

Chris Poelker
Contributor
Christopher Poelker is the author of Storage Area Networks for Dummies, and has over 30 years of experience architecting storage, backup and disaster recovery solutions. Chris specializes in storage virtualization and data protection.
The opinions expressed in this blog are those of Chris Poelker and do not necessarily represent those of IDG Communications, Inc., its parent, subsidiary or affiliated companies.

The state of storage in 2014
Planning often and early is a good idea. In this two part blog on storage directions, I cover the current state of the art in 2014, and where I believe we'll be heading in 2015 and beyond.
4 pillars of data management
Everyone knows the term data center, but not everyone understands what the day to day operations within a data center is all about. understanding data center operations is critical for anyone interested in a career in IT.
Hyper-convergence or just hype
It sure is hard to keep up in this fast changing technology world. Hyper-convergence is the latest new buzz word in data center circles. Third platform, Internet of things, object based storage, erasure coded disk, software-defined...
Information technology kung fu
The world has changed. Information technology everywhere is the new normal, as almost everyone is connected in some way to the net. Television was the last big thing, but people are now even bypassing television and getting most of...
Don't let storage ruin your vacation
In the spirit of the vacation season, I wanted to share some thoughts on an experience I had recently while on a holiday in the northwest U.S. and southwest Canada. If you ever get a chance to visit places like Banff and Lake...
The freedom of the cloud
I recently attended the Cloud Computing East 2014 conference put on by the DCIA and the CCA in Washington DC, and as usual, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the speakers at these cloud events. The information imparted...
3 cloud storage tips
I wanted to share a few of the cloud storage tips I have been developing. The first one was included in a recent article at CIO Magazine. Tip 1: Before you think of storage in the cloud, you need to be sure to understand your use...
The foundation of clouds: Intelligent abstraction
The term cloud computing is bandied about all the time these days, but many folks are still confused about what all the fuss is about, and what it means to them. The IT landscape is changing faster than it ever has before, and it...
Storage predictions 2014, a decade early
Back to the future, or how I was 10 years too early Every year I try to look into my crystal ball and anticipate the new big things and latest trends in storage in order to prepare for the coming year. My goal is to keep those in...
The rapid rate of change in IT
I just recently spent a few days in beautiful downtown Las Vegas at the Gartner Data Center Conference, and I must say, it was quite informative and a good show all together. One thing I found especially intriguing is how the IT...
Data deduplication in the cloud explained, part three: Implementation methods
Chris Poelker on Data Deduplication 1. Basic concepts 2. Deep Dive 3. Implementation methods (free registration required) In the first two installations of this blog, I discussed the business benefits of deduplication and how the...