Podcast Archive - StorageReview.com

About Podcast Archive - StorageReview.com

StorageReview.com is a leading provider of news and reviews throughout the entire IT stack - from the datacenter to the edge, and all points in between.

Publisher

StorageReview.com

Category

technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

3 Apr 2022

Latest episode

29 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

55 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   29 Sept 2026

   Podcast #153: ServerPartDeals CEO Max Manekia on Refurbished Drives as Supply Chain Strategy

   Brian recently sat down with Max Manekia, CEO of ServerPartDeals, at the company's facility in Sanford, Florida, on the same trip that produced our ServerPartDeals facility tour (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=834N_j7N0mA). We've been a ServerPartDeals customer for years. Brian put them on our drive leaderboard (https://www.storagereview.com/best_drives) not long after they opened their doors in 2010, and our 2025 look at recertified hard drives (https://www.storagereview.com/review/maximizing-value-with-recertified-hard-drives) was built on their inventory. This conversation covers how a home lab supplier ended up in enterprise procurement plans, and what it takes to test, grade, and ship as many as 2,200 drives a day. [caption id="attachment_158884" align="aligncenter" width="800"] The ServerPartDeals StorNado test wall, which runs 24 hours a day[/caption] Max Manekia is the CEO of ServerPartDeals, the Sanford, Florida reseller of recertified enterprise hard drives, SSDs, servers, GPUs, and memory. The company has served home lab builders since 2010 and now supplies enterprise buyers by the pallet, with more than 200 unique drive SKUs and tens of thousands of units in stock at any given time. The compute shortage has become a storage shortage, and this podcast is a look at what the refurbished supply chain looks like when it's run at scale: sourcing, 100% sector scans, grading, pricing, advance RMA, custom foam, and procurement as a service for buyers who need drives every month. It runs about 38 minutes, and Max is direct about what works and what still might need another expansion. If you don't have time to watch this end-to-end, we have broken it into segments so you can choose what's most important to you. [00:00] From Home Lab Staple to Supply Chain Player The opening segment frames why refurbished enterprise drives have moved from a home lab budget play into mainstream procurement, and why ServerPartDeals' early focus on reliability set it up for that shift. The compute shortage has triggered a downstream storage shortage, and refurbished components are now part of mainstream procurement strategies. ServerPartDeals has served the home lab market for more than a decade and is now selling to a more enterprise-oriented customer base. An obsessive focus on product reliability from day one turned out to be the right foundation for where the market went. A 42% repeat-customer rate reflects consistent supply, competitive pricing, and product quality customers can trust. Customers are buying new drives from ServerPartDeals and sending their old drives back for recertification, which creates a circular supply loop and turns customers into suppliers. [02:47] Receiving, Sourcing, and Saying No to Bad Inventory This section walks through what happens before and after a case of drives lands on the receiving dock, and how the buying team keeps bad inventory from entering the pipeline. Every inbound shipment is vetted before it arrives, with buyers reviewing provenance, firmware, date stamps, and supplier history up front. Physical inspection at receiving confirms part numbers and cosmetic condition and flags anything that would disqualify a drive from sale. ServerPartDeals sources from hundreds of relationships built over years, which keeps inventory flowing without the volatility of spot buys. They were among the first online resellers to post real product photos in place of stock renders, an early standard for transparency. Testing queues are actively managed, with priority given to drives already sold to customers on the waiting list. [10:26] The Storinator Test Wall The testing floor is the heart of the operation. This segment covers how long a full scan takes, what throughput looks like today, and the power problem that came with growth. High-capacity drives get 24- to 36-hour full-sector scans, and current throughput runs 1,800 to 2,200 units per day. A 20TB drive alone needs 30-plus hours on the test rigs, which run around the clock to keep pace with demand. A year ago the goal was 1,000 drives a day. The team hit 2,000, and the next constraint may be the building itself. Power has been the hard limit. The facility used its existing three-phase, 600-amp service and drew additional capacity from a neighboring tenant. 100% sector scans are the single biggest reducer of RMAs, which is why every drive gets one before it is listed. [14:20] Grading, Provenance, and Fraud There is no industry-standard grading system for used drives, so ServerPartDeals defines its own. This section explains the grades and how the company guards against counterfeit and misrepresented products. Grade A means zero defects. Grade B and C products are sold wholesale and never to end customers on the main storefront. Drives with bad sectors still have value to the right buyer, but they carry no warranty and are not listed on the site. Fraudulent product is a known risk in the secondary market. New suppliers have to send samples first, and every drive is checked between purchase and live scan. [20:00] From Scan-In to Live Listing, and How Pricing Works Once a drive passes, it goes live across every channel automatically. This segment covers the listing pipeline and the pricing model behind it. Graded drives are scanned into live inventory and listed on ServerPartDeals.com, eBay, Amazon, and Newegg with pricing, specs, photos, and warranty details. Pricing is managed as a weighted average against the broader market, factoring in warranty length, availability, and competing options. The goal is not the lowest price on the internet. The catalog runs to more than 200 unique SKUs with tens of thousands of drives in stock, and a typical order runs $1,000 or more. [22:34] Warranty and the RMA Cage Warranty claims are where the front-end testing pays off. This section explains the advance replacement process and why the RMA area is the smallest room in the building. Warranty claims are usually handled with advance replacements. A screenshot of the failure is enough to get a replacement shipped before the original comes back. The RMA area occupies roughly 120 square feet, a footprint that reflects how much the sector scans catch before drives reach customers. [27:15] Shipping and the Foam Packing is engineered, not improvised. This segment covers the custom foam inserts and the multi-drive trays that replaced stacks of single boxes. Custom foam inserts engineered to a 200G drop rating protect individual drives in transit. Multi-drive foam trays were developed separately to handle orders of three to ten units without stacking individual boxes. [32:30] Two-Day Air, Procurement as a Service, and the Full Stack The closing segment covers how orders move out the door, the account management model for recurring buyers, and how far beyond hard drives the catalog now reaches. Orders ship primarily via two-day air. The stated cutoff is 3:30 p.m., but the team keeps processing through 6 p.m., and many orders arrive next day. Procurement as a service pairs recurring buyers with dedicated account managers who plan monthly orders and lock in consistent supply. ServerPartDeals covers the full stack beyond hard drives, including servers, GPUs, RAM, and NVMe SSDs, and its sourcing relationships can sometimes beat standard lead times. A new "Can't Find It" button on the site lets customers request unlisted inventory, and a team member follows up within 24 hours to source or quote the item. To keep up with ServerPartDeals and the refurbished drive market, follow Max Manekia on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-manekia-933205169). This podcast is sponsored by ServerPartDeals. All views and opinions expressed in this podcast are based on our unbiased view of the product(s) and services under consideration.

2. 

   27 Aug 2026

   Podcast #152: Data Center Thermal Dynamics and Cooling Architectures With Tim Shedd

   Brian recently caught up with Tim Shedd, an expert in thermal management and a pioneer in liquid cooling technologies. The podcast covers some of the historical aspects of data center liquid cooling, from Tim's time working with Cray and spraying liquid across tubes to his more recent engagement with Dell's PowerEdge XE9680 (https://www.storagereview.com/review/dell-poweredge-xe9680-the-ultimate-ai-powerhouse). [caption id="attachment_137899" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Dell PowerEdge XE9680 in the StorageReview lab[/caption] Tim Shedd is an industry expert and mechanical engineer specializing in thermal management, liquid cooling, and data center infrastructure. With a career spanning academic research as a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, foundational engineering roles at Motivair, and senior technical leadership within Dell Technologies' CTO organization, he has been at the forefront of high-density cooling architecture. His work focuses on bridging advanced thermal physics and hyperscale manufacturability, establishing standards for cooling distribution units, and optimizing data center power efficiency across air- and liquid-cooled hardware topologies. This podcast delivers great insight into the evolution of thermals from mainframes, HPC platforms, and current server technology. In under an hour, you will come away with a better understanding of how this affects many aspects of keeping our technologies running efficiently. If you don't have time to watch this end-to-end, we have broken it into five-minute segments so you can choose what's most important to you. [00:00] The Evolution of Liquid Cooling from HPC to Enterprise AI The initial segment outlines the historical progression of liquid cooling from specialized supercomputing installations to high-density commercial enterprise applications, highlighting early thermal design choices. Early compute environments relied on evaporative cooling and basic forced-air convection before reaching the limits imposed by high-density HPC and accelerated compute workloads. Initial academic experimentation with Cray architectures involved direct liquid spray over tubes, proving technically viable but commercially cost-prohibitive. The post-2015 inflection in rack power density pushed OEMs to engineer standardized enterprise liquid deployments, culminating in high-density rack production models by 2019. OEM supply chains pivoted from producing a few thousand liquid-cooled nodes annually to scaling delivery into thousands of production systems weekly. Workhorse enterprise platforms like the PowerEdge XE9680, the fastest-growing server in Dell history, balanced early AI thermal loads using dense air heatsinks paired with rear-door heat exchangers before full direct-to-chip adoption became mandatory. [05:00] Testing Thermal Breakpoints and Fluid Physics at Scale This section explores the laboratory evaluation of competing thermal technologies, detailing why single-phase direct-to-chip loops emerged as the dominant architecture over immersion systems. [caption id="attachment_132537" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] CoolIT direct-to-chip cold plates inside a Dell PowerEdge R760[/caption] OEM validation labs conducted extensive testing across cold-plate loops, negative-pressure networks, immersion configurations, and two-phase systems to establish deployment baselines. Silicon thermal loads historically increased incrementally with each generation, allowing standard air-cooling and basic liquid-cooling approaches to suffice until TDPs exceeded the 500W-1000W range. Immersion cooling offers operational advantages for broadly distributed thermal profiles, such as crypto farms, but struggles with the localized, highly concentrated heat fluxes found on modern accelerators. Water blended with 25% propylene glycol (PG25), delivered through microchannel cold plates (https://www.storagereview.com/news/coolit-systems-demonstrates-15kw-coldplate-extending-single-phase-dlc-beyond-2030), became the primary standard due to its predictable scaling, supply availability, and established thermal transfer properties. Open ecosystem standards remain critical for sourcing cold plates, manifolds, and quick disconnects across multiple vendors without performance regressions. [10:00] Standardization, Multi-Vendor Interoperability, and Mechanical Reliability The discussion transitions to the operational realities of deploying liquid hardware, focusing on multi-vendor component integration, liability demarcation, and material integrity. Mixing cooling components from different vendors introduces significant mechanical compatibility hurdles and strict warranty limitations in the event of a fluid leak. Legal liability and service-level agreements remain primary industry obstacles preventing mixed-vendor plumbing architectures across production server floors. Legacy rope-style leak detection systems are giving way to integrated sensor topologies with automated pump trips and valve cutoffs. Advancements in peroxide-cured EPDM hose manufacturing have significantly reduced component-level failure rates in direct-to-chip plumbing. System unreliability in the field predominantly stems from manufacturing debris and inadequate initial line flushing rather than raw component fatigue. [15:00] Debris Management, Heat Flux Limits, and the Physics of Negative Pressure This timeframe examines precision cold-plate fluid dynamics, the catastrophic effects of microscopic particulate contamination, and the atmospheric physics that limit negative-pressure cooling loops. [caption id="attachment_134650" align="aligncenter" width="683"] Chilldyne negative-pressure CDU[/caption] Particulates of 100 to 200 microns, even a single wire-brush fiber caught in a quick disconnect, can obstruct microchannel fins and take down a rack through thermal throttling. Advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling enables modern cold plates to dissipate 1500W loads while maintaining a narrow 30°C delta T penalty. Negative-pressure cooling systems (https://www.storagereview.com/review/high-performance-leak-free-liquid-cooling-chilldynes-cdu-and-cold-plates-in-action) are inherently constrained by atmospheric pressure, leaving only 7 to 9 PSI of usable differential pressure before the fluid reaches its boiling point at room temperature. Limited pressure budgets make negative-pressure loops difficult to route through long facility manifolds, CDUs, and high-resistance microchannel cold plates. Dedicated water chemistry analysis and ongoing chemical monitoring are essential to prevent corrosion, biological growth, and material degradation. [20:00] Environmental Variables, Fluid Chemistry, and Advanced Leak Detection Here, the conversation addresses regional climate impacts on data center operations, condensation risks, and the technological evolution of rapid-response leak-detection sensors. Regional humidity, altitude, and ambient conditions dictate secondary-loop water temperatures and facility cooling efficiency. Sub-ambient loop temperatures in high-humidity climates risk condensation formation on server chassis components and require dedicated dew-point controls. Traditional leak detection ropes suffer from supply chain bottlenecks and high trigger thresholds, requiring a significant volume of fluid before triggering an alert. Next-generation leak detection leverages flexible polymer-printed sensor traces, optical dye detection, and vapor sniffers to identify micro-leaks before catastrophic failure occurs. Intelligent rack controllers actively modulate CDU loop pressure upon sensing early fluid loss to minimize leak volume while preserving uptime. [25:00] Evaluating Two-Phase Direct-to-Chip Potential and Refrigerant Chemistry This segment explores the thermodynamic benefits of latent heat vaporization in two-phase cooling, alongside the supply-chain and chemical considerations surrounding low-GWP refrigerants. Two-phase direct-to-chip cooling eliminates the sensible heating penalty of single-phase loops, typically at least 5°C, maintaining a constant boiling temperature whether a chip dissipates 10W or 1,000W. Two-phase cooling minimizes water-related corrosion and the risk of electrical shorting in the rack, presenting a compelling deployment model for enterprise data halls. Scaling two-phase loops requires solving multi-vendor interoperability for phase-change manifolds, CDUs, and complex vapor condensers. Emerging low-GWP, non-flammable dielectric fluids (such as R-515B and R-1233zd) are overcoming regulatory constraints associated with legacy PFAS compounds. Modern data center infrastructure providers are acquiring specialist cooling vendors to assemble unified, turnkey liquid thermal portfolios. [31:33] CDU Architectures, Dynamic Flow Control, and Blast Radius Mitigation Focusing on the core pumping infrastructure, this section analyzes standardized testing methods, transient thermal response, and the engineering trade-offs between centralized and distributed CDUs. [caption id="attachment_155957" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Dell PowerCool CDU[/caption] ASHRAE Standard 127 established standardized testing methods to provide accurate, apples-to-apples comparisons of CDU thermal efficiency and pumping performance. Minor variations in coolant flow translate immediately into temperature fluctuations at the cold plate; a 10 percent flow change can trigger throttling events, demanding ultra-responsive control algorithms. Centralized multi-megawatt CDUs involve massive fluid volumes and large operational blast radii, such that a single contamination or leak event can take down an entire facility hall. Additive chemical incompatibilities make mixing proprietary coolants from different vendors hazardous, potentially causing precipitation and clogging. Distributed row-level and in-rack CDUs isolate mechanical failure domains, reduce fluid transit piping, and accelerate installation timelines. [37:00] In-Rack CDUs versus Centralized Loops and the Viability of Air-Cooled Inference This part evaluates high-performance in-rack CDU performance profiles and outlines why air cooling remains dominant across distributed enterprise inference clusters. Purpose-built in-rack CDUs can support 220kW thermal loads with a 4°C approach temperature, turning 41°C facility water into 45°C coolant for Vera Rubin racks at 1.5 liters per kilowatt. Dual-pump redundancy inside in-rack CDUs maintains continuous cooling operation even during single-pump maintenance events. Air cooling accounts for roughly 90 percent of all global server shipments and supports a substantial portion of enterprise inference deployments. Edge and enterprise inference hardware must be deployed directly within legacy, 10- to 15-year-old, air-cooled data halls where data is generated. Retrofitting older facilities with rear-door heat exchangers and evaporative cooling towers shifts parasitic cooling power into usable compute kilowatts for local AI inference boxes. [45:20] Chassis Internal Aerodynamics and Fan Efficiency Frontiers The final segment breaks down the mechanical trade-offs of closed-loop all-in-one coolers and examines how chassis aerodynamic optimization drives air-cooling capability to its physical limit. Server-level internal all-in-one liquid loops introduce mechanical failure points and chassis packaging complexity while offering only marginal gains over optimized vapor-chamber heatsinks. Sidecar liquid-to-air heat exchangers provide a cleaner, more serviceable path for localized liquid-cooled racks in facilities lacking facility water. Enterprise server fan efficiencies have increased from 15 to 20 percent a decade ago to modern electrical-to-mechanical conversion rates of 50 to 60 percent. Optimizing chassis aerodynamics around a 100 CFM per kilowatt design point, with every bit of intake air warming a uniform 18°C, maximizes thermal dissipation per kilowatt. Air has favorable thermal diffusivity properties that, when paired with precision ducting and advanced heat sinks, provide a solid foundation for next-generation enterprise hardware. To keep up with everything around liquid cooling and efficient data center design, follow Tim Shedd on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-shedd-840b13b4/).

3. 

   13 Jul 2026

   Podcast #150: HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000: Meeting Cyber Attacks Head-On

   Brian connected with HPE's Dan Gardner to follow up on HPE Discover and go into more detail on the HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000. Dan is the Senior Technical Marketing Engineer at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and considers himself a security nerd. Dan joined HP in 2017 in hardware technical support, then moved into a technical support role in network and security. He moved to HPE in his current capacity in 2023. Dan is based in Birmingham, England, where, as he puts it, he would probably rather be up a mountain. He is also an ultra-runner. Dan was instrumental in supporting our recent deep-dive coverage of the Alletra Storage MP B10000, (https://www.storagereview.com/review/hpe-alletra-storage-mp-b10000-and-nist-csf-2-0-a-full-stack-cyber-resilience-architecture) making the conversation relaxed and informative. Following a brief overview of HPE Discover, Brian and Dan delve into the B10000's internal workings. There is an obvious focus on cybersecurity, given the role the Alletra Storage MP B10000 and X10000 play in protecting enterprise data. This is a great follow-up to our B10000 review published earlier this month. If you have 40 minutes, give this a watch or listen. If you are strapped for time, we have broken the podcast into five-minute sections below, so you can hop around to the topics that interest you. There are several links after this transcript that provide more detail on the HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000, covering cyber resilience, ransomware, administrative tools, and more. 0:00 to 5:00 | HPE's Unified Storage Vision and the Shift to Cyber Resilience A look back at HPE Discover and why the B10000 and X10000 platforms were among the event's biggest infrastructure announcements. How HPE consolidated multiple storage platforms into a common hardware architecture that supports both structured and unstructured workloads. The differences between the B10000 for block and file storage and the X10000 for object and file storage, while sharing the same scale-out foundation. Why HPE believes cyber resilience has overtaken raw performance as the top priority for enterprise storage customers. The discussion shifts from preventing ransomware attacks to recovering quickly with trusted restore points. New legal and regulatory requirements are making cyber resilience a board-level business issue, not just an IT concern. 5:00 to 10:00 | Detecting Threats Earlier and Building Smarter Storage Security Why enterprise databases and block storage remain some of the most valuable ransomware targets. How HPE is working to bridge the gap between storage administrators and security operations teams. The three pillars of HPE's cyber resilience strategy: protect infrastructure, protect data, and detect threats in real time. Moving beyond traditional ransomware indicators like exploding capacity usage to behavioral analytics. Detecting suspicious activity, such as failed logins, privilege escalations, and snapshot deletion attempts, before encryption spreads. An introduction to HPE's ransomware detection capabilities built directly into the B10000 platform. 10:00 to 15:00 | Inside HPE's Cybersecurity Lab and Continuous Ransomware Testing An inside look at HPE's Cybersecurity Center of Excellence and its isolated ransomware testing environment. How engineers continually test against roughly 200 ransomware variants to improve detection algorithms. Why ransomware detection is a constantly evolving process rather than a one-time feature. What's new in the latest B10000 software release, including improvements for file workloads and integrated data protection. The role of HPE Morpheus and VM Essentials in helping organizations modernize virtualization alongside storage security. Why HPE views cyber resilience as a full-stack challenge spanning compute, networking, virtualization, storage, and backup. 15:00 to 20:00 | Faster Recovery Through Automation and Security Hardening How the B10000 automatically preserves snapshots when ransomware activity is detected. New automation extends immutable snapshot retention to increase the chances of finding a clean recovery point. Automated security hardening simplifies deployment of consistent security configurations across multiple arrays. Built-in auditing continuously checks for configuration drift and alerts security teams when systems deviate from policy. Why centralized audit logging is becoming essential for meeting modern compliance requirements. An overview of emerging regulations, such as DORA and NIS2, and their impact on storage infrastructure. 20:00 to 25:00 | Practical Cybersecurity Advice for Organizations of Every Size Why cyber resilience requirements are expanding well beyond finance and healthcare. The growing influence of cyber insurance on backup, recovery testing, and operational readiness. Practical recommendations for smaller IT teams looking to strengthen security without enterprise-sized budgets. Why the NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 provides a useful roadmap for organizations just getting started. The importance of establishing a common cybersecurity language across executives, IT, security, and compliance teams. Centralizing logs from every device becomes the foundation for meaningful threat detection. 25:00 to 30:00 | Building Visibility Across Hybrid Infrastructure Open source tools such as Graylog provide accessible entry points for centralized security monitoring. Why hybrid cloud environments require the same security discipline as traditional data centers. Avoiding the assumption that cloud providers handle every aspect of security. The importance of maintaining complete visibility across on-premises and cloud environments for governance and audits. Security remains focused on protecting the entire attack surface, regardless of where workloads reside. Discussion returns to how ongoing B10000 platform enhancements continue to improve scalability and resiliency. 30:00 to 35:00 | Security Fundamentals That Scale With the Business Why basic security practices, such as monitoring privileged access, remain some of the most effective defenses. The realities that smaller organizations face as infrastructure grows organically over time. How B10000 delivers enterprise cyber resilience features even in entry-level deployments. Organizations can expand protection over time with replication, backup appliances, immutable storage, and cyber vaults. The concept of a "vault in a box" combines encryption, immutability, and integrated security in a single platform. Good security hygiene today creates the foundation for future AI initiatives and regulatory compliance. 35:00 to 40:30 | Disaster Recovery, Performance, and Final Takeaways Revisiting the 3-2-1-1 backup strategy and how B10000 supports modern disaster recovery architectures. Using Metro Cluster, Active Persistence, remote replication, and StoreOnce to build resilient multi-site environments. Why restore performance has become just as important as backup performance. High-speed recovery places new demands on server, storage, and networking infrastructure. Additional HPE resources, white papers, architecture guides, and demonstration videos are available for deeper learning. Closing thoughts on why organizations of any size can benefit from adopting a more comprehensive cyber resilience strategy. Additional Material HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 - Cyber resilience with data-adaptive ransomware detection (https://www.hpe.com/psnow/doc/a00147482eew) HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 ransomware protection framework (https://www.hpe.com/psnow/doc/a50013811enw) HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 SIEM integration (https://www.hpe.com/psnow/doc/a50014762enw) HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 - Administrative hardening guide (https://www.hpe.com/psnow/doc/a00146015enw) HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 security guide (https://www.hpe.com/psnow/doc/a00138815enw) Videos HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 ransomware detection with CrowdStrike (https://www.hpe.com/uk/en/resource-library.video.hpe-alletra-storage-mp-b10000-r6-ransomware-detection-with-crowdstrike.v100013647.html) HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 and Elastic (https://www.hpe.com/uk/en/resource-library.video.hpe-alletra-storage-mp-b10000-and-elastic.v100009010.html)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

11,732,649

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.3 / 5

10 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 40 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

3

Social presence

97

YouTube

93

Engagement

50