HPC scratch storage: designing a fast parallel tier for compute clusters (UK 2026)
An HPC cluster is only as fast as the storage that feeds it, and the storage that feeds it is not the same storage that keeps it. Scratch is the fast, ephemeral working tier where jobs read inputs, wr…
Liquid vs immersion cooling and RoCE: decoding AI data-centre terms (UK)
Two clusters of jargon dominate any AI data-centre conversation: how the heat gets out, and how the network stays lossless. Air, direct liquid and immersion cooling sit on one axis; RoCE and RDMA on t…
How to pick a UK MSSP: 12 procurement questions
Most UK mid-market organisations evaluating Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs) for SOC + MDR + incident response struggle to compare apples-to-apples. Vendor decks all promise "24/7 monitorin…
DDR6 and MRDIMM: the server memory roadmap UK buyers should plan around
Memory bandwidth, not core count, is the quiet limiter on a growing share of server workloads - and the roadmap to fix it is now visible. DDR5 is mature, MRDIMM is shipping on the latest platforms as …
RAID reliability: AFR, MTBF, MTTDL & URE explained
How likely is a RAID array to actually lose data? Four numbers decide it — AFR, MTBF, URE and rebuild time — combined into MTTDL. Here's what each means and how RAID level changes the odds. See the UR…
UK MAT IT procurement through DfE frameworks
UK Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) procure IT through specific frameworks — CCS, NEUPC, NWUPC, ESPO, KCS — plus direct purchase routes. Each has trade-offs on price, supplier breadth, and procurement effo…
Server refresh decision framework: 3 vs 5 vs 7 years
The "refresh every 5 years" rule of thumb made sense in 2010 — hardware aged faster, OEM warranties expired predictably, and capex cycles aligned. In 2026 the calculation is different. This is the dec…
HPE Apollo 6500 GPU server: the OEM-supported alternative to DGX
The HPE Apollo 6500 is HPE's answer to the question many UK teams ask once they decide they need serious GPU compute: do we have to buy an NVIDIA DGX, or can we get an eight-GPU server from a vendor w…
APC vs Eaton vs Riello UPS UK 2026: which UPS brand for which use case
APC by Schneider Electric, Eaton, and Riello dominate UK UPS sales — between them they cover SMB rack UPS through data-centre 1.5 MW chassis systems. All three are mature, all three have UK-wide servi…
ZFS vdevs, ashift & recordsize explained
Three ZFS settings make or break a pool's capacity and performance: how you lay out vdevs, ashift (sector size) and recordsize. Get them wrong and you waste capacity or IOPS. See the effect live in th…
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