Storage and security represent two technologies that have circled each for nearly two decades with negligible success in coming together. That may have finally changed this week. StorMagic’s acquisition of KeyNexus represents the coming together of two technologies that finally makes sense for everyone involved.
There are two assumptions that IT professionals need to exercise caution before making when evaluating cloud data protection products. One is to assume all products share some feature or features in common. The other is to assume that one product possesses some feature or characteristic that no other product on the market offers. As DCIG reviews its recent research into the cloud data protection products, one cannot make either one of these assumptions, even on features such as deduplication, encryption, and replication that one might expect to be universally adopted by these products in comparable ways.
The closer any new solution comes to being non-disruptively introduced into existing organizational backup infrastructures, the greater the odds that the solution will succeed and be adopted more broadly. By Dell including FIPS 140-2 compliant 256-bit AES encryption and VTL features as part of its 3.2 OS release for its existing and new DR series of backup appliances at no charge, organizations have new options to introduce the DR Series appliances without disrupting their existing backup processes.
DCIG is pleased to announce the release of its 2014 Mobile Data Management (MDM) Buyer’s Guide that weight, score and rank over 100 features. Like previous Buyer’s Guides, this Buyer’s Guide provides the critical information that organizations need when selecting Mobile Data Management software to help meet the security, compliance and Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) challenges in an ever increasing mobile enterprises.
Information Technology Divisions (I.T.) traditionally does not deal with securing a device that has not been issued and controlled by them. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has exploded across industries. Rapid adoption of iPhone and Android devices displaced Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) in the mobile enterprise email space. Adoption of new devices drives the need for Mobile Device Data Management software to assert control.
Today I continue to reveal the Top 10 most read blog entries on DCIG’s website in 2011 with these four (4) entries typifying the two extremes of topics that DCIG’s readers tend to read the most. At one end of the spectrum are two forward looking blog entries on topics that every organization are examining now: the cloud and virtual server backup. At the other end of the spectrum are two older blog entries on the topics of cable labeling and encryption for which organizations continue to need relevant information.
Disposing aging, depreciated or unneeded tape cartridges is an age old problem that companies resolve in one of three ways: they destroy them; they store them; or, they trade them in for hard cash or credits from resellers. This last option generates more than passing interest from companies since it offers them the opportunity to generate some revenue (or at least offset the cost of new tape cartridges). However the liabilities associated with the data on these recycled tape cartridges landing up in the wrong hands may outweigh whatever cost savings companies hope to achieve.
One of the more interesting conversations I had was with John Martin, VP of Product Management with Riverbed Technology. For those of you unfamiliar with Riverbed, its Steelhead® appliances provides WAN acceleration to improve application performance across corporate WANs. As part of the underlying secret sauce in these appliances, Riverbed uses compression and deduplication technologies (among others) to accelerate application performance. That information is fairly well known. What is not so well known is that it has seen instances where it has improved the data reduction rates by 30 – 70% of data that was already deduplicated, and it has specifically seen these results when testing with Data Domain’s appliances.
The 2008 Crypto Conference provided a lot to talk about this year. If you didn’t know a Crypto Conference existed, you aren’t alone, but it is where the best and brightest mathematicians gather to discuss cryptographic and cryptoanalytic research. However at this conference Adi Shamir (the “S” in RSA Security that stands for Rivest, Shamir and Adleman and that is now owned by EMC) gave a presentation for a new attack on encryption systems called the “cube attack”. The ramifications of this attack sent a collective shockwave across the data security sector. Since encryption is revered as our best alternative and last safe harbor from data exposure, any weakness shown by encryption algorithms can have a dramatic ripple effect in data security.
Today and tomorrow I am putting on both my reporter and analyst hats. Living in Omaha, NE, I am only a hop, skip and jump away from Minneapolis, MN, so I took the opportunity to drive up here to attend Compellent’s annual C-Drive user conference that runs from May 6 – May 8 and do some live, on-site blogging about my experiences while I am here. Already a few notable items to report from last night’s customer reception and this morning’s opening presentation.
The information, product recommendations, and opinions made by DCIG, LLC., are based upon public information and from sources that DCIG, LLC., believes to be accurate and reliable. However since market conditions change, the information and recommendations are made without warranty of any kind. All product names used and mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.
DCIG, LLC., assumes no responsibility or liability for any damages whatsoever (including incidental, consequential or otherwise) caused by one’s use or reliance of this information or the recommendations presented or for any inadvertent errors which this document may contain. Any questions please call DCIG, LLC., toll free at 1.844.324.4552 (844.DCIGLLC).
Thank you for your interest in DCIG research and analysis.
Please sign up for the free DCIG Newsletter to have new analysis delivered to your inbox each week.