Chuck's Blog

Stealth Announcement from EMC?

OK, so I know how to keep a secret, but -- hey -- once something is on the internet, it's fair game, isn't it?

Storagezilla was the first one to twig to the public viewing (sometimes I don't think he ever sleeps), but I'll offer this link and this other one.

As soon as we're ready for a more public discussion, I'll be glad to explain what this is all about.  And, trust me, it's pretty darn cool.

In the meantime, consider it a mildly-interesting Sudoku puzzle ;-)

Podcast: Virtualization and Security

Hmmm -- the podcasters over at RSA found me recently, and asked me to talk a bit about what I was seeing from customers around the confluence of two really big themes in IT today: security and virtualization.

Now, I'd like to say it's a complete exposition, but -- to be honest -- it's a fresh discussion we're just now starting to get engaged in.

Maybe interesting, maybe not.  Find it here.

Dell, EqualLogic and EMC

By now, you've probably not only seen the news, but you've also probably seen lots of commentary on Dell's recent acquisition.

I decided to wait a bit before posting my thoughts on this topic, just to allow for some contemplative reflection.

In many ways, Dell's move does not come as much of a surprise.  I think the impact of this move will have a more significant affect on Dell's well-known competitors far more than it could potentially impact EMC over the long run. 

So let the speculation begin!

Tiered Information Protection

By "information protection", I mean things like backup, recovery, replication, etc.

For the last few years, customers have begun to get comfortable with the idea of "tiered storage" -- put the right information on the right service level at the right cost at the right time.

Simple in statement, but potentially hard without a bit of forethought.

I'd offer that -- during 2008 -- we'll see a strong interest in "tiered protection" -- protect the right information with the right service level at the right cost at the right time.

And, despite all the new technologies flooding into this space, it might end up being easier than anyone might have thought.

When Can We Delete Something?

Simple questions can have complex answers, e.g. "daddy, why is the sky blue?" which leads to a discussion of Rayleigh scattering and other topics a bit too daunting for most seven-year-olds.

And in that category, we've got the simple question above -- when does IT (or anyone else) get to stop storing, protecting, managing a piece of information, and consign it to the dustbin of history?

The answer seems to lead towards a few of the themes I've written about before, and -- I now have met my first customer who has worked out a semi-practical way to decide when something gets deleted.

It's a tortuous journey, and not for everyone, but it's an interesting story.

Just Found This

Like I've said before, I usually know most of what EMC is doing.

And, occasionally, I'm wrong, and I get a nice surprise.

Just found this YouTube portal with short "to the point" videos on technical concepts.

Saw a few, short and sweet, and far better than a 30 minute powerpoint event!

Virtual Trade Show

I did a short gig with Ziff Davis where we talked a lot about the new role of storage and information management. 

No new big themes, but I was pretty concise, and it turned out pretty well.  Some of the questions were pretty interesting as well.

Unfortunately, ZD will want to know a lot about you prior to giving you the privilege of viewing this (my apologies), but if you can tolerate the registration process, might be worth a view.