Peter Velikin

Register > Solid State Disk (SSD) technology is one of the hottest IT areas in 2012. The promise to eliminate storage IO bottlenecks and increase application performance, enable server virtualization, enable data center growth, and reduce IT costs has prompted 83% of all IT departments to consider SSD. But those planning an SSD deployment face a variety of deployment choices. Moreover, choosing poorly can yield large expense, disruption to existing IT environments, and a complex new set of storage management tasks. Join Brian Garrett, Vice President at the Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc. and Peter Velikin from VeloBit, Inc. for a comprehensive overview of the key considerations you must make when building your SSD strategy. This webinar is intended to help IT executives make wise decisions. You will see first-hand research on the actual vs. perceived benefits organi... (more)

Using RAM in SSD Caching

Dr Dog Says “You Need More RAM In Your Cache Diet” Well, I am not really a doctor, but I play one on TV. You may remember (if you are old enough) that line from the 1986 Vicks-44 TV commercial.  Anyway, while I may not be a real doctor, I can certainly tell you about why you need more RAM in you cache diet. “I Think My Cache Diet Is Great” If you were happily running your IT system but needed some additional performance, chances are you turned to some kind of SSD caching solution to improve performance at a lower cost point than adding more servers or storage. You went on what I a... (more)

A Venture Capitalist’s Take on VeloBit

After I sold my last company, I looked at dozens of opportunities before joining Qing Yang in cofounding VeloBit. Many have asked me what made me choose VeloBit.  They are interested in my answer because I was a successful venture capitalist for 10 years at Bessemer Venture Partners and Flagship Ventures. As a VC, my job was to pick startups that had the highest chance for great success – and I was good at it. So what does a VC look for, and why is VeloBit compelling? In my VC days, I created a list of questions for evaluating investments. In this note, I’ll explain ... (more)

SDD Cache: Why is Cache Write Through Good?

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of your IT manager or to take up cache against a sea of data. With apologies to Bill Shakespeare, the IT Dog is discussing two different cache write policies: write through and write back. Let me take a run at telling you what they are, why they are different and what you need to think about when you decide what policy to use. Cache Write Through This is the easier to explain and understand of the two policies discussed here. Cache write through is like having your cake and eating it too. Data is written into cache ... (more)

Are SSD prices stabilizing?

While it's conventional wisdom that SSD prices are falling, the reality may change soon. The DigiTimes reports that the price of NAND flash memory, which is a large component in SSDs, rose significantly in the second half of September. The article attributes the price increase to two reasons. NAND manufacturers have been intentionally limiting supply, citing Toshiba cutting production by 30%. It also points to higher demand from smartphone vendors. The NAND manufacturers could be looking at the DRAM business and trying to avoid the cutthroat price competition that eliminates marg... (more)