Storage administration

Terms related to data storage management, including definitions about enterprise storage and words and phrases about storage infrastructure, storage capacity and hierarchical storage management (HSM).

3D XPoint - 3D XPoint is memory storage technology jointly developed by Intel and Micron Technology Inc.
Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) - Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is a scalable, high-speed, web-based cloud storage service.
bad block - A bad block is an area of storage media that is no longer reliable for storing and retrieving data because it has been physically damaged or corrupted.
bit rot - Bit rot is the slow deterioration in the performance and integrity of data stored on storage media.
block storage - Block storage is an approach to data storage in which each volume acts as an individual hard drive that is configured by the administrator.
brontobyte - A brontobyte is an unofficial measure of memory or data storage that is equal to 10 to the 27th power of bytes.
burn-in - Burn-in is a test in which a system or component is made to run for an extended period of time to detect problems.
cache server - A cache server is a dedicated network server or service acting as a server that saves webpages or other internet content locally.
capacity management - Capacity management is the broad term describing a variety of IT monitoring, administration and planning actions that ensure that a computing infrastructure has adequate resources to handle current data processing requirements, as well as the capacity to accommodate future loads.
Ceph - Ceph is open source software providing scalable object-, block- and file-based storage under a unified system.
cloud archive - A cloud archive is storage as a service for long-term data retention.
cloud computing - Cloud computing is a general term for the delivery of hosted computing services and IT resources over the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing.
cloud data management - Cloud data management is a way to manage data across cloud platforms, either with or instead of on-premises storage.
cloud encryption (cloud storage encryption) - Cloud encryption is a service offered by cloud storage providers whereby a customer's data is transformed using encryption algorithms into ciphertext and stored in the cloud.
cloud NAS (cloud network attached storage) - Cloud NAS (network attached storage) is remote storage that is accessed over the internet as if it is local.
cloud SLA (cloud service-level agreement) - A cloud SLA (cloud service-level agreement) is an agreement between a cloud service provider and a customer that ensures a minimum level of service is maintained.
cloud storage - Cloud storage is a service model in which data is transmitted and stored on remote storage systems, where it is maintained, managed, backed up and made available to users over a network (typically the internet).
cloud storage API - A cloud storage API is an application programming interface that connects a locally based application to a cloud-based storage system so that a user can send data to it and access and work with data stored in it.
cloud storage provider - A cloud storage provider, sometimes referred to as a managed service provider, is a company that offers organizations and individuals the ability to place and retain data in an off-site storage system.
cloud storage service - A cloud storage service is a business that maintains and manages its customers' data and makes that data accessible over a network, usually the internet.
cluster quorum disk - A cluster quorum disk is the storage medium on which the configuration database is stored for a cluster computing network.
clustered network-attached storage (NAS) system - A clustered network-attached storage (NAS) system is a scale-out storage platform made up of multiple NAS nodes networked together into a single cluster.
cold storage - Cold storage is a computer system or mode of operation designed for the retention of inactive data.
compact disc (CD) - A compact disc is a portable storage medium that can record, store and play back audio, video and other data in digital form.
computational storage - Computational storage is an IT architecture in which data is processed at the storage device level to reduce the amount of data that must move between the storage plane and the compute plane.
computer room air conditioning (CRAC) unit - A computer room air conditioning (CRAC) unit is a device that monitors and maintains the temperature, air distribution and humidity in a data center, network or server room.
continuous data protection (CDP) - Continuous data protection (CDP), also known as continuous backup, is a backup and recovery storage system in which all the data in an enterprise is backed up whenever any change is made.
copy data management (CDM) - Copy data management (CDM) is an approach to reducing storage consumption that involves eliminating the unnecessary duplication of production data.
data at rest - Data at rest is a term that is sometimes used to refer to all data in computer storage while excluding data that is traversing a network or temporarily residing in computer memory to be read or updated.
data breach - A data breach is a cyber attack in which sensitive, confidential or otherwise protected data has been accessed or disclosed in an unauthorized fashion.
data center as a service (DCaaS) - Data center as a service (DCaaS) is the provision of off-site physical data center facilities and infrastructure to clients.
data classification - Data classification is the process of organizing data into categories that make it is easy to retrieve, sort and store for future use.
data deduplication hardware - Data deduplication hardware is disk storage that eliminates redundant copies of data and retains one instance to be stored.
Data Dynamics StorageX - Data Dynamics StorageX is a software suite that specializes in data migration and Microsoft Distributed File System management.
data lake - A data lake is a storage repository that holds a vast amount of raw data in its native format until it is needed for analytics applications.
data protection management (DPM) - Data protection management (DPM) is the administration, monitoring and management of backup processes to ensure backup tasks run on schedule and data is securely backed up and recoverable.
data reduction - Data reduction lowers the amount of capacity required to store data.
data retention policy - In business settings, data retention is a concept that encompasses all processes for storing and preserving data, as well as the specific time periods and policies businesses enforce that determine how and for how long data should be retained.
defragmentation - Defragmentation is the process of locating the noncontiguous fragments of data into which a computer file may be divided as it is stored on a hard disk, and rearranging the fragments and restoring them into fewer fragments or into the whole file.
DIMM (dual in-line memory module) - DIMM (dual in-line memory module) is a type of computer memory that is natively 64 bits, enabling fast data transfer.
disk backup or disk-based backup - Disk backup, or disk-based backup, is a data backup and recovery method that backs data up to hard disk storage.
disk image - A disk image is a compressed file that contains a copy of the entire contents of a computer's hard drive or other storage media, such as optical discs or solid-state drives.
disk mirroring (RAID 1) - Disk mirroring, also known as RAID 1, is the replication of data across two or more disks.
diskpart (Disk Partition Utility) - Diskpart is a command line utility in Windows operating systems (OSs) that is used to manage disks, partitions, and volumes.
distributed file system (DFS) - A distributed file system (DFS) is a file system that enables clients to access file storage from multiple hosts through a computer network as if the user was accessing local storage.
DRBD (Distributed Replicated Block Device) - DRBD (Distributed Replicated Block Device) is a Linux-based software component that facilitates the replacement of shared storage systems by networked mirroring.
eMMC (embedded MultiMediaCard) - An embedded MultiMediaCard (eMMC) is a small storage device made up of NAND flash memory and a simple storage controller.
encryption key management - Encryption key management is the practice of generating, organizing, protecting, storing, backing up and distributing encryption keys.
enterprise storage - Enterprise storage is a centralized repository for business information that provides common data management, protection and data sharing functions through connections to computer systems.
exbibyte (EiB) - An exbibyte (EiB) is a unit that measures data capacity.
Fibre Channel (FC) port types - A Fibre Channel port is a hardware pathway into and out of a node that performs data communications over an FC link.
file system - In computing, a file system -- sometimes written filesystem -- is a logical and physical system for organizing, managing and accessing the files and directories on a device's solid-state drive (SSD), hard-disk drive (HDD) or other media.
flash memory card - A flash memory card -- sometimes called a storage card -- is a small storage device that uses non-volatile semiconductor memory to store data on portable or remote computing devices.
floating gate transistor (FGT) - A floating gate transistor (FGT) is a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology capable of holding an electrical charge in a memory device that is used to store data.
gibibyte (GiB) - A gibibyte (GiB) is a unit of measure of capacity in computing.
gigabit (Gb) - In data communications, a gigabit (Gb) is 1 billion bits, or 1,000,000,000 (that is, 10^9) bits.
gigabyte (GB) - A gigabyte (GB) -- pronounced with two hard Gs -- is a unit of data storage capacity that is roughly equivalent to 1 billion bytes.
Google Cloud Coldline Storage - Google Cloud Coldline Storage is a public cloud cold storage service for infrequently accessed data.
Google Cloud Storage - Google Cloud Storage is an enterprise public cloud storage platform that can house large unstructured data sets.
green networking - Green networking is the practice of selecting energy-efficient networking technologies and products and minimizing resource use whenever possible.
hardware RAID (hardware redundant array of independent disk) - Hardware RAID is a form of RAID (redundant array of independent disks) where processing is done on the motherboard or a separate RAID card.
HDD form factor (hard disk drive form factor) - HDD form factor (hard disk drive form factor) is the size or geometry of a data storage device equipped with one or more magnetic-coated spinning platters and one or more moving actuator arms with magnetic heads to read and write information.
hierarchy - Generally speaking, hierarchy refers to an organizational structure in which items are ranked in a specific manner, usually according to levels of importance.
historical data - Historical data, in a broad context, is data collected about past events and circumstances pertaining to a particular subject.
How many bytes for... - Data is often expressed in bytes, which are composed of eight binary digits.
hybrid cloud storage - Hybrid cloud storage is an approach to managing cloud storage that uses both local and off-site resources.
hyper-converged storage - Hyper-converged storage is a software-defined approach to storage management that combines storage, compute, virtualization and sometimes networking technologies in one physical unit that is managed as a single system.
inline deduplication - Inline deduplication is the removal of redundancies from data before or as it is being written to a backup device.
interrupt vector - An interrupt vector is the memory location of an interrupt handler, which prioritizes interrupts and saves them in a queue if more than one interrupt is waiting to be handled.
IT chargeback system - An IT chargeback system is an accounting strategy that applies the costs of IT services, hardware or software to the business unit in which they are used.
IT operations management (ITOM) - IT operations management (ITOM) is a strategic approach to managing an organization's information technology needs.
ITIL V3 - ITIL V3 is the third version of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), a globally recognized collection of best practices for managing IT and for implementing IT service management (ITSM) practices.
kibi, mebi, gibi, tebi, pebi and exbi - Kibi, mebi, gibi, tebi, pebi and exbi are binary prefix multipliers that, in 1998, were approved as a standard by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
Kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta, exa, zetta and all that - Kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta, exa and zetta are among the binary prefixes used to denote the quantity of something, such as a byte or bit in computing and telecommunications.
logical block addressing (LBA) - Logical block addressing (LBA) is a technique to specify the addresses of blocks of data on a storage device, such as a hard disk.
logical volume management (LVM) - Logical volume management (LVM) is a form of storage virtualization that offers system administrators a more flexible approach to managing disk storage space than traditional partitioning.
LTFS (Linear Tape File System) - LTFS (Linear Tape File System) is a file system specification that allows Linear Tape-Open (LTO) storage technology to be indexed.
LTO-5 - LTO-5 is a tape format released in 2010 by the Linear Tape-Open Consortium.
LTO-7 (Linear Tape-Open 7) - LTO-7 is a tape format from the Linear Tape-Open (LTO) Consortium released in late 2015.
LTO-8 (Linear Tape-Open 8) - LTO-8 is a tape format from the Linear Tape-Open Consortium released in late 2017.
LTO-9 (Linear Tape-Open 9) - LTO-9 (Linear Tape-Open 9) is a future tape format from the Linear Tape-Open Consortium.
LUN masking - LUN masking is an authorization mechanism used in storage area networks (SANs) to make LUNs available to some hosts but unavailable to other hosts.
M.2 SSD - An M.2 SSD is a small form factor solid-state drive (SSD) that internally mounted storage expansion cards use.
Massachusetts data protection law - What is the Massachusetts data protection law?The Massachusetts data protection law is legislation that stipulates security requirements for organizations that handle the private data of residents.
mebibyte (MiB) - A mebibyte (MiB) is a unit of measurement used in computer data storage.
memory management - Memory management is the process of controlling and coordinating a computer's main memory.
memory management unit (MMU) - A memory management unit (MMU) is a computer hardware component that handles all memory and caching operations associated with the processor.
Microsoft Azure File Service - Microsoft Azure File Service is a service that allows Windows Server admins to access SMB shares in the Azure cloud by setting up file shares in the Azure management console.
mount point - A mount point is a directory on a file system that is logically linked to another file system.
mSATA SSD (mSATA solid-state drive) - An mSATA SSD is a solid-state drive (SSD) that conforms to the mSATA interface specification developed by the Serial ATA (SATA) International Organization.
N_Port ID virtualization (NPIV) - N_Port ID virtualization (NPIV) is a Fibre Channel (FC) standard that makes it possible to create multiple virtual ports on a single physical node port (N_Port), with each virtual port appearing as a unique entity to the FC network.
NAS gateway - NAS gateway is a NAS (network-attached storage) system in which the storage media are externally attached, typically over a Fibre Channel interface.
NetApp - NetApp, formerly Network Appliance Inc.
NetApp Data Fabric - The products and services that compose NetApp’s Data Fabric are designed to provide customers with the agility they need to quickly and efficiently move data to and from the cloud.
NetApp SolidFire - NetApp SolidFire is a business division of NetApp Inc.
NVDIMM (Non-Volatile Dual In-line Memory Module) - An NVDIMM (non-volatile dual in-line memory module) is hybrid computer memory that retains data during a service outage.
NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF) - NVMe over Fabrics, also known as NVMe-oF and non-volatile memory express over fabrics, is a protocol specification designed to connect hosts to storage across a network fabric using the NVMe network protocol.
NVMe over Fibre Channel (NVMe over FC) or FC-NVMe standard - Nonvolatile memory express over Fibre Channel (NVMe over FC) -- which is implemented through the Fibre Channel-NVMe (FC-NVMe) standard -- is a technology specification designed to enable NVMe-based message commands to transfer data and status information between a host computer and a target storage subsystem over a Fibre Channel network fabric.
NVRAM (non-volatile random-access memory) - NVRAM (non-volatile random-access memory) refers to computer memory that can hold data even when power to the memory chips has been turned off.
object storage - Object storage, also called object-based storage, is an approach to addressing and manipulating data storage as discrete units, called objects.