Core infrastructure
Information and data storage
Core infrastructure at Sinopia
Information storage solutions
Information storage
Storage is one of the main factors in maintaining the continuity of the core computing, and in securing business information. Also, from many years of experience, we know that the threats to storage systems are increasing. When any security threat is inserted into the storage system, the organization’s digital data center is under existential threat, i.e. encrypting or deleting the data center, so it is important that the information is accessible and available at all times.
A proper enterprise information storage solution will ensure that you have high availability of information everywhere, will reduce operating costs, and will know how to absorb security attacks as well as improve durability.
Storage is a collection of collective methods and technologies that capture and preserve digital information on electromagnetic, optical, or silicone storage means.
Storing information is a key component of digital devices, as consumers and businesses have relied on it to preserve information ranging from personal photos to business-critical information.
The importance of data storage
The emphasis on the importance of storing information in an organization is reflected in the fact that a ‘new generation’ of data is constantly appearing; this increase in data (BIG DATA) can be attributed to data-intensive applications such as AI, and to internet devices (IoT).
Modern storage systems require enhanced capabilities in order to enable organizations to implement machine learning artificial intelligence (AI) in order to capture this data, to analyze it, and to extract maximum value from it.
Running complex scripts and real-time data analysis has contributed to the emergence of dense, expandable storage systems, including high-performance computing file storage, merged infrastructures, complex storage systems, hyper-centralized storage infrastructure, provision of data storage services (NAS) to computers, and object storage platforms.
By 2025, 163 ZB (zettabytes) of new data are expected to be produced, according to a report by the IT analyst company IDC. This estimate represents a potential increase of tenfold, compared to the 16 ZB produced up to 2016.
How does data storage work?
The term storage may refer to both user data in general and, more specifically, the integrated hardware and software systems used to capture, manage, and prioritize data. This includes information in applications, databases, data warehouses, archives, backup devices, and cloud storage.
Small organizations require a single storage system or a connected system that can reach a large volume of data, but there are storage systems that expand to a number of petabytes, which provide a response to large organizations or to demands for high performance.
Data storage capacity requirements define how much storage is required to operate an application, a group of applications, or data arrays. Capacity requirements take the data types into account.
For example, simple documents may require capacity of only a kilobyte, while graphics-intensive files, such as digital images, may occupy megabytes, and a video file can require a gigabyte of storage.
Computer applications typically display the minimum and recommended capacity requirements required to run them.
Before deciding where or how to store the structured and unstructured organizational data, companies must first understand the amount and type of data they have, along with the motivation behind storing the information.
These insights will help determine which optimal storage package is required for the business’s needs, whether for building on-premises solutions or transition to the cloud, or some combination of the two.
Choosing an information storage solution
Important facts to know regarding choosing a data storage solution
Get to know your data!
Understanding the business value of business data, and whether they are critical to defining the storage strategy, is very important. Data storage management policies must be formulated to answer different points, for example:
- How soon do I need the data back if they are lost?
- How soon do I have to access the data?
- How long do I have to save the data?
- How certain does it have to be?
- With what regulatory requirements do the data have to comply?
It is important to plan how the different data in the organization will be integrated – structured-data from business systems, with semi-structured or non- structured data, from email servers for example.
It is important to ensure that the data management platform chosen will enable all these types to be integrated into a unified data model, based on the organization’s core infrastructure, without months or years of effort.
It is important to understand the compatibility needs
If the business is, for example, a publicly traded company or operating in a highly regulated industry such as financial services or healthcare, then a required bar for compliance and security must be set.
If data storage and management is outsourced, make sure that the managed services provider has the necessary credentials to provide a secure and coordinated environment. Failure to act in complete coordination can lead to severe penalties later on.
Setting data storage policy
Correct policymaking to preserve the data is a necessity, because some data must be retained for many years, while other data may only be needed for days.
When determining processes, it is necessary to identify the most important data of an organization and to prioritize resources to manage storage appropriately. For example, email may be a company’s top priority, but storing and archiving email data for a particular group may be more critical than for other groups.
Make sure that these priorities are set so that data management resources can be focused on the most important tasks.
Find a solution that fits your business data, not the other way around.
In search of a suitable solution, the choice does not just have to address the question of whether the solution is in a DAS, a SAN or a NAS configuration – these are important choices, but they are not enough.
NAS and SAN configurations can be a great solution for performing read/write operations in a fairly structured database, but usually this solution is not designed to succeed with unstructured workloads, so instead of choosing one strategy tailored to all, consider the characteristics of the workload and choose the storage strategy that is suitable for the work.
Also, one should look for a solution that provides the flexibility to choose where the data will be stored: in the business complex and/or in the cloud. The solution should enable leveraging investments in existing data platforms, such as network sharing and SharePoint, for example.
And if a mobile workforce is used in the business, the data management and storage solution should be streamlined, in favor of mobile and virtual platforms, in addition to desktops and laptops – and should provide a consistent experience on every platform, including mobile ones, for editing capabilities and intuitive experience among the various platforms.