FAQ Category: Data Storage Solutions

Is My Data Storage Protected in the Event of a Disaster?

Not necessarily. The safety of your data is dependent upon a number of different factors from storage methods, firewalls, encryption, backups, how your company’s users are accessing the data, and a host of other variables. Data protection is defined as the safeguarding of your organization’s important information from corruption, compromise, or disaster-induced loss. It is […]

What’s the Difference Between Tiering and Caching?

While “storage tiering” and “caching” are often used interchangeably, especially when discussing flash media, they are actually two different processes with different definitions. “Tiered data” resides on one media but moves between media as patterns of data access change. “Caching” places a copy of data on a high-performance mechanism like solid-state memory or dynamic RAM […]

Why is Storage Tiering Important?

Storage isn’t completed by just storing more and more data. Categorizing and identifying your data and information is equally as important. Storage tiering is paramount because it can be costly if done improperly. If your company is spending money on data that can easily be archived instead of “always on,” then your overall IT spend […]

What Tiered Storage Solution Do I Need?

Each company is different with respect to data storage. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, and you should be leery of companies who say it is. Storage is unique to each individual company. One company, even in a similar industry, may not have the same data storage needs as another.

What is “hot data”?

Hot data is data in which a company needs to access frequently. It tends to be business-critical or mission-critical data in which access needs to be rapid. Hot data tends to be stored in Tier 0 and Tier 1.

What Are the 5 Types of Tier Storage and What Data Do They Store?

Tier 0 is defined as the solid-state memory-based storage used to improve performance beyond that which Tier 1 storage offers. Tier 0 storage had traditionally been in the form of a RAM disk which was quite costly; however, that is changing. Tier 1 is where “hot data” (the data that businesses need to use daily) […]

What is Tiered Storage?

Tiered storage assigns different categories of data to different types of media with the goal of reducing overall storage costs. Tiered storage architecture ranks data in a hierarchy based on its overall business value. Performance and cost of the media determine the tier in which the data is placed. Also, data is ranked in a […]

What is Storage-as-a-Service?

Storage-as-a-Service is a business model where companies lease or rent its storage infrastructure from another company in order to store their data. Nearly 100% of businesses use some type of cloud-based Software-as-as-Service (SaaS); however, it is estimated that only 30% of IT organizations are using Storage-as-a-Service (STaaS). This method can save companies money since they […]

What is Cloud Storage?

Cloud storage is the newest IT trend in storage; however, make no mistake: cloud storage is here to stay. Companies of all shapes and sizes are migrating their data to cloud systems in order to handle expanding data requirements. Some organizations use the Cloud to supplement local server storage, other organizations see the scalability and […]

What is Network Attached Storage (NAS)?

A network attached storage (NAS) is similar to having an on-prem cloud. It’s not large like a public cloud but it is often best-suited for small-to-medium enterprises, as opposed to a Storage Area Network, since NAS does not interfere with network systems when files are shared as it is file-based. Network attached storage often has […]