The amount of data we use every day is astounding.
Whether we’re using data for personal or business purposes, people created over 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day in 2021 alone. This data is created, transferred, and then stored in secure storage arrays around the world.
Finding the right solution for your business is so important, it must be appropriate to your data needs, helping you store your data securely and ensure you never lose important data that your business may need later on.
Interested in upgrading your storage solution? Here’s everything you need to know about storage arrays along with 10 tips to help you decide which solution to implement for your business.
Storage Arrays
Storage arrays are incredibly important pieces of hardware that help store vital data. These arrays are often connected to networks in order to help people transfer data to and from with ease.
While most businesses invest in local servers to hold their private data, many businesses are upgrading their entire storage solution to be cloud-based. This does not just mean they connect their storage array to the internet but are rather switching to make use of cloud-based storage solutions provided by Public Cloud providers like Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services.
Different Kinds of Storage Options
As mentioned above, many businesses are moving away from traditional storage arrays to an alternative approach. This modern approach is to rather pay a monthly or annual fee to leverage the power and scale of a massive cloud-based storage service.
To give you a better understanding of all the options, here’s a quick look at the different kinds of server array solutions available today.
Traditional Storage Arrays
Traditional storage arrays are simply an on-premises solution. This kind of storage solution provides shared storage to required servers, workloads and applications, thus providing access to business users on the network.
Cloud Storage Services
Cloud storage offers a way to store your data in a multi tenanted Data Centre. Whether you’re an individual looking to store family photos or a larger conglomerate wanting to store data, cloud-based storage services could be a perfect for you.
Hybrid Storage Solution
While some data may need the convenience of a cloud-based system, others may require the control and security of a traditional storage array. In this instance the solution could be a combination of both, incorporating both local and cloud-based storage to provide you with multiple options for all types of data.
10 Tips To Help You Decide Which Storage Option To Go With
Are you still trying to figure out which storage option to go for? Don’t worry, we have you covered. Here are a few essential tips to help you decide which storage arrays to go with.
1. Affordability
When deciding on a storage solution for your business, it’s important to understand what solutions you can afford. Traditional storage solutions can typically be purchased on either capex or opex financial models, while cloud-based services are predominantly charged monthly. It’s important to understand affordability / budget and financial operating model before making your decision.
2. Performance
Performance is another important factor to keep in mind when deciding on a storage solution. If you need quick and efficient access to data, local storage allows you to access data with reduced latency compared to cloud-based storage systems. If latency or access time is not a priority, then cloud based storage could be a better approach.
3. Security
When it comes to data, security should always be the number one priority. While modern technology has evolved, cyber threats have evolved with it. This means that the solution you choose should include world-class security to keep your business data safe.
Whether you decide on Traditional, cloud or a hybrid approach, the security of your data should be fully considered, examined, and tested.
4. Convenience
Productivity and efficiency are incredibly closely linked within the world of business. In this way, added convenience allows you to free up more time to be productive. This is another department where cloud-based storage comes out ahead as have access to the storage in matter of minutes, opposed to waiting for hardware to be delivered.
5. Shareability
Cloud-based storage services usually offer unique tools to help you collaborate with others. This includes features to help copy, link, or even send files to other people using just their email addresses. If you had a traditional system, you’d have to find a way to email them the entire file.
6. Access
Cloud-based services take shareability to another level with accessibility features. This means that some services will let you give other people limited access to your data. You can also customise the permissions that you give them so that they can only view things but not edit them. You can also give people limited access, meaning that they can only access the data for a few days before their links or login data expires. This gives you insane control with just a few clicks.
7. Scalability
If your business needs 1 TB of storage, you can invest in a 1 TB storage solution. However, if your business requirements suddenly increase, you have the additional wait time on procuring additional hardware, lead times, installation and configuration times with traditional storage solutions. Cloud-based systems are a lot easier as you can just upgrade your storage plan with a single click.
This makes the cloud-based option the better one for instant scalability. As your business grows, your storage needs can grow along with it. In the same way, if you were to need less storage, you can also downgrade your storage a lot easier than with a traditional system.
8. Applications
Cloud-based storage solutions come with intuitive systems and applications to help make your life easier. From applications to access your information to tools that can help you track your usage.
9. Reliability
Whether you’re an individual that wants to safely store their family photographs or a business that wants to securely store important data, reliability is always a key factor. When you want to retrieve your data, you want to know that it’s all there and that it’s secure.
10. Sustainability
Besides the eWaste associated with everyone having their own servers, cloud-based solutions are more sustainable in a business sense. This is because you won’t need to spend more money to upgrade the system in a few years as this is the cloud providers responsibility to maintain the hardware. This means you can get the best service at all times without having to worry about upgrading anything.
Get Professional Help With Your Storage Needs
Finding the right storage solution for your business is incredibly important. While the different storage array solutions have their own pros and cons.
However, the best storage systems are always custom-built solutions. That’s why you should consider giving us a call to help you design the most efficient storage solution for your business.
Interested in getting started? Give us a call today.