Intel’s missed AI opportunity for Optane – could it return?
Today I’ve been doing some reading up on NVIDIA ICMSP, or Inference Context Memory Storage Platform. The technology is a new solution that uses NVIDIA BlueField-4 intelligent NICs to store AI inferencing model context data in a key-value store on persistent storage, such as NVMe SSDs. I won’t
Irrational Exuberance in the Storage Media Industry
Note: Neither Architecting IT or Brookend Ltd provide investment advice. The views expressed in this article are for information only and should not be taken as advice or recommendations in any form. If you are not clear on this, close this page now. Less than two weeks ago, we published
Could storage media shortages put a halt to VAST Data’s expansion plans?
VAST Data recently announced a Flash Reclamation Programme, aimed at repurposing solid-state media capacity to work with VAST’s storage operating system. Is this move symptomatic of the industry, or a challenge for a software-only provider that explicitly chose to exit the hardware market? Background In a response to the
Graviton5 continues Amazon’s implicit x86 replacement programme
At Reinvent 2025, AWS announced Graviton5, the next generation of Arm-based CPUs for EC2. The latest iteration improves performance over Graviton4 by 25%, with a redesign that abandons the NUMA architecture of its predecessor. With more new capacity of Graviton being deployed in AWS each year compared to x86, will
Is custom storage silicon the next evolution for cloud hyper-scale platforms?
Ten years ago in 2015, Amazon Web Services (AWS) acquired a small Israeli company called Annapurna Labs. Its technology had been used to develop Nitro, the beginning of a series of custom silicon designs that started with I/O offload and evolved into custom Arm processors. As demand for storage
Newsletter #100 - What does the future hold for technology in 2026?
There’s no doubt that 2025 was the year of artificial intelligence, specifically the development and usage of large language models. LLMs generated significant volumes of news stories, reaching into the mainstream press and even some lifestyle shows (including Lorraine in the UK). While the technology is here to stay,
In Q3 FY2026, the Pure Storage juggernaut delivers another solid financial quarter
Once again, Pure Storage, Inc. delivered a solid quarter of increased revenue and margin growth. For the period Q3 FY2026, ending 2nd November 2025, revenue rose 16.0% to $964.5 million, with a 72.3% gross margin. Is there a limit to which this growth can be sustained? Background
NetApp: Does Slow & Steady Win the Race?
As the CEO of a Silicon Valley tech company, George Kurian is remarkably calm and measured in his approach. The firm he heads, NetApp, Inc., is a Fortune 500 company with over thirty years of history, and probably one of the most recognised names in the data storage industry. However,
At Shift 2025, Commvault shifts closer to primary data with Cloud Unity
At Shift 2025 in New York City, Commvault Systems, Inc., announced the release of Cloud Unity, the next iteration of the Commvault Cloud platform.
Podcast #274 - Exploring the Benefits of DDVE & MFR with the HYCU Platform
In this podcast episode, Chris chats to Shiva Raja, Director of Product Management at HYCU, discussing the benefits of using Data Domain Virtual Edition (DDVE) with MFR (Managed File Replication) to store and replicate backup data within the HYCU platform.
Podcast #273 - Exploring Modern Data Protection, Ransomware and Shared Storage with Bill Basinas
In this podcast episode, Chris talks to Bill Basinas, Senior Director of Marketing at Infinidat. This conversation highlights that modern storage systems with cyber protection capabilities are a must.