As connectivity, digitisation and internet speeds increase across the globe, the human creation of data continues to accelerate. But at the same time, non-human creation of data is increasing at an unprecedented volume. The adoption of an ever-broader range of IoT systems generates a huge amount of data from the edge. All of these factors pose obvious challenges for data storage.
Today the data storage challenge goes beyond the incredible volumes of data created, driven by our increasing ability to access and exploit that data. AI systems are now able to perform incredible analyses on structured and unstructured data – in turn generating yet more storage demands. And as these insights become more valuable to corporate and consumer interests, there are a growing number of replications and back-ups.
The data storage challenge for enterprises:
As a consequence of these trends, organisations are continually having to increase their data storage capacity. This process requires three separate areas of data management to be carefully controlled:
- Operational data storage: this demands that applications and users can readily access key assets from within the data lake, at speed and with absolute reliability. It also involves a significant element of automation to prevent data losses
- Sustainability of infrastructure: most organisations hope to maximise the lifetime of storage devices, minimising the need for complex and costly transitions – which means using a heterogeneous set of storage supports
- Security: last, but certainly not least, is the requirement to safeguard both the digital and physical security of the data. This means evolving cybersecurity provisions, and IT assets situated in data rooms that combine human and technological safeguards. Finally, in the event of a disaster scenario, organisations also need to guarantee data restoration to minimise the impact on service.
Data storage solutions for all needs
IT management is always a balance between performance and cost – a rule that remains true for data storage. The most common formats are SSD & HDD; SSD is the most modern and clearly the fastest (8x more than HDD) – but for some usage models it can be prohibitively expensive. What’s more, production is still highly limited
Data storage configurations are also changing. In many cases the hard drive can be deployed in dedicated data storage equipment (often HDD). However there is also a growing demand for data storage that is attached to a computing element, particularly in the deployment of a hyper converged infrastructure (HCI). This more dense approach increases the proximity of compute and storage functionalities, which is particularly advantageous for the growing number of AI use cases seen in the modern infrastructure.
Infrastructure for data storage resides in many places
For the most sensitive data storage needs, the options available to IT teams have diversified. Traditional on-premise, owned data centre models continue to be relevant for some organisations, while others have benefitted from the scale provided by colocation and private cloud environments. Although some permanent and stable data requirements can prove cost effective to host in owned premises, the proliferation of data makes colocation an invaluable option.
The majority of organisations are now looking to public cloud environments to handle not just non-sensitive data, but also data with significant variations in size, which therefore requires a highly flexible storage solution. The same is true of data that needs to be accessed from multiple locations. As this approach has become common, where multiple clouds are combined with on-premise and colocation, the ability to interconnect is critical.
How DATA4 helps with your data storage needs
At DATA4, we understand our customers need a seamless combination of security, scalability and performance. Clients trust us to look after their data, both through the exceptional physical security of our sites, and by safeguarding them from disaster events such as fire and flooding. Our facilities continue to evolve to meet these needs, providing optimised environments for data storage. Our data centers are ready to support whatever solutions our customers use – from standard HDD solutions through to HCI configurations. As infrastructures continue to diversify, we adapt to keep our clients resilient, and effortlessly connected to their data.
