TECHNOLOGY
NAS
The business case for Network Attached Storage
The IT industry has evolved dramatically over the past 30 years and the world continues to become ever more digitalised. According to Berkeley’s School of Management, more data will be stored in the next three years than has been in the previous 40,000 years. Andy Pinkard, File Servers Business Development EMEA, LSI, examines how organisations currently manage their storage needs in relation to the growing data volumes and file-level activity, and outlines how a network attached storage (NAS) solution can help address file storage growth.
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Data is big business.
A
company that possesses the right information can gain new market share, establish itself in heavily dominated markets, identify new opportunities and take advantage of them quickly.
It is therefore not surprising to learn that data volumes are continuing to increase. According to research from IDC(1), data growth has continued to explode, with a recent report claiming a worldwide rise of 62% in 2009.
The study claims that digital information reached 0.8 zettabytes in 2009 (one zettabyte equals a trillion gigabytes) and could reach as much as 44 zettabytes by 2020.
As a result, instant and secure access to vital company data has become crucial, along with the need for resilient and robust tools for handling the vast range of data types now available. In order to manage the huge amounts of data
being created, enterprises need to understand how this data can be stored most effectively.
General-purpose servers Most enterprises typically rely on their existing general- purpose servers to meet their storage demands: file serving, application serving, data storage, etc. However, the problem with this approach is that it can be impacted by a number of issues.
Scalability: General-purpose servers are designed with a limited capacity. In the event that capacity is reached IT departments can run into issues with finding a compatible, scalable solution that can be attached to the original server.
Security: Unfortunately, data volumes are not the only thing increasing in the cyber world, so too is the criminal element.
As cyber criminals become more and more cunning, enterprises need to be sure
that they have a storage system in place that can protect their data.
Energy consumption: As more and more data is stored on a server, the faster the computer needs to work in order to process the information. This puts a huge strain on the network, forcing high energy consumption.
Speed: As data increases so does the volume of power and capacity needed to store this information. For a lot of firms this can overburden the network, with effects being felt on speed and performance.
Cost: The cost to maintain these servers can place huge strain on IT departments. As we consume more and more data, the costs to handle this will get higher and higher. For some IT departments they simply do not have the financial bandwidth available to them to carry out the required maintenance procedures.
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