Manage your data, not just your storage

Don’t get burnt by keeping ‘cold’ data on expensive ‘hot’ storage systems

Most organizations are keeping an everincreasing amount of data, yet only a small amount of that data is live or ‘hot’. Some of the rest is occasionally accessed, but the vast bulk is ‘cold’ – data that’s rarely if ever accessed but is kept in case it is required in the future. It might be needed as evidence if a dispute arises, say, or for regulatory compliance, or because external market changes mean we need to analyze something we could formerly ignore.

Keeping that cold data on the same storage as the hot data wastes capacity and cost – and time too, if it means you repeatedly backup cold data that doesn’t need it. Yet for many organizations, sorting the hot from the cold is like trying to unmix a warm bath.

Others know differently, and have resorted to a range of approaches in order to move cold data to cheaper locations. In this paper we look at the challenges that cold data presents, at techniques and technologies that can help with the problem, and at the advantages organizations can gain from a smarter approach to data management.

Download the Business Fit paper to read more…

Bryan Betts

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Bryan is a technology enthusiast and industry veteran. He has been analysing, explaining and writing about IT and business in a highly engaging manner for around three decades. His experience spans the early days of minicomputers and PC technology, through the emergence of cellular data and smart mobile devices, to the latest developments of the software-defined age in which we all live today. Over his career, Bryan has seen at first-hand how IT changes the world – and how the world changes IT – and he brings that extensive insight to his role as an industry analyst.