Robin Harris Resources on ZDNet

ZDNet Author Biography: Robin Harris has been selling and marketing data storage for over 20 years in companies large and small. He has introduced a couple of multi-billion dollar storage products (DLT, the first Fibre Channel array) to market, as well as a couple of dozen smaller ones. He also spent 10 years...; more about Robin Harris »

ZDNet Resources

Mac online backup that works: Windows users have many online backup choices: Carbonite, Mozy and more. Windows small and medium business users have even more, like Amerivault. Mac users - not so much. Until now. A long and winding road I started working with Mozy's Mac client a year ago, blogged...; Tags: Apple Macintosh, EMC Corp., Mozy, Data Preservation, Security Mozy, Backups, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-05-05
Apple's 5 worst hardware flaws - and how to fix them: Apple is often lauded for its design chops. And Apple's post-modern industrial design is lyrical next to Dell's neo-Soviet brutalism. But Apple makes some really stupid choices. Here are the top 5 - and the best workarounds. In reverse order: 5) Keyboards ...; Tags: Headphone, Apple Macintosh, Disk, Mouse, Apple Inc., USB, Keyboards, Mice, Desktops, Hardware, Peripherals, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-04-29
Toshiba making *another* bad storage bet: Fresh off the HD-DVD fiasco, Toshiba execs are stepping up to pursue another expensive flop: notebook SSDs. Memo to Toshiba: flash SSDs cost too much and deliver too little to win that much market share. That won't change in the next 3 years. Here's why. Please sir,...; Tags: Notebook, Disk, Storage, USB Flash Drive, Toshiba Corp., SSD, Flash Guy, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-04-27
Seagate patents Compact Flash - 10 years late!: Can "prior art" be too prior? Dramatic evidence of America's broken patent system surfaced in last week's lawsuit by Seagate against STEC, the innovative developer of high-performance flash drives. Imagine winning a patent for something invented 10 years before. Seagate may sue SANdisk next. Seagate owns...; Tags: Patent, Disk Drive, Seagate Technology LLC, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-04-25
Is Apple going back to the PowerPC?: Hardware independence as a strategic weapon The Forbes magazine scoop that Apple is buying P. A. Semiconductor, a Silicon Valley company that designs high-performance, power-sipping PowerPC chips - the very chips Apple just migrated away from - raises a host of questions. But the people who need to worry...; Tags: Apple Inc., IBM PowerPC, Intel Corp., Processors, Semiconductors, Hardware, Components, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-04-23

Holographic storage ships next month!: Even since astronaut Dave Bowman disconnected the HAL 9000's holographic memory in 2001: A Space Odyssey techies have been wondering when we could buy real holographic storage. Now we know: May, 2008. Promising super-high density and excellent media flaw resistance, holographic storage has been an ever-receeding technology...; Tags: Media, Hologram, Laser, Data Density, Advertising & Promotion, Storage, Marketing, Hardware, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-04-18
2.5" disks to become new standard in 2009: When I first started selling storage, 14" disk drives were all the rage. Then came 9", 8", 5.25" and then 3.5" drives - where we've been stuck for the last 15 years - even though they have gotten thinner. All this shrinkage is courtesy of drive...; Tags: Disk, Delta, $/GB, $/GB Delta, Atrato, Storage, Hardware, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-04-14
Why OS X costs twice as much as Windows: Because people are happy to pay it. Microsoft's continuing Vista woes, including price cuts and a retreat to Windows XP on the low-end, obscures an important fact: Mac users pay more than double for Mac OS X than Windows. Are Mac users mindless robots, buying...; Tags: Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Corp., OS X Upgrade, Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Desktops, Operating Systems, Software, Apple Mac OS, Hardware, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-04-09
Vista fiasco continues with retreat to XP: Fall back! Fall back! Microsoft's announcement yesterday of the "Extended Availability of Windows XP Home for ULCPCs" is more evidence that the Windows Vista fiasco is still growing. Microsoft is scrambling to stay relevant in a world where they are no longer the only game...; Tags: Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Corp., Vista Fiasco, Linux, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-04-04
Who uses MS Live Search - on purpose?: No one. Net Applications monthly newsletter posed an interesting question: who uses MS Live Search? Nobody I know. One of their engineers theorized . . . it's mostly people that are searching for files on their own...; Tags: Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows, Web Browsers, Storage, Operating Systems, Software, Internet, Hardware, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-04-02
Microsoft's storage geeks speak: What do Microsoft storage heavies say when the suits let them off leash? Microsoft engineers at the ubergeek Usenix FAST 08 conference last month talked about Microsoft's storage intentions to a crowd of PhDs - and a stray storage blogger. Soft sell Understand that Microsoft...; Tags: Microsoft Corp., Storage, Hardware, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-03-31
Massive memory servers: How massive? How about 10x standard server memory capacity? There is a boom in large memory server products - anywhere from a quarter terabyte to 2 terabytes. Is this the ultimate solution to server performance problems? Some products Violin Memory is offering a...; Tags: Performance, Metaram, Gear6, Performance Management, Servers, Human Resources, Workforce Management, Hardware, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-03-25
Hooray! Blu-ray BD+ hacked!: The good folks at SlySoft announced last week that they'd broken the BD+ copy protection scheme: With today's release of version 6.4.0.0 of AnyDVD HD it is now also possible to make backup security copies of Blu-ray discs protected with BD+. Cool....; Tags: Hollywood, Blu-ray, Copy Protection, SlySoft, Digital Media, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-03-23
Notebook SSDs disappoint: An unsourced Engadget report says . . . flash-based laptops are being returned at a rate of 10 to 20 percent for technical failure, compared to the 1 to 2 percent of regular laptop returns due to HDD issues. . . . Other consumers are sending...; Tags: Notebook, Performance, Storage, USB Flash Drive, Performance Problem, Performance Management, Human Resources, Workforce Management, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-03-18
P4P: faster, smarter P2P: The P4P working group demo'd higher P2P download speeds with 1/6th the inter-metro hops that soak up expensive, long-distance network bandwidth. P4P is designed to enable better ISP and P2P coexistence with a win/win solution: better performance for users and less network overhead for the ISP. P4P...; Tags: Network, Comcast Corp., P2P, Internet Service Provider, P4P, pTracker, Peer To Peer (P2P), Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Networking, Internet, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-03-16
Big storage is watching you: Kudos to Larry Dignan for an informative post on the system that caught NY governor Eliot Spitzer canoodling with a prostitute. Modern information technology enables 24 hour surveillance of every citizen. Should we care? Of course not. Every citizen is a potential terrorist. You want to...; Tags: Database, President, Surveillance, Information Technology, Storage, Personal Responsibility, GPS, Government, Handhelds, Telecom & Utilities, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Hardware, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-03-12
Small business backup for Windows: Apple's Time Machine one-click backup utility is the easiest and most intuitive in the industry. Does anything on Windows come close? Surprisingly there is. The backup problem Some 40% of enterprise backups fail - even with professional sys admins and costly software. It's no wonder many...; Tags: Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, Apple Inc., Small Business, Hard Drive Cable, Backups, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-03-04
Windows Vista (In)capable: What went wrong? I'll tell you what went wrong: Microsoft execs - starting with Steve Ballmer - don't care enough about their customers. Which is too bad for the thousands of smart, hard working 'softies who do. I went through the Vista Capable lawsuit Exhibit A emails....; Tags: Steve Ballmer, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Corp., E-mail, News, Intel Corp., Development Team, Features, Allchin, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Operating Systems, Microsoft Windows, Software, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-03-02
Comcast's "seat-warming" execs can't be trusted: Comcast hired dozens of "seat-warmers" that kept others from attending a Monday FCC hearing held at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society meeting room for an FCC hearing. God forbid that the public be seen at a hearing intended to solicit public comment. Then they lied...; Tags: Comcast Corp., Internet, Federal Government, Telecom & Utilities, Telecommunications, Government, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-02-28
A 16 GB DIMM: Metaram's announcement of a chipset that enables vendors to build 16 GB DRAM DIMMs may have you wondering: who needs it? It probably isn't you. Stacking DRAM chips several deep gets the capacity, but the secret sauce resides in interface chips that performs several key...; Tags: Database, DRAM, Disk, RAM, Chip, Metaram, Memory, Semiconductors, Hardware, Components, Robin Harris; Blog posts 2008-02-26