Enterprise Storage. So Much Data, So Little Time

The explosion of data in its many forms; a smaller backup window and even irrelevant data getting archived are all driving the need for faster, larger and more intelligent storage solutions. Most major enterprises have even developed storage roadmaps that run over a three to five year cycle.

"In the IT industry, that is equivalent to a lifetime for most technologies. That means that businesses need to rethink their storage and backup strategies," says Nadine Barnard, storage and security business unit manager at Comztek.

She says regulatory compliance has caught many companies, particularly medium enterprises, unprepared, with many scrambling almost blindly to get it together. "Combine this with the 24/7 business environment that is the hallmark of the Internet age, and many are forced to run backups and archiving within a shorter window period. This is putting increased pressure on users to become more selective in the types of data they store."

"In many companies as much as one third of the data they are storing is not even business related - think of employee generated data such as MP3s and video clips - and there emerges a need for storage and backup technologies that are smarter in order to gain the most cost-effectiveness per megabyte."

The storage industry has responded with new tools that overcome current problems while ensuring reliability and cost-effectiveness in the longer term.

For example, in order to cope with the need for 24/7 availability, solutions are available that implement incremental backups of data, storing only data that has changed over a given period. Virtualisation rather than clustering has emerged as the strategy of choice for many companies as it offers improved capacity utilisation, faster backup and greater sharing of resources in heterogeneous IT environments.

Adds Barnard, "Users tasked with the storage and backup strategy of their IT need not worry - there are sufficient solutions, both software and hardware-based, to meet both their current and future needs."