Data is one of the most essential assets for modern-day businesses, and it is increasingly important to manage your data properly. With such a large base of consumers, companies rely heavily on their data storage methods to ensure business continuity and scale their business. Because data is so important, finding the best data storage methods for your company is crucial.
With modern-day technology, data can be used to power algorithms and help companies derive invaluable insight. Algorithms can help increase revenue and collect data about customers and competitors. Determining how and where your data is stored is amongst the most crucial business decisions you’ll make. Nowadays, some of the most critical business decisions are made relying on the company’s proprietary data assets.
Choosing the proper data storage solution can be a challenge for many organizations, but in order to make the best decisions, companies are required to weigh the benefits of off-premises solutions, on-premises, or cloud-based solutions. Here are some of the most valuable data storage methods that will help your business thrive and scale.
What is Data Storage?
Before we analyze the best data storage solutions, it is vital to understand what data storage is and how it impacts our company. Since organizations use multiple sources for collecting data, it is crucial to ensure that data is accessible and secure. Data storage simply represents how physical media is used to retain information to be retrieved when users need it.
Storage technology has improved over time, and the ability to collect data and transmit it is increasing thanks to mobile devices, applications, and the internet. There are about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data created each day, and the number is only growing. Not all data needs to be stored, but the one that does needs to be accessible and secure.
Data storage refers to any number of ways you can retain information on physical media to retrieve it when you need it. Storage technology has changed significantly throughout the history of computing, and what started with mainframe computers evolved into SSDs for fast data storage.
The Importance of Data Storage
Having a reliable data storage method allows you to make better business decisions and help grow the company. Depending on the type of data stored, you can use it to develop better products, improve customer experience and create a better working environment for employees. However, before you can use data to your advantage, you need to store it and manage it correctly.
Suitable data storage methods offer you the means to easily access and manage data. Companies also need to take into consideration that data needs to be protected from attackers. Also, the data storage solution you adopt for your business model needs to align with your network capabilities, and data storage systems will require multiple data storage units.
Main Storage Types
There are a few main types of storage adopted by companies in the business world, and each solution has its pros and cons. Here are the most important data storage solutions that you want to consider for your business model.
On-Premise Storage
One of the most traditional ways to store data is the on-premise storage solution. Because some companies want complete control over their data storage, the on-premise solution became the best method for businesses that are particular about data security and control. However, companies that decide to manage and own the servers themselves also need to consider the high costs of having an on-premise solution for data storage.
The defining aspect regarding on-premise solutions for data storage is that the data owner takes full responsibility for the building and overseeing the IT infrastructure that stores it. Typically the servers are located in a dedicated data room or a private data center facility. This method provides excellent control over network and data, but it usually comes at a high cost to manage every aspect.
Cloud Storage
Cloud storage is a much more forgiving solution for companies that opt to go this route. Cloud storage solution removes the need to buy your hardware by having all your data moved to a cloud provider. You can easily access more computing resources or storage to meet your growing needs by using the cloud. Also, cloud storage is an excellent resource for companies that opt for work-from-home policies, and with more employees now working remotely, data access from anywhere in the world is very important.
The drawbacks of cloud storage solutions are strongly related to the open nature of the environment. Public clouds take security very seriously; however, it is difficult for companies that store sensitive data to protect it from unauthorized access. Data protection is rarely a concern for public cloud providers. Still, companies that require a higher level of security while maintaining the virtual nature of their data storage solution can opt for a virtualized infrastructure with private cloud deployments.
Hybrid Cloud Storage
Hybrid cloud storage combines public and private cloud environments. With hybrid cloud storage, companies can decide which cloud to store data. For example, highly regulated data subject to strict archiving and replication requirements is usually more suited to a private cloud environment, while less sensitive data can be stored in a public cloud. Some businesses use hybrid clouds to improve their internal storage networks with public cloud storage.
Colocation Storage
While many companies like the idea of storing data on their own equipment and have complete control over the data, the hassle of managing that equipment is most of the time too much to handle for many small to medium companies. Power and cooling needs can be challenging to accommodate, and implementing new services or features into an IT infrastructure can be challenging and time-consuming.
With colocation providers, companies can choose to colocate their IT infrastructure with an off-premises data center while maintaining the same level of control over their data found in an on-premise solution. Rather than dealing with variable operating costs, colocation customers benefit from predictable pricing for power and cooling. Colocating also offers companies the ability to easily incorporate new features into their network thanks to the connectivity options of the data center.
Colocation data centers offer robust security and compliance protocols in a protected data center environment that might be much more difficult to implement in an in-house solution. Overall, colocation storage is an excellent business data storage method for many companies looking for a high level of control, scalability, and security.
Different Types of Storage Devices
The market offers various storage devices that you can use for your business storage methods. Each machine has its own advantages and disadvantages, so here are some of the devices, along with the pros and cons.
Hard Disk Drives (HDD)
Probably one of the most widespread storage devices available on the market is the hard disk. HDD stores data in an optical and circular disk, and the data is read and written using a sensor arm. With a similar principle as the record player or the compact disc, you need to increase the disk rotation if you want more data transfer speed on an HDD.
Hard disk drives usually offer better performance, but the disk rotation limits the speed. Most HDDs offer 7000 rotations per minute, and some of the most expensive can go up to as much as 15000 RPMs. The lifetime of HDD ranges between 3-5 years, but they are cheaper when compared to other drives.
Solid State Drives (SSD)
SSDs are different from HDD in the way that they don’t have any moving parts. These drives use NAND flash memory for storing data, and they are about 5-10 times faster than HDDs. With a longer lifespan compared to HDD, they represent one of the most efficient storage devices. The downsides of SSDs have to do with the fact that they are more expensive compared to HDDs, and every memory block can store limited data, making them unreliable for storing backup data.
Tape Drives
Tape drives are considered a low-tech solution, and it is one of the oldest forms of data storage that organizations have exploited for decades to store large volumes of data. Modern tape drives are still used to store archival data that doesn’t need to be accessed quickly. Also, tape drives are known for lasting thirty years or longer, and they require little maintenance, making them the perfect storage device for backup solutions.
Tape drives are relatively inexpensive, but the drive system required to read or write data is expensive to maintain and difficult to manage. Many companies utilize tape drives for disaster recovery. Their systems have remained the same for many years because of the migration and implementation costs of newer and more sophisticated technologies.
Final Words
With these data storage methods at your disposal, you can choose whichever suits your company’s storage needs best. You can also combine multiple storage solutions to create a hybrid data storage deployment that offers you the best of both worlds. Colocation data centers can also play a pivotal role in your data storage solution. With the help of Volico, you can migrate your IT infrastructure to some of the best data center facilities. With Volico, you get all the advantages of enhanced security and a dedicated IT team in a fully scalable environment.
Discover Effective Data Storage Methods with Volico Data Centers!
Data centers colocation can play a crucial role in your data storage solution. Colocation providers deliver access to comprehensive cloud storage options while providing the power-efficient infrastructure that makes it easy to incorporate new hardware storage solutions.
A data storage specialist can help you browse through the different data storage solutions to ensure your data is always protected and ready for restoration without interrupting your business operations.
To learn more about how your data center can transform your approach to data storage, schedule a call with one of our data center experts today.
• Call: 888 865 4261
• Chat with a member of our team to discuss which solution best fits your needs.
