Data storage has become the most important thing for every organization. It doesn’t matter if you have a small startup or a large corporation. You need to store data from your clients and employees. Most of the companies start with a low budget data storage solution. But, you will quickly outgrow that data storage system as you scale up. Thus, you need to rethink your data storage strategy. There are many enterprise storage solutions available that you can use. In this article, we are going to talk about these enterprise storage solutions.
Enterprise Data Storage Solution
Once your company has reached the enterprise-level, you can’t use the old traditional data storage solutions. Most of the old data storage solutions can’t handle high workloads. Many old enterprises use on-premises servers for storing their data. But, many need to move their resources to a colocation facility if they want to scale up. The colocation facility will help you in increasing the capacity of your enterprise. They will also help you in disaster backup recovery. If you want your enterprise to grow, then you must consider how your IT infrastructure will manage and store data. They should understand to develop an efficient data storage strategy. You should consider your customer demands before developing your data storage strategy.
When it comes to enterprise data storage solutions, there are three main choices: Network-attached storage (NAS), Storage area networks (SANs) and direct-attached storage (DAS). There are various criteria that you should consider before choosing any data storage solutions.
Key Points to Consider:
- Storage Capacity: You should know how much data you are going to store.
- Scalability: Are you going to scale up in the next 5 years?
- Backup: You should also know where you are going to store your back up files.
- Budget: How much can you spend on your data storage solution?
- IT Department: Do you have a team to manage your IT systems?
Storage Area Network(SAN)
SAN or Storage Area Network is a high-performance, dedicated storage system. It creates a high-speed connection between your servers and storage devices. Most of the Storage Area Networks use fiber channel interconnections. This allows them to create a high-speed connection between your storage devices. SANs will also help you in improving your application performance and availability. They will separate your storage traffic from the rest of the traffic. It allows SANs to effectively allocate and manage all the storage resources. SANs are one of the best storage options available to enterprises. You can even use it for supporting your mission-critical and complex applications.
Storage Area Networks consists of two different layers. The first layer is used for establishing the connection between different devices that are connected to the network. These devices can communicate and receive commands. This whole network is actually controlled by the second layer. The second layer of SANs allows users to define the data flow in the network. It is fully software-based. You can even increase or decrease the storage capacity between devices by using virtualized partitions. Thus, this will allow help you in maximizing the capabilities of your existing resources.
In SANs, the data is stored in the form of blocks. Thus, it is perfect for block-level data sharing of your applications and mission-critical files. But, SAN is more expensive when compared to other data storage solutions. It is also a complicated solution that is mostly used by large corporations. If your company is medium-sized, then you don’t need to invest your money in SAN.
Network Area Storage (NAS)
Network Area storage is mostly used with a Storage Area Network (SAN) system. It is used for managing and accessing the files that are stored in SAN blocks. You can connect multiple devices in the Storage area network. But, NAS only works with a single device. It offers a dedicated file sharing option. NAS increases the reliability and performance of the network by using RAID technology. It uses an Ethernet connection for connecting with the server. NAS uses a dedicated OS for managing the files.
Most of the enterprises are using NAS for storing important files that are accessed by multiple users. You can easily configure a NAS device. It will help you in reducing the data redundancy. NAS is perfect for those enterprises that are looking for a flexible and reliable storage system. It will allow you to quickly scale up your data storage system.
Direct Attached Storage (DAS)
DAS is a low cost and low maintenance data storage solution. In this, your storage system is directly connected to the main computer. You can even connect your external hard disk with your host computer. There is no involvement of the network in DAS. Thus, multiple users can’t use DAS. You can’t even send your files to other users. If your enterprise is growing very fast, then DAS is not a good choice for your enterprise. It is only perfect for small start-ups or businesses. You can only use it for storing your data locally.
Conclusion
Every enterprise has different storage requirements and needs. Data management is becoming more and more important for any business success. Thus, it is very important for every enterprise to select the right storage solution. If you have a limited budget, then DAS is the perfect option for you. DAS is perfect for small startups that don’t require advanced features like data redundancy. If you are a medium-sized company, then you can use Network Area Storage for better flexibility. If you have a large corporation, then Storage Area Network is perfect for you. You can use NAS for creating a clone of your virtual hosts. SAN will provide you superior performance and speed. A network that uses both NAS and SAN principles are powerful and flexible.
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