheProdigalSonReturnsAfteryearsofmisadventurestryingtogetcriticalappstoberefactoredandmeethigherSLAsforperformance-sensitiveworkloads,objectstoragewillcomehome,asanintegratedpartofmoreholisticfile&objectservicessolutions.Enterprisesaredemandingthison-cloudandon-prem,withnewSDSdistributedfilesystemsasthestandardfor"liftingandshifting"existingappstocloud(withoutrefactoringorcompromisedSLAs)andobjectstorageasanintegrated"cheapanddeep"tierforinactivedata.Everyoneisconverging--objectstoragevendorsareaddingfileservices,filesystemvendorsareaddingobjecttiering,andevenanalystslikeGartnerarecombiningtheirMagicQuadrantdefinitionstoincludebothtogether..."Thebackdoorbeckonstoaprodigalson"(MichaelDavidow,authorandattorney).HedvigAvinashLakshman,CEOTraditionalbackupvendorsfeeltheheatAsacloudmentalitybecomescommonplace,traditionalbackupsoftwareandhardwaresolutions–aplacewhereenterprisesspendsignificantsums–willlosesharefasterthaninthepast3-5years.Software-definedstorageanddistributedsystemsapproachesarenewtomanyorganizations,andthereforebackupisacomfortableplacetostart.Backupsolutionvendorsthathavebeenaroundforadecadeormorewillfinditchallengingtoholdtheirgroundagainstagilestartupsthatbringnewapproachestothedataprotectiongame.LikeDockerforcontainers,KubernetesbecomesthedefactocloudorchestratorIcouldeasilyhavemadethispredictionlastyearanditwouldbejustastrue.TherecentembraceofKubernetesacrosstheindustry–includingMicrosoftAzure,Docker,andMesosphereDC/OS–showsthattheopen-sourcecontainerorchestrationsystemhasprovenitseffectivenessinprovidingsimplerclouddeployment,betterscaling,andmoreefficientmanagement.ItisalreadybakedintoOpenShiftandotherprivatelabelsolutions.In2018,theITworldwillbecomeconversant,ifnotfluent,inKubernetes,itsconceptsandterminologyandstarttoexpandinsideenterprisesandclouds.ServerlesscomputingmakesagrandentranceWhileorganizationshavequicklybecomeaccustomedtotheideaofserversascloudinstances,whatiftherewerenoservers,andinsteadjustresourcesrentedtorunapplicationsandmicroservices?Serverlesscomputingpromisestoremovetheoverheadofprovisioning,scaling,andmanagingservers,allowingyoutofocusontheapplicationinsteadofinfrastructure.AWSLambdaisanexampleofthis

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approach.In2017mostoftheITworldhasbecomefamiliarwithEC2.In2018,Lambdawillbegintotakeitsplaceinourourcloudvocabularyandbecomedemystified.Thisisanothersteptowardcloudcomputingnirvana,andtomeitmakesalotofsense.IgneousSystemsStevePao,CMOAs2017drawstoaclose,we’rethinkingaboutwhat2018holdsforthedatabackupandarchiveindustry.Hereareourpredictionsfor2018.DatamanagementneedstoevolvetohandleunstructureddataUnstructuredfileandobjectdatastoragewillcontinuegrowingatafasterratethanunstructureddata.A2017IDCstudystatesthatunstructureddatagrowsatarateof29.8%,whilestructured,orblock,datagrowsatarateof19.6%.Thistrendwillcontinueasmoremodernapplicationsuseunstructuredfiledata.Thismeansthatcurrentdatamanagementstrategieswillneedtoevolvetobetterhandlelargeamountsofunstructureddata.ThedeathofsoftwareandtheriseofservicesWepredictthattheindustrywillmovetowardeverythingofferedas-a-service,ratherthan“software-defined.”By2020,80%ofsoftwarevendorswillchangetheirbusinessmodelfromtraditionallicenseandmaintenancetosubscription,accordingtoGartner.Wehaveseenthisshiftinbothenterpriseandpersonalsoftware;forexample,MicrosoftOfficeandAdobeCreativeCloudaredeliveredas-a-service.Whynothavetheimprovedinfrastructurethatcomeswithservicesinyourdatacenteraswellasinotherareasofbusinessandlife?Itwillbeessentialtofocusonservicesin2018,notjustsoftwareinthedatacenter.Thetraditional“headcountperpetabyte”ratiocannotscaleJobsinbackupwillkeepgrowingasdatagrows,butnotatthetraditional“headcountperpetabyte”ratio.WeaskedparticipantsinourfirstCrowdChathowmanypeopleittakestomanagedataon-premises.AaronCardenas,CEOofP1Technologies,saidforprimarystorageittakesaround1personper500TBandforsecondarystorageittakes1personper3-4PB.However,thisratioofbackupadminstopetabyteofdatadoesn’tmakesenseeconomicallywhendataisgrowingexponentially.Enterpriseswillneedtoemploythirdpartyserviceproviderstomaintainreasonableeconomics.IguazioAsafSomekh,CEOWewillseegrowthinedgeanalyticsandedgeprocessingEdgedatasourcescanbeanythingfromacarorwristwatch,toanindustrialcomponentwhichgathersdatafromseveralmachinesinafactory.Wewillseemoreandmoreedgeprocessingin2018performingdatacollectionandanalysisattheedgeofthenetwork,nearthesourceofdata.Acentralizedcloudwillbesupplementedwithdistributed“miniclouds”attheedgeinordertomovehighvolumesofdataacrossmultipleedgedevices.Serverlessfunctionswillrealizetheirpotentialin2018andgetusedacrossabroadersetofapplicationsServerlessplatformswillalsoextendfromthecloudtoonpremisesenvironments.Furtherdowntheroadwewillseeadditionalserverelesspatterns,suchasserverlessnetworking,serverlessdatabasesandserverlessdataAPIs.Ingeneral,thegrowingtrendofserverlessarchitecturewillhighlightourfocusondataparallelisminmulti-cloudenvironments,movingtowardscontinuousdevelopmentandactionableinsights.

StorageNewsletter


We'llseeashiftfromusingtraditionalblockorfilestoragetocloud-nativeenvironmentswhichuseadatalayerthatdirectlyattachesstorageorflashandleveragestheresiliencyanddatamanagementfeaturesbuiltintothedataservicesmiddleware.Optimizedhardwareismorecost-effectivetousewhenthere'senoughdatatostore,asithasahigherdiskorflashdensityandhighernetworkthroughput,asopposedtoagenericserver/VM.InfinidatBrianCarmody,CTODigitalTransformation(DX)Digitaltransformationistheprofoundandacceleratingtransformationofbusinessactivities,processes,competenciesandmodelstofullyleveragethechangesandopportunitiesofdigitaltechnologiesandtheirimpactacrosssocietyinastrategicandprioritizedway,withpresentandfutureshiftsinmind.IncludingintheDigitalTransformationtherearebigtrendsasCloud,BigData,analytics,artificialintelligencemobile/mobilityandtheInternetofThings.Toaddressthesechallenges,itismandatorythatastorageinfrastructureisreliable,flexible,agile,easytouse,includeshighperformanceandmaximumdataprotection.Tosupporttechnologyinnovation,aflexiblebusinessmodelthatcanscaletolargecapacityandincludesacapacity-on-demandmodel(e.g.paymentafterthecapacityisused),withthepossibilitytoactivatenewcustomersornewapplicationsinfewminutes.CompaniescontinuingtoinvestinDXwillalsocontinuetoreconciletheirneedformorestoragecapacityandgreaterperformancetoanalyzethedatathey’recollecting.Predictionsforthedeclineofhighcapacitydiskdrivesareoverstated,astheonlyreasonableeconomicwaytocapture,analyze,andretainDXdataliesinhigh-capacitydisk-basedpersistentstorage.Further,thegrowthofcapacitywillrequiremoreintelligentcachingsuchasmachinelearningandneuralcachetoaccelerateandimproveaccesstoinformationstorage.DataSecurityandProtectionTaketheTopSpot(GDPRaccelerateschange)GDPRrequiresend-to-endencryption,whichrenderscompressionanddeduplicationuselessontheserverorthestoragearray;thisinturndestroysthevaluepropositionoftheflashmediafocusedstoragesolutions.ITorganizationsthathavedeclaredthemselvestobe“flashonly”willhavetorethinktheirstrategy,astheeffectivecapacityoftheirstorageshrinksto1:1andthecostpereffectiveall-flashTBsoarsto10Xthecostofhighcapacitydisk.EncryptionandCompressionbecomecommoditiesSeeGDPRabove.Whilethiswillnothappenovernight,itiscertainlyanattentiongettingstatement,giventhestateofstorageandthe“allin”approachthemajorvendorsaretakingwithflashandNVMe.Otherpartsofthedatalifecyclewillalsoleveragecompressionanddedupe(e.g.containers)commoditizingthesefeaturesinthestoragetier.Thevaluepropositionwillshift[again?]toperformance,availability,reliability,andeaseofintegrationwithvertical/horizontalsolutions.CloudInroadswiththeEnterpriseToday,enterprisestypicallyviewcloudstrategyaspartofalargerstrategylikedigitaltransformation,costssavingsand/ornewmarketentry.However,thecloudshouldbeviewedasanenablerofmanyotherbusinessstrategies.IDCsaysthatBy2019,cloudITinfrastructurespendingwillbe46%oftotalexpendituresonenterpriseITinfrastructure.CIOInsightsaysthat81%ofITleadersplantoincreasetheiruseofthecloudbyatleast25%withinthenextthreeyears.Thefirststeptowardcloudimplementationistypicallyamixofprivateandpubliccloudortoinvolvecustomerbusinessapplications.EnterpriseITstrugglestokeepupwiththeimmediatedemandsofthebusiness.Nolongerisa30-dayresponsetoaservicerequestacceptable--customersneeditinminutes.Tostayinthegame,ITmusttransform,andenterprisesrelyontheirstoragesolutionstosupporttherapidtransformationpaceandincreasedamountsofdata.Whiletheconceptofhybridcloudwithlocalservers/applicationsandcloud-basedstoragehasbeenevolving,requirementslikeGDPRmayflipthedesignaroundquickly,resultinginanaccelerationinmulticloudstoragedeploymentsusingtrusted,co-locatedstoragewithhigh-speedaccesstotemporal

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cloud-basedapps.Thiscreatesanewopportunityforstorageserviceprovidersinclosenetworkproximitytothemajor(andminor)cloudcomputingservices-Amazon,Google,andMicrosoft.NetworkingistheNewBottleneckStandardizingonEthernethasthepotentialtodramaticallyimprovestackI/Oefficiency.WhileNVMewillimproveperformance,DRAMcacheoptimizedsystems(likeInfiniBox)willstilloutperformall-flashsystemsANDprovidethebestbalancebetweenmulti-workloadperformanceandlong-termcapacityrequirements.iXsystemsMikeLauth,CEOMorecompanies"borninthecloud"willbegintorecognizethefastROIandlowerTCOoftransitioningoffofthepubliccloudintotheirowndatacentersandprivate/hybridcloudenvironments.ProliferationofNVMewillaccelerate,andNVMewillbecomecommonplaceforhybridstoragearrays.NVMewillbecomethedominanttechnologyinallflasharraysaswell.Thisisallduetothereducedcost/increasedcapacityofflashdevicesandthebulkavailabilityofenterprise-gradeU.2NVMedevices,intandemwiththeimprovedNANDsupplyinthemarket.OpenSource-basedSoftwareDefinedStoragewillcontinuetoslowlyandmethodicallypoundnailsintothecoffinsofthetraditionalstorageincumbents.KaminarioDaniGolan,CEOEyalDavid,CTOTheriseofthepubliccloud(SaaS,PaaS,andIaaS)willcreateopportunitiesforabroadrangeofxSPs(i.e.ManagedServiceProviders,ManagedCloudProviders,HostedApplicationProviders)We’llseethegrowthofcustomcloudservicesofferingsthatoffertheflexibilityandagilityofAWSwiththeabilitytoaccommodateconcernsaroundprivacy,security,regulation(e.g.HIPAA,GDPR),lock-in,andcost.Thestorageindustrywillcontinueitstrajectoryawayfromtraditionalscale-uparrayarchitecturestowardsmoreflexible,software-definedarchitecturesInparticular,weseethecomposableinfrastructure/composablestorageparadigmgainingtractionasthenaturalevolutionofscale-outstoragearchitectures.Allforward-lookingITorganizations–whethertheyaretraditionalenterprise,SaaSproviders,consumerinternetcompanies,orxSPs–willbehighlyfocusedonlayingouttheirnext-generation,software-defined-datacenter(SDDC)strategiesSDDCstrategieswillemphasizetheconceptsofopenness,capturingthebenefitsofcommodityhardwareeconomics,automation,andorchestration–whilenotcompromisingonperformanceandavailability.Further,we’llseeSDDCincorporatingartificialintelligenceandautomationtosimplifydatacenteroperationsandcodifydevopsthinkingintothefabricofthecloud-scaledatacenter.

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KompriseKrishnaSubramanian,COOMachine-generatedUnstructuredDataGrowthSurpassesUser-GeneratedDataTrendslikeInternet-of-Things(IoT)alongwithmoresophisticatedinstrumentsinvirtuallyeveryindustryarecreatinganexplosionofunstructureddatagrowth.Whetheritisbettergenomicssequencersorhigherfidelitymediaorself-drivingcarsorhigherdensityengineeringdesignautomationtools,thesenewmachinesaregenerating2to10xmoredatathanbefore.Asaresult,businessesarelookingfordatamanagementsolutionsthatseamlesslyhandlebothmachineandusergeneratedunstructureddatawithoutanydisruptiontotheapplicationsandusers.DataManagementandGovernanceBecomesaStrategicLineItem,nolongerTacticalSpendBusinessesarebecomingincreasinglydata-driven,makingdatamanagementandgovernanceakeyBusinessprioritythatdrivesstrategicspendinorganizations.Storageisnolongerjustatacticallineitem–instead,itisacornerstoneofkeycorporateinitiativessuchasCloud,Data-DrivenEnterprise,andITModernization.Withthisshift,storageinfrastructureleadersareincreasinglybeingaskedbyCFOs,CIOs,andCEOstoprovidegreatervisibilityandreportingintodata,itsusage,datamanagement,governance,andplanning.AnotherYearofFlatStorageBudgetsMakesAnalytics-drivenDataManagementCriticalStoragebudgetshaveremainedmostlyflatforthepastfewyears,andthistrendisexpectedtocontinue.Sincethecostofmanagingandprotectingdatais4xofstorage,asdatafootprintcontinuestogrowwhilebudgetsremainflat,businessesarerealizingtheycannolongeraffordtotreatalldataequallyandmanageitallwithonebroadstroke.Instead,since80%ofthedatabecomescoldwithinmonthsofcreation,businessesareadoptinganalytics-drivenintelligentdatamanagementsolutionsthatstoreandmanagedatadifferentlybasedonitscurrentvalue.Businessesareadoptinganalytics-drivensolutionsthatadaptthedatamanagementdynamicallybasedonthecurrentvalueofdata.MinioAnandBabuPeriasamy,CEOObjectstoragebreaksenterpriseresistanceEnterprisesarebeginningtoencounterapplicationsthataresolelydesignedwithAmazonS3APIs.Thesheeramountofdataandsecurityconcernswillforceenterprisestobuildprivatecloudswithobjectstorageasitsprimarystorage.Hyperconvergenceandcloud-nativeareonacollisioncourseHyperconvergenceisfundamentallyincompatiblewiththecloud-nativearchitectureandDevOpsmethodologies.Infrastructurearchitectswillbeforcedtopicksides.2018willbethedeterminingyearfortheprivatecloud.SolidstatestorageentersunstructureddatamarketSolidstatestoragewillfarexceedthedensityandeconomicsofmechanicalharddiskdrivesandbecometheonlyviablesolutiontobuild100PBdatacenters.Giventhat80%oftheworld’sdataisunstructured,spinningdriveswillbeputtorestinthecomingyears.NetAppMarkBregman,CTOAstheworldischangingfundamentally,datawillcontinuetobecomeevenmoredistributed,dynamicanddiverse.Tobesuccessfulinthisenvironment,enterprisesmustfocustheir2018strategyondigitaltransformation–everythingfromITinfrastructurestoapplicationarchitectureswillhavetoadaptinresponsetonewrealitiesinthehybridcloudworld.

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Datawillbecomeself-awareAsdatabecomesevenmorediversethanitistoday,themetadatawillmakeitpossibleforthedatatoproactivelytransport,categorize,analyzeandprotectitself.Theflowbetweendata,applicationsandstorageelementswillbemappedinrealtimeasthedatadeliverstheexactinformationauserneedsattheexacttimetheyneedit.Thisalsointroducestheabilityfordatatoself-govern.Thedataitselfwilldeterminewhohastherighttoaccess,shareanduseit,whichcouldhavewiderimplicationsforexternaldataprotection,privacy,governanceandsovereignty.Datawillgrowfasterthantheabilitytotransportit...andthat’sOK!Datahasbecomeincrediblydynamicandinturnisbeinggeneratedatanunprecedentedratethatwillgreatlyexceedtheabilitytotransportit.However,insteadofmovingthedata,theapplicationsandresourcesneededtoprocessitwillbemovedtothedata,whichhasimplicationsfornewarchitectureslikeedge,core,andcloud.Inthefuture,theamountofdataingestedinthecorewillalwaysbelessthantheamountgeneratedattheedge,butthiswon’thappenbyaccident.Itmustbeenabledverydeliberatelytoensurethattherightdataisbeingretainedforlaterdecisionmaking.DatamanagementwillneedanemergenceofdecentralizedimmutablemechanismsMechanismstomanagedatainatrustworthy,immutableandtrulydistributedway(meaningnocentralauthority)willemergeandhaveaprofoundimpactonthedatacenter.Decentralizedmechanisms,likeblockchain,challengethetraditionalsenseofdataprotectionandmanagement.Becausethereisnocentralpointofcontrol,suchasacentralizedserver,itisimpossibletochangeordeleteinformationcontainedonablockchainandalltransactionsareirreversible.Currentdatacentersandapplicationsoperatelikecommerciallymanagedfarms,withacentralpointofcontrol(thefarmer)managingthesurroundingenvironment.Thedecentralizedimmutablemechanismsformanagingdatawilloffermicroservicesthatthedatacanusetoperformnecessaryfunctions.Themicroservicesanddatawillworkcooperatively,withoutoverallcentrallymanagedcontrol.NooBaaStorageYuvalDimnik,FounderContainersfootprintwillgrowwithfluidmovebetweenon-premisesandcloudAsbeingpushedbytheCisco/Googlepartnership.WorkloadswillstretchandburstenvironmentsCurrentlyhybridandmulti-cloudmeanssomeassetshereandsomethere.Withcognitiveservicesofferedbydifferentcloudproviders,we'llseeaprimaryworkloadrunningonsiteA(orcloudA)andgettingsomecognitiveservicesoncloudBforthesameapplication.DatagrowthwillbringbackmoretapeMostofthedatawehaveiscreatedinthelastcoupleofyears,butmostofitwillneverbetouchedweeksaftercreation.Tapeisstillthemosteconomicforarchive.PanasasCurtisAnderson,SeniorArchitectInsomesegmentsofHPC,thealgorithmsanddatatypesarechangingtooquicklytobotherwithhighlyoptimizingthecodes,eg:genomicsandAI/ML,andstoragesubsystemswillneedtoadaptSomesegments(eg:CFD)are“mature”andtheoptimalI/Opatternsarewellunderstood,whileinothersegmentstheyarenot.Newworkloadsarebecomingimportantthathavelargenumbersofsmallfiles,andthelesssophisticatedusersinthesenewspaceswanttoconcentrateongainingnewinsightsratherthanoptimizingtheircode.HPCstoragesystemsneedtowidenthesweetspotoftheirperformanceprofilefromthevery-high-but-narrowpeakoftraditionalarchitectures.

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HPCstoragesubsystemswillneedtorapidlyimplementseveraldifferentsetsof“datamanagementandcompliance”featuresets.Dataprovenance,whereapieceofdatacamefromandwhomodifiedit,aregoingtobecomecriticalinallthecoregrowthsegmentsofHPCstorage.SpecificcomplianceregimeswillberequiredinseveralverticalsegmentsaswellInthelifesciencesandprecisionmedicinespace,HIPAACompliancewillberequired.Inthefinancialanalysisspace,atleastforpersonalizedanalysis,SOXCompliancewillberequired.IntheAI/MLspace,apushforCompliancewillbedrivenbytheorganization’sliabilitylawyerstoshowthat“bestpractices”werefollowedwhentrainingtheneuralnetwork.Youmayhaveheardthisexamplebefore.Assumeaself-drivingcarismovingdownaroadwithamotorcycleonitsleftandasidewalkonitsrightfullofpedestrians.Thenassumethatseveralpedestriansfallintothelane,thecarcannotstopintime,andthatacollisionofsomeformisinevitable.Thesoftwarewillhitthebrakes,butwillthenhavetodecidewhethertosteertotheright,hittingpedestriansonthesidewalk,steerstraightandcrushthepedestriansthatfellintotheroad,orsteertotheleftandhitthemotorcycle.Hittingthemotorcyclewillalmostcertainlyreducethenumberofpeoplehurtorkilledtojustone,butapieceofsoftwareactivelydecidingtotargetamotorcyclethroughnofaultofthatdriver’sraiseshardquestionsofliabilitythattheAI/MLcommunityhasnotyetsortedout.TheabovetwotrendsaregoingtopushtraditionalHPCStorageclosertoEnterpriseStorageintermsoffeaturessupported,whileretainingtheperformancerequiredfromHPCstorage.PanzuraPatrickHarr,CEO2018willbetheyearofanalyticsTheyearofanalyticswillbefueledbyAI/MLfordata.Theresultwillgiveenterprisesgreaterinsightintotheirbusinessesandcontrolovertheiroperations.Multi-cloudwillbecomeaformalstrategyAccordingtoIDC,90%ofenterprisesarebuildingamulti-cloudstrategytopreventvendorlock-in.Thiswillstressdatamanagementasthecloudbecomesyetanotherdataisland.Newtechnologieswillemergetounify,access,andmanagedataacrossclouds.EdgecomputingwillbecomeevenmoreimportantWeareintheageofdigitaltransformationandtheexplosionofIoTwhichputspressureonreal-timedecisionsandaccessofdataattheedge.Vendorswhohavehybridplatformswillbebenefit.PortworxMurliThirumale,CEOWebelievethat2018willbetheyearofKubernetes,soMurli’spredicationsrevolvearoundthat.ThecomplexityofbuildingandrunningKubernetesapplicationswillbeaddressedbytheriseinKubernetesplatformsTheCloudNativeComputingFoundation(CNCF)hasrealizedthatimplementingKubernetesisachallengeandhasthuscreatedacertificationmodelforplatforms,KubernetesCertifiedServiceProvider(KCSP).CustomerslookingtoadoptKuberneteswilllookanduseoneoftheseproviders.Wewillseenearly50KubernetesCertifiedServiceProvidersbytheendof2018Currently,kubernetes.iolists16KCSPproviders.ThelargestKubernetesplatform,RedHatOpenShift,isnotablymissingfromthislist,butIseethismoreasanindicationthatOpenShiftneedslessexternalhelpfromCNCFatthispoint,sinceitalreadyestablishedasanauthorityofrunninglarge-scaleKubernetesapplications.Therewillbenearly50oftheseprovidersbytheendoftheyear.

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70percentofcustomerswilloptfortheKubernetesplatformfromtheircloudprovider,OpenShiftorTectonicButconsolidationiscoming.MostcustomerswillusetheKubernetesdistributionandpackedservicesfromtheircloudprovidersoradistributionofKubernetesfromRedHat(Openshift)orCoreOS(Tectonic).Smallercustomerswillprobablyoptforthefullypackagedofferingfromtheircloudprovider,eventhoughtheywillbelockedinandfinditdifficulttoimplementmulti-cloudstrategies.Largerenterpriseswillmoreoftenoptforacloud-agnosticplatformnotonlybecausesuchplatformsallowformorecustomizationbutalsobecausetheyarelesslikelytobelockedintotheircloudproviders,somethingthatishelpfulwhenitistimetonegotiateprice.PrimaryDataLanceSmith,CEOStorageComplexitySimplifiedwithSoftwareThoughabigoffenderofbuzzwordsoverthepastyear,weexpecttoseeSoftware-DefinedStorage(SDS)solutionscontinuetogaintraction,especiallyinthedatamanagementsegmentGartnercalls“managementSDS.”Thesesolutionswillbegintobridgethegapbetweenlegacyinfrastructureandmodernstorageneeds.ITBeginstoChooseCustomManagementoverHyperconvergedHyperconvergedinfrastructures(HCI)haveplentyofappealasafastfixtopayasyougrow.Yetinthelongrun,thesesystemsrepresentjustanotherlargersiloforenterprisestomanage.Withmetadatamanagementsoftware,enterpriseswillbegintomoveawayfrombulkdeploymentsofhyperconvergedinfrastructureandinsteadembraceamorestrategicdatamanagementrolethatleveragesprecisestoragecapabilitiesonpremisesandintothecloud.AdoptionofAnalyticsFuelsStorageandDataIntelligenceStoragehaslongbeenblindtoactualdemandsondatabeyondwhatwasrecentlyreadorwritten.Withmetadataintelligence,adminsandsoftwarecanfinallyseewhenfileshavebeenlastopened,howoften,bywho,whentheywerechanged,modified,andmore.ThisintelligencearmsITwiththedataneededtomanagetheirstorageresourcesmoreefficiently,andaligntherightdatatotheresourcethatmeetsbusinessneedsforperformanceandprice.ProphetStorDataServicesEricChen,CEOSelf-driven/automateddatacentersthroughAI-poweredsoftwarebringingincreasedresilienceandeconomiesofscaleinthedatacentersContinuedTransitiontocommoditystorage-builttrueSoftwareDefinedStorageSolutionstosuittheeverincreasingneedsinScaleUpandScaleOutstorageEmergenceofAI-poweredwork-loaddistributionstoragesoftwareforintelligentfaststorageallocationandjustin-timeprovisioningversusproprietaryAFAsolutions

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QuantumMollyPresley,VPofGlobalMarketingData-DrivenOrganizationsDemandIntelligenceintheirStorageExpectgreateremphasisontoolstomaximizecontentvalue,primarilyintheformofAItoincreaseintelligenceaboutcontent,anddatavisualizationsoftwaretoimproveaccessandthecostofstoringdata.Asdataisincreasinglyusedforstrategicdecisionmakingforcompanies–orincaseswheredataistheproductitself-storagestrategieswillbecomeamorefoundationalconsideration.TapeStepsinasRansomwareSaviorWiththerisingtideofransomwareandmalwareinthenews,tapewillincreasinglybeavaluedelementofmanydataprotectionsolutionsbecauseitoffersanoffline“air-gapped”backupcopy.MoreApplicationsBecomeRipeforContainerizationAsnewapplicationsarebeingwrittenforthecontainer/cloud-nativeworld,existingapplicationswillincreasinglybeupdatedforcloud-nativearchitectures.IntelligentFileSystemsWillPushObjectStorageintheCornerWhereitBelongsFilesystemswillbeincreasinglyleveragedfordataingestanddatamanagement.Asaresult,objectstoragewillbepushedtothecapacityandretentionpartofstoragearchitectures,whereitarguablyisbestsuited.Cloud-NativeArchitecturestoGainTractionAscloud-nativearchitecturesbecomeanincreasinglycommontermintheITvocabulary,lookfororganizationssuchastheCloudNativeComputingFoundation(CNCF)tobecomemoreinfluential.QumuloPeteGodman,CTOSSDwon'tbecheaperthanHDDIn2016,everyall-flashvendorintheworldclaimedthatSSDwasnowcheaperthanHDD,basedontwononsensicalclaimsthat(1)alldataiscompressibleandduplicatedand(2)compressionanddedupedon'tapplytoHDDs.WesternDigital'sMAMRannouncementmakesitclearthattheratioofNANDflashcapacitycosttoHDDcapacitycostwillremaincloseto10xforyearstocome.Allmajorcloudvendorswillstarttobuildorbuyfilestorageastheyrealizethatquality,scalablefilestorageisessentialforcapturingcompute-intensiveworkloads.SATAandSASSSDswillrapidlydisappearasthecostofNVMeandSATA/SASconvergesquicklyAMDwillmakerapidinroadsinall-flashstorageduetoEpyc'senormousPCIebandwidth,andARMwillwaitontheserversidelinesforanotheryear.ReduxioSystemsJacobCherian,VPProducts&ProductStrategyMikeGrandinetti,ChiefMarketing&CorporateStrategyOfficerConvergenceofPrimaryandSecondaryStorageDatacenteradministratorswillbedealingwithexponentiallyincreasingscale.Existingdatainfrastructurearchitecturesthatrelyonmultipleplatformsandtoolstomanagedatawillbecomeincreasinglyunwieldyandexpensivetosetupandoperate.IndustryanalystsfromGartnertoForresterandIDChaveallnotedintheirrecentlypublishedresearchtheincreasingcustomeradoptionforplatformsthatprovideconvergedmanagementofdatathroughallphasesofitlifecycle.Theseplatformswillbeprovidedbyemergingvendorswhoarenotencumberedbytraditionalarchitecturalapproaches.

StorageNewsletter


DesignMovestotheForefrontFortoolong,storagevendorshavenotinvestedinhidingthecomplexityoftheirsolutionsfromtheirusers.Theindustryhashitaninflectionpointwhereuserscannolongermanagethedelugeofdatathattheyneedtostore,manageandprotectusingexistingsolutions.Asdatagrowsexponentiallyandinfrastructurebudgetsincreasenominally,userswillneedtodramaticallyincreasetheirproductivitytokeepup.Theyaredemandingsolutionswithintuitiveuserexperiencesandinterfacessimilartothatoftheirfavoritesmartphones,gamingconsolesandmobileapps,whichrequirenotrainingorunproductivelearningcurves.Further,theywanttobeabletomanagetheirinfrastructurefromANYdevice,includingsmartphonesandtablets.Storagevendorswillneedtoincreasetheirdesigntodeveloperratiostokeeppace.FocusonApplicationvs.InfrastructureCustomerswillmigratetosolutionsthatallowthemtomanagetheirapplicationwithouthavingtoknowtheinnerworkingoftheirinfrastructure.Tosupportthisinfrastructurewillhavetobecomemoreelastic,self-tuning,andflexiblewithfewermovingpartsandknobs.RubrikChrisWahl,ChiefTechnologist2018isgoingtobetheyearwherecloudcomeshomeNextyear,wewillseeanArmageddonwhenitcomestodeliveringcloudservicesdirectlytotheenterpriseThethreemajorcloudprovidershavepickedtheirdancepartners-AzurewithAzureStack,GCPwithNutanix,andAWSwithVMware-toseewhocandelivertheirportfolioofservicestodisrupton-premdeploymentsacrossprivatedatacentersandcolos.Rightnow,we’reonlyjustscratchingthesurfacewhenitcomestothecloudtoolsofwhichoperationsteamsaretakingadvantage.Soon,thosewillbecomeubiquitousbothincloudandon-premwithKubernetesbecomingtheclearwinneracrosstheindustry.Asmorecomplexityisremovedandgovernanceaddedtothisopensourcetool,adoptionwillskyrocket.BusinesseswillfaceaGDPRshakeupastheymakechangestostaycompliantBusinesseswillbelookingforresourcestohelpthemmakechangestotheirdatastrategies,andwillbeseekingoutsolutionstoeffectivelyindexandmaketheirdatasearchable-tohelpthemmeetthismandate.Currently,AIandmachinelearningarebasicallyoutofreachformostwithintheenterprise,exceptfordatascientists.InordertobringAIandmachinelearningtomorebusinessusers,organizationswillneedtoimplementasoundclouddatamanagementstrategytoputalloftheirdatainonelocationforuserstoorganize,analyzeandprepareforAI/machinelearningapplications.SpanningCloudAppsMatHamlin,VPofProductAdoptionofSaaSbytheMidMarketandEnterpriseContinuestoRapidlyGrowThethingthatI'mmostexcitedaboutfromtechnologyin2018istherapidadoptionofSaaSbythemid-marketandenterprises.In2016and2017,wesawalotoforganizationsplanning,budgetingandpilotingtheirmigrationstoSaaSapplications.In2018andbeyond,themigrationsarebeingexecutedatanamazingrate.NewFunctionalityImprovingtheWayTeamsWork:MicrosoftOffice365’sNewServicesI'malsoexcitedaboutsomeofthenewfunctionalitythatOffice365andMicrosoftarebringingtothetable.MicrosoftTeamsisagreatcollaborationtoolthatbringstogetherchat,intranet,sharedfiles,projectvisibilityandmore.TheyalsolaunchedPlanner,aneasytouseKanbantool,andBookingsforschedulingappointments.Astheycontinuetoinvestandcreatenewservicesintheirplatform,customersareadoptingitquickly,andthatwillingnesstoadoptnewservicesfundamentallyimprovesthewaytheywork.”

StorageNewsletter


MoreserviceswillleverageMachineLearningandAIandtheusagewillspreadtomoreandmoreSaaSapplicationsMachinelearningandartificialintelligencecontinuestobeadifferentiatingfactorinSaaSofferings,especiallyfromthekeyplayerslikeGoogle,MicrosoftandSalesforce.Simple,everydayexampleslikesuggestingmeetingroomsbasedonavailability,locationandthenumberofmeetingattendeesmakeoureverydayliveseasier.In2018we’llcontinuetoseemoreservicesleverageMLandAI,andtheusagewillspreadtomoreandmoreapplicationssincetheavailabilityisreadilyavailablefromcloudproviderslikeAmazon,GoogleandMicrosoft.StorONEGalNaor,CEO

SoftwareSoftwarewillcontinuetodominatethestoragelandscape.Theimportanceoftrulyefficientsoftwarewillbethemostcriticalandmostinterestingareatowatchin2018.Anewcategoryofstoragesoftwarewillstarttoemerge,calledTRU(TotalResourceUtilization)basedsoftware.TRUstoragesoftwaremeansyouwillgetthefullvalueoftheHWinstalledonthestoragesystem-afewSSD/NvMEwillbeenoughtogetanykindofIOPSandtherawcapacityofthedisks,versusthenetcapacityreductiongamesthatarenowbeingplayed.HardwareThecurrentdrivesonthemarketarenowabletoachieveveryhighperformanceandcapacity.Gettingspeedandcapacityisnolongerachallenge.WithTRUstoragesoftwareitwillbecomemucheasiertoachievethisspeedandcapacitywithjustafewdrivesandwithouthavingadistributedsystemorbyhavingtofillasystemwith24-48drivestogettheseresults.MostoftheHWimprovementyouwillseewillbeonthedensitysideandwillbeevenmoreimprovedontheHDDside.PricingWithTRUstoragesoftwarethepriceperGBwillcontinuetofallin2018andwilldroptolessthanapenny(1cent),astheamountofHWrequiredwillbeverylowwiththisnewtechnology.Withnoneedforintegrationandadditionalfloorspace,theabilitytoachievehighperformancewithafewSSD/NvMEortheabilitytoachievehighthroughputandcapacitywithHDDwillcontributetoreducethepriceperGB.Theenduserswillunderstandthereisnorealreasontocontinuetopaysomuch,ortocompromiseonperformanceanddensitysincetheywillgetthefullcapabilitiesofthedrives.ITbudgetswillcontinuetoshrinkorremainflatyeartoyear,whiledatawillcontinuetogrow.2018willbenoexception.EfficiencywillbethemostcriticalfactorasITdepartmentswillberequiredtodomorewithless,tomakeupformassivedatagrowth.TRUstoragesoftware,willmoveintothespotlight.Itwillbeagreatyearforstorageendusers,ashardwarewillbecomelessimportant,drivingdownnotonlythetotalcostofstorage,butthecomplexityaswell.Pricingwillmovetoasimplemodel,whereallstorageprotocolswillbeincluded.2018willbetheyearforward-thinkingenduserswillturntonew,innovativesoftwaresolutionsandnewbusinessmodels.StrongBoxDataSolutionsFloydChristofferson,SVPProductsAttheendofeveryyearthestorageindustrymakespredictionsaboutupcomingtrendstheyexpectinthenewyear,usuallycitingtheexponentialgrowthofunstructureddataasadriverforinnovativenewstoragetypesand/orpointsolutionsthatofferenhancedcapabilities,cheaperpricepoints,andincreasingplatformchoicestoaccommodatetheever-expandingusecasesforalltypesofdigitalassets.Theissueisthatevenwithyearsofadvancementsinstoragetechnologies,managementofstorageinfrastructureshasonlygottenmorecomplex,particularlyasITorganizationshavetodomorewithstatic

StorageNewsletter


orshrinkingoperationalbudgets.Theproblembecomesworsewhenprimarystoragetiersgetfull,orneedtobereplacedinatechrefresh.ThisinevitablyaddsmoreloadonITStaff,anddisruptionforusers.Automationisthekeytrendtoaddressthissortofproblemacrossallindustriestoday,leveragingmachinelearninganddata-drivenintelligence.Thestorageindustryisnoexception,andthetechnologyhasfinallygottentothepointtobringcross-platformstorageanddataautomationtothisindustryaswell,drivenbynewmetadata-drivensoftwaresolutions.Themostpressingneedforthestorageindustryissimplicityandautomation.Thatis,tosimplifyandautomatedatamanagementacrossheterogeneousstoragetypes,whilealsoimprovingROIoftheentirestorageinfrastructure.Andthekeytodatamanagementisinitsmetadata,whichenablethefollowingtrends:Cross-platformstorageautomationMetadata-derivedintelligencecombinedwithadvancedsoftwarewillprovideend-userscompletecontrolovertheirdataregardlessofthestorage,providingindependencefromvendorlimitations,proprietaryapplications,orproblemsmanagingmultipleprotocols.Metadata-drivenautomationenablesseamlessdataflowsacrossanystoragetype,anddramaticallyreducestheoverheadforITstaff.Thiseliminatesdatasiloswithatrueglobalnamespacethatbridgesheterogeneousstoragetypes,blurringthelinesbetweenperformanceandcost,onpremisesandoffpremises,publiccloud,andmuchmoreintoacross-platformmanagedfabric.Auto-dataclassificationAggregatingallinformationaboutthedatafrommultiplemetadatasourcesintoanactionableframeworkthatdrivesstorageautomation.Auto-dataclassificationprovidestheintelligenceto:

• Enforcedatamigrationandprotectionpoliciesacrossanystorageplatformwithreal-timeresponsiveness.

• Enablecontinuousdataprotection,datacopymanagement,andtheabilitytomeetcompliancerequirementssuchastheEU’sGDPRdataprivacyregulations.

Real-timeDataLifecycleManagementGlobalstoragemanagementwiththeintelligencederivedfromaggregatedmetadatasourcesfinallyenablesthepromiseofcross-platformDataLifecycleManagement.Withthecombinationofautomationandintelligenceaboutthedata,ITadministrationscanapplyglobaldatapoliciesacrossallstoragetypesinstantly.Usecasesevolvedynamicallyovertime,sometadata-drivenautomationsimplifiesmanagementandprotectiondatafromcreationthroughtoarchiveacrossthemultipleusecasesandstoragetypesthatmayberequiredovertime.VexataZahidHussain,CEOArtificialIntelligence,MachineLearningandCognitiveSystemswilldriveinfrastructuredecisionsin2018,requiringthatLineofBusinessandITmanagementworktogethertoaddressbottlenecksthatexistincurrentsolutions.In2018therewillbeacontinuedshiftofcomputeprocessingandanalyticstotheedge,drivinginfrastructurearchitecturedecisionstode-centralizedataprocessingandpositivelyimpactdigitaltransformation,customerengagementandbusinessmodels.IOTwillcontinuetodriveinfrastructurearchitecturedecisionstodeploysolutionsthatcanofferabundantI/OperformanceatscaletodrivedownTCO,increaseefficiencyanddeliverperformanceelasticitytosupportever-changingworkloaddemands.

StorageNewsletter


WekaIOLiranZvibel,CEOAs2017isnowbehindus,alleyesarefirmlyon2018andwhatitwillbringforthestorageindustry.Withmorethantwodecadesworkinginthestorageindustry,frommytimeatIBMtomycurrentroleasCEOandco-founderofWekaIO,Iunderstandfirsthandofjustwhatliesahead.Here,aremytopthreestoragepredictionsfortheNewYear.TheChangingFaceofWorkloadsFastGPUsandotheraccelerators(likeIntelNervana)willgreatlycondensecompute.Already,serverspackingeightofthesenowprovidemorecomputeperformancethananentirerackusedtonotsolongago.AsaresulttheseservershavemuchmoreintenseIOrequirements,andwillrequirefilesystemswithpreviouslyunheardofcapabilities.Asingleclientwillneedtofillincomplete100gb/seclinks(12GB/seceach),andalsoscalinguptomanyofthese.Atthesametime,modernmachinelearningworkloadsprocesssmallfiles(textsamples,voicesamples,images),andrequirehighthroughputoutofmanysmallfileaccesses.Thisnewlow-latencyhigh-throughputworkloadrequiresanewfilesystemdesign,failingwhichitsexpensiveGPUsaregoingtolieidle,orprojectswon’tbeabletoscale.WekaIOMatrix’sparallelFSoverNVMeistheonlyfilesystemthatissuitabletotheseupcomingworkloads.StorageandtheHybridCloudIncreasinglywewillseelocalstoragetransitioningtothehybridcloud,wherethemostvalueandefficientusagecanbeextractedfrombothon-premisesinfrastructureandthepubliccloud.Inaddition,whenon-premiseinfrastructurereachesitscapacity,thepubliccloud’selasticitywillproveincreasinglyusefulfor“cloudbursting”,whichdescribestheprocessofspillingexcessworkovertothecloud,andbringingtheresultsin.Wewillalsoseethecloudbeingincreasinglyleveragedfordisasterrecovery.Thekeystoragerequirementforeffectivehybridclouds,istheabilitytopushsnapshotstoandfromthecloud.Inordertoachieveefficientcompute,bothendsmustworkatlocalspeed,andidentifythedifferencesbetweenthecopiesasworkisforkedtothecloud.StatelessAccesstoStorageBetweenserverlesscomputeandIoTprojects,thereisastrongandgrowingneedforstatelessaccesstostorage.Currently,thede-factostandardforstatelessaccesstostorageistheHTTP-basedS3interface,wherethemostpopularsystemistheAWSS3objectstoragesystem.AsIoTapplicationsbecomemoredemanding,theyeitherrequirelowerlatencythanisenabledbyobjectstorage,oratoolchainthatreliesonstandardapplications,whichneedafilesystem.Forserverlessprojects—manyofthesehavealegacycomponentthatwillhavetostayinproductionforalongwhile.Itisclearlyapparentthatwewillseemoreandmoredemandforaunifiedaccessfilesystemthatsupportsbothfilesystemsaccessprotocols(POSIX,NFS,SMB)andS3andHDFS.Suchsystemswillallowfortherunningofdifferenttoolchainsonthesamedata,eliminatingtheneedtomovethesetootherstoragesystems.Excitingthingsarehappeninginstorage,theITworldisevolvingandwelookforwardtothisnewyearandwhatnewsitwillbring.

snl vendors predictions long - storagenewsletter · this poses a new challenge for organizations:...

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