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StorageMath

About Mithril

About Mithril

Section titled “About Mithril”

Mithril exists to cut through storage vendor marketing with mathematical truth.

The Problem

Section titled “The Problem”

Storage vendors make bold claims:

  • “Seven 9s uptime!”
  • “Sub-millisecond latency!”
  • “Survives 4 failures with only 2.74% overhead!”

Some are accurate. Many are misleading. A few are mathematically impossible.

Our Solution

Section titled “Our Solution”

We apply mathematical rigor to every claim:

  1. Collect vendor publications, whitepapers, marketing
  2. Extract quantifiable technical claims
  3. Validate with actual mathematics
  4. Explain what it means in practice
  5. Compare across all vendors fairly

Our Principles

Section titled “Our Principles”

1. Vendor Neutrality

Section titled “1. Vendor Neutrality”

We analyze every vendor with equal scrutiny: VAST, MinIO, Pure Storage, NetApp, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Ceph, and more.

No favorites. No bias. Just math.

2. Mathematical Rigor

Section titled “2. Mathematical Rigor”

Every quantifiable claim gets validated:

  • Erasure coding calculations
  • Performance analysis
  • Durability mathematics
  • Cost modeling

If the math doesn’t work, we say so.

3. Human-Centric Simplicity

Section titled “3. Human-Centric Simplicity”

Simplicity is our primary metric.

A simple solution that works beats a complex solution that’s “optimal” but operationally risky.

4. Acknowledge Uncertainty

Section titled “4. Acknowledge Uncertainty”

When we don’t have data, we say so. We distinguish between:

  • Verified facts
  • Reasonable inferences
  • Speculation

Proprietary systems can’t be fully audited. We acknowledge these limitations.

5. Real-World Focus

Section titled “5. Real-World Focus”

Theory matters, but practice matters more:

  • Failure modes (hardware, software, human error)
  • Operational complexity
  • Long-term viability
  • Hidden costs

Why “Mithril”?

Section titled “Why “Mithril”?”

From Tolkien’s Middle-earth: a legendary metal that’s light as a feather, hard as dragon scales, and cuts through anything.

Just like mathematical truth cutting through marketing BS.

Who We Are

Section titled “Who We Are”

Independent analysts focused on storage technology truth.

We have no vendor affiliations, no sponsorships, no conflicts of interest. Our only bias is toward mathematical accuracy and operational simplicity.

Open Source

Section titled “Open Source”

All our analysis code is open source:

We stay honest by being auditable.

Contact

Section titled “Contact”

Found something interesting? Have a vendor claim to analyze?

Remember: Question everything. Verify mathematically. Stay honest.

That’s Mithril.