the storage anarchist

0.051: thin provisioning planning guide(s)

It seems my little foray over to Wikibon this week has sparked some serious thought and consideration about the realities of thin provisioning, whether in-the-box or as a so-called "service" for aging external storage. The collective community has forged several documents which I believe should be mandatory reading for any storage administrator planning to deploy thinly provisioned storage from any vendor (in addition to my own collection of observations and advice, of course).

Heck, these probably should be mandatory for anyone selling this stuff as well - it's always easier if both sides of the sale have common understanding and expectations.

The storage anarchist's recommended thin provisioning reading list (in suggested reading order):

1. Thin provisioning: Where to start (ignore the Hitachi focus, the guidelines are universally applicable)
2. Integrating thin provisioning into the fabric of IT
3. Thin provisioning: Look before you leap (originated by yours truly)
4. Planning for safe thin provisioning on external storage (these tips actually apply to thin provisioning on both internal and external storage)

I'll update this list as time goes on, and if you have other references that you think belong here, drop me an email or a comment and if I agree, I'll happily include them.

0.050: thin provisioning - don't leap before you look

I've been hanging out over at the Wikibon this week, both to monitor the feedback on Hitachi's latest announcements as well as just getting to know some of the folks there. Lots of familiar faces, and far too many "lurkers" who haven't yet stepped up to be heard. I have high hopes that this Web 2.0 approach to collaborative storage analysis is the wave of the future. Heck, I can't imagine why anyone would pay the Gartners, IDCs or Evaluator Groups of the world anything once this Wikibon community gets its legs under it.

There are lots of interesting topics flying around over there in Wikibon-land in addition to coverage of vendor announcements and strategies. If you've followed my call to action to join Dr. Kartik's efforts to redefine storage performance benchmarks, you'll notice that Dave Vellante has thrown the energy of Wikibon behind that initiative. And capitalizing on the benefits and returns of green storage is another interesting topic that's getting a lot of attention over at the Wikibon.

0.049: hitachi rifs mr. t

Like me, you probably noticed that the warfare and annihilation was markedly toned down in the latest round of press releases out of Hitachi Data Systems. So much so, I had to wonder why?

So I did a little digging, and learned that HDS's PR dude Steve Zivanic was recently RIF'd by the new VP of Marketing over an apparent culture clash. Steve was reportedly the guy responsible for those over-the-top (IMHO) Mr. T YouTube-omericals ( (original, "T" for Trucker and mid-TEEr T).

Or at least he was the guy held responsible for these tasteless productions (again, IMHO). Presumably he was also the brains behind the comic-book expressions littered throughout most of the HDS press releases we've seen over the past several years.

Steve has been reportedly replaced by a fellow named Emory Epperson.

While I personally can't say that I'm sad to see Mr. Zivanic go, I was also heartened to learn (from a source who requested anonymity) that former HDS blogger David Merrill was still under the employment of HDS (just muzzled for his honesty, apparently).

But I was more than a bit concerned that poor old Mr. T might be turned out to pasture as well. 

0.048: a "new deal" storage benchmark

Dr. Kartik has picked up on the challenge to define a real-world benchmark for storage arrays. This will be an inherently complex undertaking, probably rivaling the hornet's nest that was FDR's New Deal, but I'd like to be the first to put my support behind the effort.

More important than my participation, however, is YOURS.

And where the SPC benchmarks (and the TPC benchmarks before them) were designed by a membership-only club that worked in the privacy of their meetings, I encourage THIS attempt at defining a benchmark to be conducted entirely in the public, using the open & unrestricted platform of wikis, blogs and discussion forums to engage as many people around the globe as possible.

dotConnector has opened up the conversion in his blog, and his call to action needs your input and perspectives.                           dotConnector wants YOU!

Let's ALL join in!