Top 10 Stories About Data Storage of 2024

Data storage grew increasingly complex in 2024, requiring innovative solutions, careful planning, and resilience to manage vast amounts of information. In this roundup, we highlight the top articles for storage professionals. From best practices for Hyper-V virtual machines to detailed guides on storage for AI, these articles offer valuable insights into the world of data storage.

1. How To Copy a Hyper-V Virtual Machine to a New Location

IT expert Brien Posey explores improving Hyper-V virtual machine performance by hosting it on a RAM disk. He details steps for exporting, importing, and managing VMs to ensure data integrity and facilitate efficient workflows.

Migratory Patterns: Guide to Migrating From VMware to Hyper-V

2. Executing a Zero-Downtime Storage Hardware Refresh

Posey discusses executing a storage refresh in a Hyper-V environment, focusing on maintaining zero downtime and preventing data loss.

Planning Stages: How I Planned My Storage Hardware Refresh

3. Introduction to IT Disaster Recovery Planning

A well-structured disaster recovery plan is vital for maintaining business continuity during unexpected events like cyberattacks, data loss, and natural disasters. This article outlines key strategies for developing a plan.

Business as Usual: BCDR Basics: A Quick Reference Guide for Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery

4. Tips for Deploying Enterprise NAS Storage

Learn the essential steps for setting up an enterprise NAS appliance, from connecting the device and creating storage pools to configuring block storage and iSCSI targets.

Follow Your NAS: 6 Essential Steps Before Setting up NAS Appliances

5. How To Choose a Storage Solution for AI Training Data

AI training data presents unique storage challenges due to its massive volume, unpredictable access, and constant updates. This article explores strategies and storage options for managing this critical resource.

Workload Requirements: Cloud vs. On-Prem AI Accelerators: Choosing the Best Fit for Your AI Workloads

6. Tracking Down Lost Disk Space: A PowerShell Solution

Want to visualize disk usage? This PowerShell tool makes it easy to spot which folders take up the most space.

Easy as Pie: How To Build a Disk Space Pie Chart in PowerShell

7. Comparing Windows VM Installation Times: HDD vs. NVMe vs. RAM

In this video, Posey benchmarks the installation of Windows on virtual machines using different storage options, including traditional spinning disks, NVMe storage, and RAM disks.

8. Our Cloud Storage Provider Went Down. Now I’m Rethinking Our Strategy.

This installment of the [Root] Access advice column discusses options for reducing your dependency on a single cloud storage provider.

Object Lesson: Maximize Cloud Efficiency: What Is Object Storage?

9. A Guide to Storage for AI Workloads

AI workloads require specialized storage just as much as they need powerful compute resources like GPUs and FPGAs. This article explores how AI-optimized storage can boost performance, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.

AI in 2025: Bridging the AI Skills Gap: Top Strategies for IT Teams in 2025

10. Where Did My Windows Server’s Disk Space Disappear To?

If you're running low on disk space but can't figure out why, investigate culprits like memory dump files, shadow copies, and orphaned VM files.

Big Data: How IT Operations Can Play a Critical Role in Data Management

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