By Steve Whitner

Deduplication has been one of the hottest technologies in the storage industry for almost three years.  During that time, it has generated marketing wars, industry consolidation, and comments and controversy from vendors. IT managers in most midrange data centers typically have limited staff and few backup specialists, and it can be hard to figure out how deduplication might fit into their situation.  Following are important questions for IT managers to ask as they consider deploying deduplication in a midrange data center.

1. Is data deduplication now a mainstream technology?
Yes.  Deduplication appliances have absolutely made the transition from experimental to mainstream.  Analysts tell us that a little over 30% of IT departments use it for at least part of their data, and vendors now offer products with a couple of technology generations behind them that are optimized for simplified, non-disruptive deployment.   

However, this doesn’t mean that every solution is equal.  Most deduplication vendors go through a learning curve, so it pays to ask about experience, references, and support when evaluating solutions. 

By Mark Ferelli

Recently, four companies in the archiving business launched the Active Archive Alliance, dedicated to informing a doubting IT industry that archives are not just files that are well-nigh forgotten. Archives need to be readily available, for reasons of corporate governance, regulatory compliance and litigation support (colloquially known as e-discovery). Spectra Logic, QStar, FileTek and Compellent are uniting to enlighten data center management and sell product that will keep archives available and usable in day-to-day operations. I expect other firms to join in the effort.

Consortia like the Active Archive Alliance are nothing new, but deliver value to the industry as a whole.  Veterans of the storage industry will remember the organization built around the Travan tape technology, ably helmed by Michael Stevens of what was 3M and became Imation. Those same veterans will recall the AIT Forum, sponsored by Sony and organized by Marty Foltyn. Finally, they will remember format neutral organizations like the Tape Technology Council, managed by Rich Harada. With Computer Technology Review now in its 30th year of operation, and considering our in-depth coverage of tape technology, we have seen a great many groups rise and retire.