Hard Disk Storage is Being Replaced
What’s the difference between Flash and hard disk drive storage? That would be 30,000 IOPs per SSD compared to a mere 150 on hard disk. By mixing spinning disk with flash, enterprise storage has upped the IOPs without a steep incline in cost.
Hard disk drive storage has largely given way to solid state drives, or SSDs, for a couple of reasons. First, SSDs are far superior to the older hard disk models in regards to performance–they use flash, and as such, they are much faster. Secondly, purchasing an SSD solution for your enterprise may no longer be the more expensive option. In fact, SSDs probably won’t cost more than hard disks by the end of 2017.
Is Cloud Storage the Answer?
Forget using proprietary NVRAM interconnects or other forms of hardware. Formerly, enterprise businesses had to replace heavy, physical equipment. Not anymore. With most of your enterprise storage using a software-based model (probably in the cloud), you won’t have to deal with the hassle of upward scalability.
Unfortunately, pure cloud options won’t always work for enterprise businesses, and hybrid options (the aforementioned mixing of spinning disk with flash, for instance) are often the way to go.
But What about Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR)
“This method uses lasers to heat the high-stability media before magnetically recording data, and is predicted to increase the limit of magnetic recording by more than a factor of 100,” says Information-Age.
The main hurdle for HAMR storage is that the data isn’t as readily available as other storage methods once the data is stored. If you need access to your data for decision-making purposes, you won’t benefit from HAMR for a few more years.
Cloud Competition is Heating Up
It’s no secret that cloud storage is here not only to stay, but to take over the data storage industry. The biggest players—Amazon, Google, Microsoft—are getting the headlines for now, but who will emerge as a regional competitor? You can expect a handful of more localized or industry-specific providers to compete in the near future.
Some smaller competitors may target cloud storage for sales data in particular, or maybe another will pursue logistics data. We’ll know soon enough, but we know that the one-size-fits-all cloud platforms from Amazon and Friends may not be good enough for every niche in the long run.
Another reason for growth in niched cloud competition is the proliferation of “smart storage.” This type of storage is typically “data-aware,” meaning that the storage software itself is capable of advanced reporting and measurements. It’s no longer a bucket where you simply dump data and find ways to use it later—you can use your storage software to make decisions about data. Basically, your cloud storage could be used as analytics software.
If you need advice on finding the right enterprise storage for your business, give us a call at (888) 596-4720. Service IT Direct can help you find an option that will save money and give you the most functionality possible. You can also reach out if you need help with your legacy storage systems. Tearing down old hardware and replacing it with a hybrid isn’t a realistic option for everyone, and we’re here to help!