SNIA on Cloud Storage

Training Deep Learning Models Q&A

May 18, 2023May 18, 2023 Erin Farr Leave a comment

The estimated impact of Deep Learning (DL) across all industries cannot be understated. In fact, analysts predict deep learning will account for the majority of cloud workloads, and training of deep learning models will represent the majority of server applications in the next few years. It’s the topic the SNIA Cloud Storage Technologies Initiative (CSTI) discussed at our webinar “Training Deep Learning Models in the Cloud.” If you missed the live event, it’s available on-demand at the SNIA Educational Library where you can also download the presentation slides.

The audience asked our expert presenters, Milind Pandit from Habana Labs Intel and Seetharami Seelam from IBM several interesting questions. Here are their answers:

Q. Where do you think most of the AI will run, especially training? Will it be in the public cloud or will it be on-premises or both?

Storage Threat Detection Q&A

April 11, 2023April 11, 2023 Michael Hoard Leave a comment

Stealing data, compromising data, and holding data hostage have always been the main goals of cybercriminals. Threat detection and response methods continue to evolve as the bad guys become increasingly sophisticated, but for the most part, storage has been missing from the conversation. Enter “Cyberstorage,” a topic the SNIA Cloud Storage Technologies Initiative recently covered in our live webinar, “Cyberstorage and XDR: Threat Detection with a Storage Lens.” It was a fascinating look at enhancing threat detection at the storage layer. If you missed the live event, it’s available on-demand along with the presentation slides. We had some great questions from the live event as well as interesting results from our audience poll questions that we wanted to share here.

Q. You mentioned antivirus scanning is redundant for threat detection in storage, but could provide value during recovery. Could you elaborate on that?

A. Yes, anitvirus can have a high value during recovery, but it’s not always intuitive on why this is the case. If malware makes it to your snapshots or your backups, it’s because it was unknown and it was not detected. Then, at some point, that malware gets activated on your live system and your files get encrypted. Suddenly, you now know something happened, either because you can’t use the files or because there’s a ransomware banner note. Next, the incident responders come in and a signature for that malware is now identified. The malware becomes known. The antivirus/EDR vendors quickly add a patch to their signature scanning software, for you to use. Since malware can dwell on your systems without being activated for days or weeks, you want to use that updated signature scan to validate that you’re not reintroducing malware that was sitting dormant in your snapshots or backups. This way you can ensure as you restore data, you are not reintroducing dormant malware.

Audience Poll Results

Here’s how our live audience responded to our poll questions. Let us know what you think by leaving us a comment on this blog.

Survey Says……Here are Data & Cloud Storage Trends Worth Noting

March 14, 2023March 14, 2023 Michael Hoard Leave a comment

With the move to cloud continuing, application modernization, and related challenges such as hybrid and multi-cloud adoption and regulatory compliance requirements, enterprises must ensure they understand the current data and storage landscape. The SODA Foundation’s annual comprehensive global survey on data and storage trends does just that, providing a comprehensive look at the intersection of cloud computing, data and storage management, the configuration of environments that end-user organizations are gravitating to, and priorities of selected capabilities over the next several years

On April 13, 2023, SNIA Cloud Storage Technologies Initiative (CSTI) is pleased to host SODA in a live webcast “Top 12 Trends in Data and Cloud Storage” where SODA members who led this research will share key findings. I hope you will join us for a live discussion and in-depth look at this important research to hear the trends that are driving data and storage decisions, including:

Digital Twins Q&A

March 9, 2023March 9, 2023 Michael Hoard Leave a comment

A digital twin (DT) is a virtual representation of an object, system or process that spans its lifecycle, is updated from real-time data, and uses simulation, machine learning and reasoning to help decision-making. Digital twins can be used to help answer what-if AI-analytics questions, yield insights on business objectives and make recommendations on how to control or improve outcomes.

It’s a fascinating technology that the SNIA Cloud Storage Technologies Initiative (CSTI) discussed at our live webcast “Journey to the Center of Massive Data: Digital Twins.” If you missed the presentation, you can watch it on-demand and access a PDF of the slides at the SNIA Educational Library. Our audience asked several interesting questions which are answered here in this blog.

Q. Will a digital twin make the physical twin more or less secure?

A. It depends on the implementation.If DTs are developed with security in mind,a DT can help augment the physical twin. Example, if the physical and digital twins are connected via an encrypted tunnel that carries all the control, management, and configuration traffic, then a firmware update of a simple sensor or actuator can include multi-factor authentication of the admin or strong authentication of the control application via features running in the DT, which augments the constrained environment of the physical twin. However, because DTs are usually hosted on systems that are connected to the internet, ill-protected servers could expose a physical twin to a remote intruder. Therefore, security must be designed from the start.

Q. What are some of the challenges of deploying digital twins?

A. Without AI frameworks and real-time interconnected pipelines in place digital twins’ value is limited.

Q. How do you see digital twins evolving in the future?

A. Here are a series of evolutionary steps:

Threat Detection through a Storage Lens

February 20, 2023February 20, 2023 Michael Hoard Leave a comment

Cybercriminals have always been about data – stealing data, compromising data, holding data hostage. Businesses continue to respond with malware detection on laptops and networks to protect data and prevent breaches. Since storage houses what the bad actors want, shouldn’t storage be a critical component of a strong defense-in-depth security strategy?

This is the topic the SNIA Cloud Storage Technologies Initiative (CSTI) will explore on April 4, 2023 at our live webcast “Cyberstorage and XDR: Threat Detection through a Storage Lens.”

“Cyberstorage” is a term coined by Gartner. It is defined as doing threat detection and response in storage software or hardware. A parallel, related trend in the security industry is eXtended Detection and Response (XDR) which shifts some of the threat detection from centralized security monitoring tools (SIEMs) down into each domain (e.g., endpoint, network) for faster detection and automated response. Factor in the growing impact of ransomware and all these forces are driving the need to find creative, new ways to detect malware, including from inside the storage domain.

In this session we’ll discuss:

How to Train Deep Learning Models in the Cloud

January 30, 2023January 30, 2023 Erin Farr Leave a comment

Industry analysts predict Deep Learning will account for the majority of cloud workloads. Additionally, training of Deep Learning models will represent the majority of server applications in the next few years. Among Deep Learning workloads, foundation models — a new class of AI models that are trained on broad data (typically via self-supervision) using billions of parameters – are expected to consume the majority of the infrastructure.

It’s a fascinating topic that the SNIA Cloud Storage Technologies Initiative (CSTI) will tackle on March 15, 2023 at our live webcast “Training Deep Learning Models in the Cloud” where our SNIA Deep Learning experts, Milind Pandit, from Habana, an Intel Company and Seelam Seetharami of IBM, will discuss how Deep Learning models are gaining prominence in various industries, and provide examples of the benefits of AI adoption.

Kubernetes Trials & Tribulations Q&A: Cloud, Data Center, Edge

January 5, 2023January 5, 2023 Michael Hoard Leave a comment

Kubernetes cloud orchestration platforms offer all the flexibility, elasticity, and ease of use — on premises, in a private or public cloud, even at the edge. The flexibility of turning on services when you want them, turning them off when you don’t, is an enticing prospect for developers as well as application deployment teams, but it has not been without its challenges.

At our recent SNIA Cloud Storage Technologies Initiative webcast “Kubernetes Trials & Tribulations: Cloud, Data Center, Edge” our experts, Michael St-Jean and Pete Brey, debated both the challenges and advantages of Kubernetes. If you missed the session, it is available on-demand along with the presentation slides. The live audience raised several interesting questions. Here are answers to them from our presenters.

Q. Are all these trends coming together? Where will Kubernetes be in the next 1-3 years?

What are Digital Twins?

November 14, 2022November 14, 2022 Michael Hoard Leave a comment

Have you ever wondered how intelligent Industry 4.0 factories or smart cities of the future will process massive amounts of sensor and machine data? What you may not expect is a digital twin will most likely play a role. A digital twin is a virtual representation of an object, system or process that spans its lifecycle, is updated from real-time data, and uses simulation, machine learning and reasoning to help decision-making. Digital twins can be used to help answer what-if AI-analytics questions, yield insights on business objectives and make recommendations on how to control or improve outcomes.

Kubernetes at the Cloud, Data Center and Edge

November 2, 2022November 2, 2022 Michael Hoard Leave a comment

The race to the cloud has been fast and furious. The ease and flexibility of turning on services when you want them, turning them off when you don’t, is an enticing prospect for developers as well as application deployment teams, but it has not been without its challenges. Many cite expanding costs, data sovereignty, or security as reasons for repatriation of workloads, but what about other factors, such as data gravity, latency, and extending workloads to the edge? Addressing these challenges will be front and center at our SNIA Cloud Storage Technologies Initiative (CSTI) webcast on November 10, 2022, “Kubernetes Trials & Tribulations: Cloud, Data Center, Edge.”