10 On Tech

You don’t need to be told by now about the dangers of ransomware. But despite the huge interest in the topic, it can be surprising to find out how little companies know about protecting themselves from ransomware. Jon Toor, CMO of Cloudian, says that among the many things you can do, there’s one thing more important than the rest: making sure your data is immutable. Immutable data is data that can’t be changed, so if ransomware strikes, you simply restore from your immutable backup, and you’re back in business. Toor discusses data immutability and other ransomware topics in this episode of “10 on Tech” with ActualTech Media Partner James Green. Having the proper understanding of the threat is your first best weapon against the bad guys, so listen in and learn. Highlights of the show include: The three key attack vectors for ransomware What companies are missing when calculating potential damage from a ransomware attack The true costs of a ransomware breach—it’s not just the ransom “After-the-attac

PDI Software CTO Chris Berry says that it’s a matter of “when,” not “if,” your organization will be hit by a ransomware attack. And she’s right. On this episode of “10 on Tech,” Berry and ActualTech Media Partner James Green dive into the hottest topic in IT: the growing scourge of ransomware, which is affecting every corner of the industry. It's a plague that will only expand, since it has now become big business, operating in fact like any other business with a profit motive. PDI focuses on markets with a highly distributed IT infrastructure, like convenience retail and wholesale petroleum. With so many edge locations and endpoints to secure, PDI has a vested interest in stopping ransomware, and understands better than most the vulnerabilities faced by these types of businesses. Learn how they’re protecting their customers, and more, in this discussion. Highlights of the show include: Why PDI customers’ biggest security concern is ransomware Why ransomware is a special problem for distributed enviro

Here’s a fact you probably didn’t know: it’s not uncommon at all for a ransomware payment to be only a small portion of the overall financial impact of an attack. The bigger part, quite often, is the income lost by the business downtime. Mihir Shah, CEO/Co-Founder, StorCentric, believes that recovery should happen in a matter of hours, minimizing losses. He discussed the ransomware epidemic on this episode of “10 on Tech” with ActualTech Media Partner James Green. Do you have a comprehensive strategy for getting your company back on its feet after an attack? Are you sure? Do you think that ransomware insurance is enough to protect you? If so, this is a must-listen episode. Highlights of the show include: How to protect edge data The crucial ability to recover quickly from a ransomware attack The difficulty of protecting data that can be anywhere The cost difference between paying a ransom and business downtime Why one successful ransomware attack can quickly lead to others The drawbacks of ran

We are now in the era of cloud-native application development. And while this new paradigm has incredible benefits in terms of time to market, efficiency, and more, it ramps up the complexity factor significantly. With dozens, hundreds, or thousands of microservices comprising an application, observability is harder than ever, while at the same time being more crucial than ever. There are a lot of moving parts to track. That problem is the subject of this “10 on Tech” episode with Chronosphere. CEO/Co-Founder Martin Mao joins ActualTech Media Partner James Green for a fascinating discussion on this emerging topic. They chat about the challenges of observability in cloud-native environments, and why the “3 Pillars” of observability are starting points, not the end of the game of proper outcomes. Highlights of the show include: What Chronosphere learned about app observability from Uber Why it’s imperative that developers monitor their own cloud-native apps Advantages of observability in cloud-native

Believe it or not, there was a time when virtualizing servers was hard. Not so much anymore. In a way, that’s where we are with databases in the public cloud. It’s hard, and it can be intimidating to make the switch. When we look back in a few years, though, we may wonder why it seemed so hard to move data from strictly on-premises to off-premises environments. That’s the subject of this episode of “10 on Tech,” featuring a conversation with Chris Buckel, VP of Business Development for Silk. Silk calls itself the “database supercharger,” and helps migrate databases safely to the cloud. Chris chats with ActualTech Media Partner James Green about the current state of cloud-based data, and what the future holds. (Hint: it’s not as scary as you think). Highlights of the show include: What “Cloud, Chapter 2” means Why “anchor workloads” could be holding your databases back The challenges of moving databases into the public cloud The top pain points organizations have when moving data to the cloud Pri

“The computing edge” is a sexy buzzword right now. But is that really what you want as an IT admin? No—what you want, what you need, is infrastructure that just works, whether it’s on-premises or at the edge. That means your edge infrastructure needs to be reliable, especially in areas where it can be notoriously unreliable, and it needs to be run with as little administrative overhead as possible. Even if that means almost no overhead at all. In other words, the edge needs to be so boring that you don’t stay up nights worrying about whether it’ll suddenly go down. Scale Computing understands that, and CEO/Co-Founder Jeff Ready discusses how to make edge computing boring with ActualTech Media Partner James Green on this episode of “10 on Tech.” They chat about how computing is changing, and what you can do to stay on top of those changes, keeping your company competitive in the new computing era. Highlights of the show include: Scale Computing history What exactly is “edge computing” anyway? The imp

If there’s one word that describes the modern IT era, that word is “complexity.” Applications, data, and its associated infrastructure has broken through its on-premises boundaries and moved to the cloud and the edge. This has massive implications for things like software development and storage. Apps are increasingly born in the cloud and housed in containers, using microservices and APIs. This ramps up complexity in a big way. These apps are consuming huge amounts of data, and the storage needs to keep up. Since object storage is incredibly scalable, it’s more important than ever. And making sure that object storage is fast and efficient enough to be used by these apps is the core of what Scality does. In this episode of “10 on Tech,” Scality Chief Product Officer Paul Speciale joins ActualTech Media Partners Scott Lowe and James Green to talk about the past, present, and future of object storage. If you’re using containers and Kubernetes in production, or are considering a move into cloud-native develo

IT infrastructure has broken through. It’s no longer in an on-premises walled garden—data, applications, and hardware can live anywhere. That means new opportunities for business, but it also brings new challenges, especially when it comes to tying all these newly-disparate pieces together. That’s where edge networking comes in, and that’s the topic of this “10 on Tech” episode with ZPE Systems. John Paul Kang, ZPE Solutions Architect, joins ActualTech Media Partner James Green for an eye-opening discussion of how edge networking can transform your IT operations. Edge networking ensures that all your various systems can quickly and reliably communicate with each other, even if they’re thousands of miles away. It also allows you to update, manage, and maintain your network with minimal or even no staff onsite. It’s an episode you don’t want to miss. Highlights of the show include: Edge computing vs. edge networking Why businesses are moving to edge networking Challenges in building and maintaining ed

Ionir CEO Jacob Cherian calls his company a “container-native, enterprise software-defined storage and data management platform for Kubernetes.” That’s a mouthful! And it might be hard to even grasp what all that means. That’s why Cherian had a talk with ActualTech Media Partner James Green. In this episode of “10 on Tech,” they discuss how Ionir’s product overcomes the traditional limitation of running stateful applications across containerized/Kubernetes environments. Stateless apps have always been easier to use with containers, but the necessity of persistent data for some apps has made architecture much more complicated. Using Ionir, that’s no longer the case. Listen in to find out more. Highlights of the show include: The changing nature of data The problems of data portability and persistent volumes How Data Teleport handles Reads and Writes The importance of minimizing Reads on demand Improving the Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) development model The breakthrough of

You’re an IT admin. You’ve been tasked with expanding your storage infrastructure. You know that the cloud is the way to go. But there’s a big question facing you: what data do you have, and how do you sort out the most important data from the less important data? And then, how do you move it into (and out of) the cloud without breaking the bank? These are critical questions for data management, and they’re the focus of this episode of ActualTech Media’s “10 on Tech” podcast. Joining ActualTech Media Partner James Green is Krishna Subramanian, President & COO of data management vendor Komprise. They discuss the best ways to get a handle on the data explosion happening in most companies, and the best ways to increase efficiency and save money when migrating data to, and managing that data in, the cloud. If you’re looking to do this now, it’s an episode you don’t want to miss. Highlights of the show include: Why companies are moving to a cloud-first strategy for data storage Structured vs. unstructured d

Phishing is evolving. The bad guys are getting better at tricking end users and getting their information, and they’re starting to use more sophisticated techniques, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), to find and exploit more targets. The way to fight back, according to Patrick Harr, CEO of SlashNext, is to employ the same techniques to defeat them. Harr talks with ActualTech Media Partner James Green about how to do that on this episode of “10 on Tech.” They take a deep dive into the next wave of phishing, and how to protect yourself and your company against the newly emerging threats. Highlights of the show include: How phishing is moving beyond simple email attacks The dramatic increase in phishing attacks since the start of the pandemic The reason ransomware often starts out as phishing How SlashNext uses big data to spot new attack vectors Resource links from the show: SlashNext homepage -- https://www.slashnext.com/ Try SlashNext for free -- https://www.slas

It’s becoming an increasingly common story: a company moves some operations and data to the cloud, figuring all its problems will be solved. Then the bill comes. Heart attacks ensue. And just as swiftly, the company pulls back from the cloud. It doesn’t have to be that way, according to Dave Birmingham, Senior Technical Evangelist, SIOS Technology Corp. He chats with ActualTech Media Partner James Green about the proper way to move to the cloud on this episode of “10 on Tech.” They discuss how to not get burned financially, as well as advice on choosing the right cloud deployment and management options. Highlights of the show include: The reasons companies fail in cloud deployments Reserved and spot instances in the cloud, and how they can save you money Cloud Availability Zones, what they are, and how they impact your operations The hidden danger of cloud egress fees and how to avoid them Backup and recovery in the cloud Resource links from the show: SIOS homepage -- https://us.sios.com/ Try

It’s the age-old IT tradeoff: the speed of memory, with its lack of persistence, vs. storage, which is slower but persistent. More and more, however, this tradeoff is being minimized, with new technologies offering the promise of both speed and persistence. MemVerge is one of the companies at the leading edge of this revolution, and they join ActualTech Media Partner James Green to discuss this growing trend on “10 on Tech.” MemVerge CEO Charles Fan and James pick apart the concept of “persistent memory,” what it looks like today, and where it’s going in the future. Highlights of the show include: Distinguishing between storage, memory, and persistent memory Why persistent memory is such a breakthrough for application performance Intel Optane’s three “modes” of operation, and why they all have shortcomings Top MemVerge use cases, including financial services and entertainment Resource links from the show: MemVerge homepage -- https://www.memverge.com/ MemVerge Introduces Big Memory Computing --

Coronavirus has taken a terrible toll on the world, and changed everything. On the IT side, one of the most obvious ways things have changed is the “new normal” of cloud computing moving to the center of operations. Even when business starts to return, there will be more remote work than ever being done, and it’s likely to be a permanent situation. That means a need for cloud solutions that foster remote collaboration. That’s the topic under discussion on this episode of “10 on Tech” with ActualTech Media Partner James Green. Joining James are two Panzura executives: Jill Stelfox, Executive Chairwoman & CEO, and Rich Weber, President & Chief Product Officer. They chat about what this new world will look like, and how to make sure that your users can effectively work together, no matter where they are. Highlights of the show include: How the novel coronavirus has upended traditional ways of doing IT Why things will never completely return to the way they were Common myths about workloads that can’t b

Moore’s Law, which held that processor speeds would double every 18 months to 2 years, is dead, according to Pliops President/CBO Steve Fingerhut. Because of that, the burden now falls on storage to provide the kind of performance that the current IT environment demands. Fingerhut discusses these issues on this episode of “10 on Tech” with ActualTech Media Partner James Green. What’s needed, Fingerhut argues, is a way to speed up storage and make it more efficient. He believes the answer is storage acceleration, which offloads the burden from the processor. Highlights of the show include: How the cloud has changed computing and application development Why processors can’t keep up anymore Where the bottlenecks really are now Why storage hardware acceleration is the answer to current challenges An overview of Pliops, and how its product works Resource links from the show: Pliops homepage -- https://pliops.com/ Blog -- https://pliops.com/unlock-the-full-potential-of-ssds/ Redis solution brief --

COVID-19 has changed everything, and hit every area of life. That’s also true for the tech industry, and no part of our industry has been hit harder than tech conferences. What’s their future? That’s what ActualTech Media Partner James Green and HashiCorp Head of Global Events & Experiential Marketing Jana Boruta tackle on this episode of “10 on Tech.” The reality is that no one knows when things will return to normal—or even if that “normal” will ever return at all. Here’s how one company is adjusting its focus to online conferences, and some of their innovative solutions to helping attendees enjoy the shows almost as much as being there in person. Highlights of the show include: The impact of the pandemic on the trade show industry How online conferences have to change The differences between in-person and digital conferences Why HashiCorp is building a custom conference platform How do companies re-create the community aspect of conferences? Resource links from the show: HashiCorp -- https:

How is Kubernetes like the virtualization industry? They both got their start as niche technologies, but as their usefulness became evident, they started to get more mainstream adoption. That led to more development of the technology, extending it further, which led to more adoption, and so on. Kubernetes today experiencing a similar growth curve, argues Rancher CMO Peter Smails in this episode of “10 on Tech.” He discusses Kubernetes’ past, present, and future with ActualTech Media Partner James Green. Kubernetes, although it’s still a nascent technology, is rapidly gaining footholds in the enterprise as it’s the best way to orchestrate containers. With that growth comes the need to manage Kubernetes. You have options there, and Peter and James go into detail on what they are. Highlights of the show include: An overview of the container and Kubernetes landscape Why Kubernetes needs to be managed The top contenders in the Kubernetes management space Why Rancher’s solution is 100% open source and c

There are many things to be worried about these days when it comes to IT security. There’s so much to know that it can be difficult to even know how to get started. As ActualTech Media Partner James Green says in this edition of “10 on Tech” with Devolutions, doing nothing means possibly leaving an attack vector left open. But the risk of doing something, and doing it wrong, can also leave you vulnerable. That’s why security can be terrifying. Maurice Côté, VP Business Solutions, Devolutions, and James talk over some basic strategies companies can apply to build a solid foundation of security. They wade into topics like user access, passwords, remote access, and more. If you’re experiencing “paralysis by security analysis,” this episode is for you. Highlights of the show include: Applying the “least privilege” principle to user accounts Protecting against “spear-phishing” that targets specific privileged accounts Benefits of a centralized logging system What “account brokering” is, and how it can

It may seem odd at first glance for a traditional storage company like StorMagic to branch out into the area of security—specifically, key management. But as StorMagic Chief Marketing and Product Officer Bruce Kornfeld explains, it’s actually a natural progression. After all, in this day of data being everywhere—on-premises, off-premises, in the cloud, at the edge—it’s more important than ever to encrypt that data, since there are so many more ways to get at it. And encryption, of course, requires keys. Kornfeld discusses the field of key management with ActualTech Media Partner James Green on this episode of “10 on Tech.” They also go in-depth on StorMagic’s key management product, SvKMS, and why it’s worth taking a look at as you improve your security posture. Highlights of the show include: What prompted StorMagic to add security, and specifically key management, to its offerings How to properly manage keys, including concepts like “rotating” keys and centralization The danger of management silos

You know you need to implement proper cybersecurity in your environment. But how do you do that? Where do you even start? That’s the topic of this episode of “10 on Tech,” featuring Liam Downward and Michael Hogue of Data Spotlite. They discuss these issues and more with ActualTech Media Partner James Green. One of their central points is that you have to understand your own environment before going forward with cybersecurity solutions. That means, for instance, knowing where your vulnerabilities are, and then patching them. It also means knowing where your data is and reducing that footprint. Hogue and Downward stress that data owners need to take responsibility for their security, rather than relying on cybersecurity applications alone to do everything for them. It’s the combination of solutions and people that make your operations secure—not just an application. Highlights of the show include: The current state of cybersecurity for small and medium businesses How much more complicated cybersecurity