• Virtualization & Cloud Computing
• Application Development & Integration
• Storage & Information Management
  • Storage Architecture
  • Storage Virtualization
  • Tiered Storage
    • Tiers of Storage
  • Data Protection Methodologies
  • Data Replication
  • Disaster Recovery (DR)
  • Capacity & Storage Optimization
  • Wide Area File Systems (WAFS)
  • Information Security
  • Storage Resources
• Network Infrastructure
• Unified Communications & Telephony
• IT Management

Tiered Storage

Tiered Storage Strategy

The key to a data management strategy is the ability to put data in the right place at the right time, knowing that it has the right level of protection and performance. With a tiered storage strategy, companies can reduce total storage costs by assigning different types of data to different types of storage. Tiered storage solutions enable organizations to assign data to categories based on performance needs, frequency of use, amount of protection required, workflow, and other organizational criteria.

All Data Is Not Created Equal

Is your data “fresh” or “stale”? How often is it accessed? Is it modified frequently or is it unchanging or static? Do you want stale or static data on an expensive solid state or 15,000 RPM disk, or could it be stored on cheaper and bigger SATA disks? Maybe it could even be pushed to deduplicated nearline storage, or even tape.

How Should Data Be “Tiered”?

GreenPages helps companies define the best tiered storage approach to support and manage data based on its value to the business. GreenPages determines the appropriate data migration strategy based on the criticality of data, downtime restrictions, and user access requirements. We can recommend, provide, and implement solutions that will automate the classification and movement of data to the correct type of storage.

How Can This Save Money?

As you push data “down” the tier to the type that best meets performance, capacity, and availability requirements, you can reduce the need for expensive storage. You can also minimize the burden on backup systems, because you don’t have to back up static data as often as rapidly changing data. Data without current business value can be moved to an archive storage tier that isn’t backed up at all, greatly reducing backup capacity and management issues.

How Does Data Archiving Fit In?

Data archiving is the process of removing data from primary storage and moving it to storage that is still protected, but without production performance requirements. More important, you no longer have to make multiple copies of it (back up). As more manufacturers build data archiving solutions with specialized hardware or software that integrates more tightly with different types of storage, the tiered storage model will continue to be increasingly viable and popular with organizations of all sizes.