Storage made simple
The goal of this series is to make the subject of Storage more accessible and give a simple explanation to some of those terms that you might have heard but you may not have considered in any depth. Also, along with other series of posts on this blog, look to provide some help in understanding the foundations of a number of the products that CSC take to market as offerings.
Why is Storage so important?
When I talk to people about Storage I think the reactions I receive are the most polarized, ranging between a general ambivalence towards the subject to an intensity that only comes from a scarred past involving data loss – to which I can tell that some of you are already feeling your back muscles tighten a little! So let’s put some context around Storage. It’s where the workings of every business calculation, estimation, analysis or transaction are stored. Long gone are the days of being able to return to a manual system for the end-to-end operation of a business transaction. Every consumer and supplier in the chain expects reliable, traceable electronic records. Whichever industry you work in, every transaction relies on storage in some form.
It’s life Jim…
Data has a quasi-life of its own, it’s created, nurtured, put out to work, replicated, retired and then deleted. Storage touches more and more elements of our lives, from taking a photo, sending a tweet, listening to Spotify, watching Netflix or identifying tumor markers in a blood sample. It is embedded in today’s human activity.
The internet is about networks right? Nope…
Hands up who thought that the Internet was a network? Maybe it used to be, but today it’s about storage, if you consider it for a minute it has every concept of a storage device at its forefront. The features are built-in…
- The data is perceived as safe
- Ubiquitous connectivity
- Performance on demand
- Virtually limitless capacity
- Experience enhancing layered services
If Storage could write its own mission statement…
Storage, and its associated architecture, is at its best when it allows applications to consume and perform freely, provide contextual visibility of data through historic and contemporary interfaces, and above all, keep the data safe one degree beyond the committed level.
Next Time…
We will start to get some of those terms you hear such as disk, tape and array defined and look at how the abundance of computing power allows feature rich storage services. Don’t forget to comment, get involved and get in touch using the boxes below and reach out direct @glennaugustus
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