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Note: Here's why software-defined storage won't drive established storage companies out of business.
8 Great Cloud Storage Services(click image for larger view and for slideshow)In my last column, we discussed software-defined storage (SDS) and what type of data center might best benefit from that type of storage architecture. This time we'll compare software-defined storage to more-traditional storage hardware to see if SDS eventually will eliminate the high-value storage-system market.
Most storage systems that you buy from major manufacturers are really storage software running on servers designed specifically to house a lot of hard disk or flash solid state drives (SSD). They have a lot in common with software-defined storage and there is almost nothing that would prevent these vendors from virtualizing their storage software and also being software defined.
Storage systems can differ in a few ways from SDS. First, they...