Glossary

Ansible is a configuration management platform that automates storage, servers, and networking. When you use Ansible to configure these components, difficult manual tasks become repeatable and less vulnerable to error.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the basis for mimicking human intelligence processes through the creation and application of algorithms built into a dynamic computing environment. Stated simply, AI is trying to make computers think and act like humans.

Automation is a process by which routine workflows and processes—scheduling, monitoring, maintenance, application delivery, and so on—are managed and executed without human administration.

Backup as a service (BaaS) is a method of offsite data storage in which files, folders, or the entire contents of a hard drive are regularly backed up by a service vendor to a remote secure cloud-based data repository over a network connection.

Backup and recovery describes the process of creating and storing copies of data that can be used to protect organizations against data loss.

Big data analytics is the process of examining large and varied datasets to uncover hidden patterns, unknown correlations, market trends, customer preferences, and other useful information that can help organizations make better informed business decisions.

Block storage is a storage scheme in which each volume acts as a separate hard drive, configured by the storage administrator.

Continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) are two approaches to software development that are designed to improve code quality and enable rapid delivery and deployment of code. They are usually deployed together (CI/CD) to ensure rapid overall delivery of new software features and fixes.

Cloud analytics describes the application of analytic algorithms in the cloud against data in a private or public cloud to then deliver a result of interest. Cloud analytics involves deployment of scalable cloud computing with powerful analytic software to identify patterns in data and to extract new insights.

Configuration and resource management is an automated method for maintaining computer systems and software in a known, consistent state.

Containers are a form of operating system virtualization. A single container might be used to run anything from a small microservice or software process to a larger application.

Converged Infrastructure (CI) is a convergence of compute, storage, and networking infrastructure in the data center.

Data Infrastructure Insights is a comprehensive AI-driven IT infrastructure monitoring and analytics solution, ensuring visibility, anomaly detection, cost control, and operational optimization across hybrid environments.

People learn from experience. The richer our experiences, the more we can learn. In the artificial intelligence (AI) discipline known as deep learning, the same can be said for machines powered by AI hardware and software. The experiences through which machines can learn are defined by the data they acquire, and the quantity and quality of data determine how much they can learn.

Deep learning is a branch of machine learning. Unlike traditional machine learning algorithms, many of which have a finite capacity to learn no matter how much data they acquire, deep learning systems can improve their performance with access to more data: the machine version of more experience. After machines have gained enough experience through deep learning, they can be put to work for specific tasks such as driving a car, detecting weeds in a field of crops, detecting diseases, inspecting machinery to identify faults, and so on.

DevOps is an evolving philosophy and framework that encourages faster, better application development and faster release of new or revised software features or products to customers.

The practice of DevOps encourages smoother, continuous communication, collaboration, integration, visibility, and transparency between application development teams (Dev) and their IT operations team (Ops) counterparts.

This closer relationship between “Dev” and “Ops” permeates every phase of the DevOps lifecycle: from initial software planning to code, build, test, and release phases and on to deployment, operations, and ongoing monitoring. This relationship propels a continuous customer feedback loop of further improvement, development, testing, and deployment. One result of these efforts can be the more rapid, continual release of necessary feature changes or additions.

Some people group DevOps goals into four categories: culture, automation, measurement, and sharing (CAMS), and DevOps tools can aid in these areas. These tools can make development and operations workflows more streamlined and collaborative, automating previously time-consuming, manual, or static tasks involved in integration, development, testing, deployment, or monitoring.

A digital twin is a virtual model of a real world object or process that can be used to simulate real-world conditions in real time.

Flash storage is a data storage technology based on high-speed, electrically programmable memory. The term “flash” comes from the speed with which it writes data and performs random I/O operations.

Flash storage uses a type of nonvolatile memory called flash memory. Nonvolatile memory doesn’t require power to maintain the integrity of stored data, so you won’t lose your data even if your power goes out. In other words, nonvolatile memory won’t “forget” the data it has stored when the disk is turned off.

Flash storage uses memory cells to store data. Cells with previously written data must be erased before new data can be written. Flash storage can also come in several forms, from simple USB sticks to enterprise all-flash arrays.

High performance computing (HPC) is the ability to process data and perform complex calculations at high speeds. To put it into perspective, a laptop or desktop with a 3 GHz processor can perform around 3 billion calculations per second. While that is much faster than any human can achieve, it pales in comparison to HPC solutions that can perform quadrillions of calculations per second.

One of the best-known types of HPC solutions is the supercomputer. A supercomputer contains thousands of compute nodes that work together to complete one or more tasks. This is called parallel processing. It’s similar to having thousands of PCs networked together, combining compute power to complete tasks faster.

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is an approach to managing data center server, storage, and networking infrastructure. IaC is meant to significantly simplify large-scale configuration and management. With traditional data center infrastructure management, every configuration change required manual action by operators and system administrators. With IaC, infrastructure configuration information is housed in standardized files, which can be read by software that maintains the state of the infrastructure. IaC can improve productivity and reliability because it eliminates manual configuration steps.

Infrastructure monitoring is the continuous process of collecting and analyzing data from your IT environment to ensure peak performance. It involves tracking the availability, health, and resource utilization of hardware, software, networks, and cloud environments.

NetApp Instaclustr offers fully managed open source services for Apache Cassandra, Apache Kafka, PostgreSQL, OpenSearch and more. It solves challenges like scalability, reliability, and vendor lock-in for enterprises.

A subset of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) is the area of computational science that focuses on analyzing and interpreting patterns and structures in data to enable learning, reasoning, and decision making outside of human interaction.

Managed open source platforms allow enterprises to leverage open source technology without the complexities of in-house management, handling deployment, scaling, monitoring, maintenance, and security.

Microservices are an architectural approach to creating cloud applications. Each application is built as a set of services, and each service runs in its own processes and communicates through APIs. The evolution that led to cloud microservices architecture began more than 20 years ago. The concept of a services structure is older than containers and dates from before the era of modern web applications. A microservices architecture is a way of developing applications that has matured into a best practice over time.

Multicloud is the use of multiple cloud computing and storage services in a single distributed architecture. Multicloud also refers to the distribution of cloud assets, software, and applications across several cloud environments, using multiple cloud computing platforms to support a single application or ecosystem of applications that work together in a common architecture. Multicloud can include multiple public cloud providers, on-premises environments (NetApp^® HCI), private cloud infrastructure with a public cloud provider (hybrid cloud), or a combination of both approaches.

A NAS (network-attached storage) system is a file-dedicated storage device attached to a network that allows data to be accessible from multiple authorized users and devices. NAS devices connect to the network via standard Ethernet and provide a single access point for storage, making data continuously available for employees to collaborate and work effectively, regardless of where they are located.

You can use the non-volatile memory express (NVMe) protocol to provide storage in a SAN environment. The NVMe protocol is optimized for performance with solid state storage.

Object storage, also known as object-based storage, is a strategy that manages and manipulates data storage as distinct units, called objects. These objects are kept in a single storehouse and are not ingrained in files inside other folders.

Ransomware is any software that allows an outsider to access and encrypt another’s files, delete the originals, and then threaten to delete the only remaining (encrypted) copy of the files if the ransom isn't paid. In the movies, the user deploying the ransomware is typically portrayed as a hardened criminal.

But truthfully, ransomware is simply a product—usually found on the internet—that anyone can learn to use easily. And with the rise of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS), the skillset required to deploy an attack has never been lower. In other words, ransomware attacks are common, and they can be debilitating to files on-premises or in the victim’s cloud.

So, what can you do to protect your data?

By implementing robust security measures at the storage level, such as encryption, access controls, and immutable backups, you can create an additional line of defense against ransomware. This approach helps protect data at its source, making it more difficult for attackers to encrypt or corrupt critical information. Secure storage solutions can aid in faster recovery times and minimize data loss in the event of a successful attack, underscoring the importance of a comprehensive security strategy that includes fortifying the storage infrastructure.

A storage area network (SAN) consists of a storage solution connected to hosts over a SAN transport protocol such as iSCSI or FC. You can configure your SAN so that your storage solution attaches to your hosts through one or more switches.

Site reliability engineering (SRE) is a discipline to create ultra-scalable and reliable software systems by applying software engineering practices to infrastructure and operations problems. Expert site reliability engineers can craft solutions that walk the balance between development and operations teams. Google pioneered this role; for an in-depth explanation, read the Google e-book, "Site Reliability Engineering."

Software-defined storage (SDS) enables users and organizations to uncouple or abstract storage resources from the underlying hardware platform for greater flexibility, efficiency and faster scalability by making storage resources programmable.

This approach enables storage resources to be an integral part of a larger software-designed data center (SDDC) architecture, in which resources can be easily automated and orchestrated rather than residing in siloes.

Most comprehensive application integrations require open programmable APIs for workflow automation, which SDS is uniquely designed for.

Unstructured simply means that it is datasets (typical large collections of files) that aren't stored in a structured database format.