WD is announcing its fourth generation Arkeia appliances which are backup and recovery solutions designed for SMBs that feature updated WD Arkeia 10.1 software. New in the v10.1 software is seed and feed technology that supports hybrid cloud backups so that organizations can move backups offsite via replication instead of shipping tapes. On top of that, the

EMC is announcing updates to its Syncplicity file sync and share software which is designed to simplify file sharing across the enterprise. The new enhancements allow intuitive sending of files without needing to attach them to emails, which sometimes have limitations on file size and types of attachments. Users can utilize the Syncplicity Secure Send directly

WD and sTec are announcing a merger whereby HGST, a subsidiary of WD, will acquire sTec for $340 million in cash – which is $6.85/share. sTec has long been an innovator in enterprise SSDs (such as the s840 that we’ve reviewed), and the acquisition cost represents roughly $207 million in enterprise value. Leading up to

Sepaton is announcing their version 7.1 of its software for S2100-ES3 purpose-built backup appliances (PBBA) which are an enterprise-class data protection platforms. Version 7.1 now includes functionality that enables administrators to backup and deduplicate data using Symantec NetBackup OpenStorage (OST) over Fibre Channel which adds to existing IP connectivity. Also updated, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

Fusion-io is announcing a large-scale upgrade to its unified virtualization software ioTurbine which features hypervisor caching, virtualization-aware caching in guest VMs, dynamic reallocation of cache memory during live migration of VMs in VMware vMotion, and unified management of caching across virtual and physical environments. ioTurbine enables IT administrators to more easily deploy and future proof

LSI is announcing updates to its Nytro line including an expansion of available adapters with a new high capacity 3.2TB Nytro WarpDrive, as well as other capacities, connectivity and software capabilities across the Nytro product family. LSI is expanding their wide-ranging PCIe flash adapter portfolio in order to deliver solutions for a range of applications

DataCore Software and Hyve Solutions are announcing their new storage appliances which will feature Fusion-io high-performance SSDs, Emulex LightPulse 8Gb Fibre Channel HBAs and DataCore’s SANsymphony-V storage virtualization software. The new storage appliances, which are designed by Hyve Solutions and will be made available through SYNNEX’s distribution arm, are designed for mid-market enterprises and channel

Toshiba is announcing its new MQ01ABFH series 7mm slim SSHD which comes in 320 and 500GB capacities, utilizes Toshiba NAND, and rounds out the Toshiba 2.5" form factor SSHD line. Toshiba has previously announced their 9.5mm SSHD from the MQ01ABDH series that delivers 750GB and 1TB capacities. These new SSHDs provide users with the capacity

Writing about storage and our experiences in our own lab is enjoyable, but every now and then we like to get out in the field to talk to end users and to see storage in the wild. Our most recent visit took us 250 miles up to Flight Options which is located just east of