Long gone are the days when data storage could be considered boring. Today, storage technology is changing fast with the rise of all-flash arrays, cloud storage, software-defined storage, and hyperconvergence. The market is filled with startups touting new approaches to enterprise storage alongside established storage vendors evolving to keep up with the fast-changing landscape. M&A activity in the storage industry is constant.
Keeping up with this rapidly changing landscape isn't easy. At the same time, enterprises are under pressure with an explosion of data and looking for cost-effective ways to deal with growing storage requirements. Suffice to say, it's a challenging environment for storage pros.
Fortunately, there are a number of storage experts keeping a close eye on developments in the industry and who share their observations in blogs and on Twitter. They write about their experiences with new products, express opinions on the latest storage acquisition, and provide reality checks on vendor claims.
We shared a list of seven storage experts last year, but with so much expertise in the industry, we thought it was time to put together another list. Continue on to meet these storage experts (listed alphabetically) who provide practical advice, analysis of storage trends, and help cut through industry hype. With all the changes in storage, it's interesting to note that many of these experts are well-versed in virtualization and cloud technologies as well.
(Image: Danil Melekhin/iStockphoto)
Richard Arnold
Based in the UK, Richard Arnold is a storage expert focused on HP 3PAR, but also writes about other storage technologies as well as some virtualization. His 3Pardude blog includes product reviews, tips and analysis of storage news. Arnold works for an IT service provider and was selected as a 2016 VMware vExpert earlier this year.
Chris M Evans
Chris M Evans has worked as an independent consultant for most of his 27 years in the IT industry, focused on storage and more recently virtualization and cloud. On his ArchitectingIT blog, he writes comprehensive analysis of technologies and trends, including emerging container storage issues. He also follows market developments such as M&As and executive turnover. A prolific writer, Evans also is a Network Computing contributor.
Alex Galbraith
Alex Galbraith blogs about storage, virtualization, and cloud on his Tekhead.it blog. This summer, he joined Rackspace as a solutions architect. Galbraith lives in the UK and holds several certifications from VMware, Amazon, Microsoft, Citrix and Cisco, and has been awarded VMware vExpert status for four years running. He has become a regular speaker at London VMUG events, and is a self-professed fan of memes, which he often includes in his tweets and blogs.
Dave Henry
Dave Henry's IT career started as UNIX system administrator and includes seven years in various technical roles at EMC. He is currently leads the storage and virtualization practices at Accunet Solutions, a VAR. Henry has received a lot of industry recognition, including being named a Cisco Champion for Data Center and one of 10 founders in EMC's Elect program. He has been named a VMware vExpert for four years. Henry expanded into podcasting this year and his blog features recordings produced at EMC World. The name of his blog, as he explains, comes from how he finds ways to explain very technical things to non-technical people.
Matthew Leib
Matthew Leib focuses on storage, virtualization and cloud technologies and is currently strategic solutions architect at integrator OnX Systems. On his blog, Virtually Tied To My Desktop, he provides opinions on career advice, technical guidance on topics like high availability, and opinions on market news. Leib has been a VMware vExpert since 2012 and this year was selected for the inaugural vExpert NSX team.
Ray Lucchesi
Ray Lucchesi is the president and founder of Silverton Consulting, which specializes in storage, strategy and systems services and solutions. He has worked in the data storage industry for more than 30 years, developing storage products and directing the development of enterprise storage systems. At RayOnStorage, he blogs about new storage technologies and storage trends, among other topics. Lucchesi, a Microsoft MVP in cloud and data center management, also produces the monthly GreyBeards On Storage podcast with fellow storage expert Howard Marks.
Mark May
Based in Cincinnati, Mark May is an enterprise infrastructure professional specializing in enterprise storage, backup, and infrastructure convergence. On his Virtual Storage Zone blog, he shares what he's learned in the field and offers his unique perspective on industry issues.
Enrico Signoretti
Enrico Signoretti is an independent consultant who has worked in IT for more than 20 years. He founded Juku consulting in 2012. Based in Italy, he is a prolific blogger, writing about storage, cloud and virtualization technologies and trends.
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