More articles by Leslie Wood

Storage networking vendors say flexible storage environments are just the thing for alleviating virtual I/O bottlenecks and capacity constraints.

With the Obama Administration and the economy likely to keep Green IT issues in focus, data storage vendors say they're working on both their products and their own practices.

When it comes to storage and data center energy costs, users aren't getting enough information, according to a recent report.

Rising energy costs are giving rise to a new generation of eco-friendly storage products — and leading storage vendors to reevaluate their own internal practices.

Storage vendors and professionals find their roles are changing as storage begins to converge with broader IT infrastructures.

Disk-based backup and the convergence of data center networking technologies are very much on the minds of storage vendors and users this year.

High-capacity optical storage is making inroads into enterprise storage in ways that commodity CDs and DVDs could not.

Blue-laser optical storage offers high capacity, long shelf life and cost savings. So why isn't it catching on in enterprise storage environments?

NAS gateways help make the most of SANs and LANs.

Network-attached storage sales have slowed in recent years, but the marriage of SAN and NAS promises to keep the market strong for some time to come.

Storage area networks have become critical for managing explosive data growth, but deploying and managing a SAN can present as many challenges as it solves.

Be it dedicated storage teams, trained personnel or having the right tools, there are a number of ways to get the storage management help your organization needs.

Dedicated storage teams aren't for everyone, so what are some steps companies can take to make storage management easier?

With the growth of fixed content far surpassing all other kinds of data, storage managers face quite a challenge getting a handle on all those files that never change once they're created.

Low-cost tiered disk storage is one way to get a handle on fast-growing fixed content data.

Information lifecycle management technology is spurring the storage management software market to double-digit growth. Even SMBs are getting in on the act.

Storage management affects everything from devices to ILM and regulatory compliance, giving users much to think about when shopping for management software.

Acronyms like HSM, ILM and SRM are keeping the storage management software market hot.

The use of storage teams has grown dramatically in recent years, but some wonder if they're always necessary.

Growing complexity and soaring data demands make it inevitable that storage users will eventually have to try new approaches to manage it all.

Backup technologies are changing rapidly, creating both confusion and opportunity for storage users.

Growing storage burdens and the emergence of new ways to handle them are creating a need for new management tools.

In the final part of our series on the rise of global storage networking, we examine the role of global storage networks in service-oriented environments.

The rise of global storage networking is putting pressure on vendors to make sure their products are interoperable.

The growing importance of data storage in global enterprises is changing the way data is stored.

In the second part of our storage outlook series, we examine the need for dedicated teams for automating storage management.

Whether you call it provisioning, utility computing or virtualization, storage management is changing.

The need to manage far-flung storage environments is driving a new storage services model.

In the final part of our series on managing storage growth, we look at when to outsource and the emergence of low-cost and targeted storage.

A little planning can help you avoid vendor lock-in and rushed product decisions.

In the first part of a series on challenges facing storage end users, we examine ways to improve storage utilization and reduce total cost of ownership.

Does virtualization improve utilization of storage resources? That's just one of the issues we address in our continuing survey of the storage management landscape.

Be it SRM or SMI-S, you can bet the future of storage management will hold one thing: acronyms. We peer into the storage management crystal ball.

In the second part of a series on storage service providers, Leslie Wood examines the changing nature of utility storage.

Storage service providers were an unsuccessful early attempt at utility computing. What lessons did they leave for the current advocates of utility computing?

With the volume of data soaring and new regulations requiring that it be kept safe and secure, storage users will have to navigate a rapidly changing landscape in coming years.

Demand for storage continues to grow at an unprecedented rate, which is certainly good news for storage vendors, but what does it mean for the future of the industry? Leslie Wood explores several key areas that are predicted to shape the storage industry for 2004 and beyond.

Storage not only plays a critical role in a company's IT strategy, it's also increasingly important to the survival of the overall business. Leslie Wood wraps up a discussion on why it's vital for IT departments to understand key storage issues, how to address them, and how these issues impact the entire enterprise.

Storage not only plays a critical role in a company's IT strategy, it's also increasingly important to the survival of the overall business. Leslie Wood looks at why it's vital for IT departments to understand key storage issues, how to address them, and how these issues impact the entire enterprise.

Mid-size businesses need storage every bit as much as large enterprises, but the mid-range market presents a completely different set of challenges and opportunities for vendors. What can storage vendors do to successfully take advantage of this untapped market?

Mid-size businesses need storage every bit as much as large enterprises, but the mid-range market presents a completely different set of challenges and opportunities for vendors. What can storage vendors do to successfully take advantage of this untapped market?

Backing up ever-growing amounts of data quickly and efficiently while simultaneously seeking to reduce the resources used continues to pose a conundrum for many IT organizations. Leslie Wood explores an array of alternatives designed to help you back up more data in less time.

Backing up ever-growing amounts of data quickly and efficiently continues to pose a problem for many IT organizations. Leslie Wood explores some new alternatives designed to help you back up more data in less time.

SANs are faster and more reliable than ever before, but the promises of true integration remain just that, mere promises. Has storage technology reached the point where true integration is even achievable?

SANs are faster and more reliable than ever before, but the promises of true integration remain just that, mere promises. Has storage technology reached the point where true integration is even achievable?

Our focus on the storage industry's 'compliance effect' continues with an examination of how compliance issues are likely to evolve over the next five years, what organizations can do now to get the ball rolling, and what current and emerging storage technologies might make satisfying regulatory requirements easier in the future.

Today's storage managers not only face the day-to-day issues that have come to be expected, they now have to fulfill data permanence and retention regulations, address potential liability issues, satisfy security requirements, simplify compliance management, improve information access, and cut overall costs -- all in a day's work.

While some industry experts believe IP-based SANs will have an eye-opening effect on the storage industry, others feel that it will be nothing more than 'business as usual.' Leslie Wood concludes an in-depth look at where IP SANs stand today and once again tackles the burning question of whether or not Fibre Channel SANs and IP SANs will play nice together.