Storage poses a problem across a number of industries, but it seems to be the particular nemesis of IT. Everyone knows that the demand for storage solutions grows almost daily and that storage solution specialists are struggling to keep up. But a recent study by researchers from NetApp and the University of California suggests that consumers tend to overestimate their storage needs and that much of storage space is wasted. The study, which was presented at USENIX 2008, found that over 90% of data stored on two enterprise file servers was rarely accessed. Granted that the study only looked at two file servers from one company, but as Jerome Wendt from DCIG says, it raises some interesting questions.

One of the most pertinent questions relates to the exact kind of storage solution that individual companies need. According to the study’s findings, only companies that access their data regularly should use enterprise servers with high performance disk drives. And as the study suggests, most companies are excluded from that category.

Instead of assuming that bigger and faster equals better, companies should take a careful look at their day-to-day data needs to determine exactly what kind of activity occurs within their storage system. If their needs are in fact not as great as they had anticipated, they would do well to reconsider their storage solution.

Many experts are plumping for a move toward disk-based archiving systems. Disk-based systems are more cost-effective than large-scale corporate servers. With the latest developments in disk storage, these systems can also store data more efficiently and reliably, retrieve data quicker and use less energy than their enterprise counterparts.

A disk-based system that is experiencing a revival is MAID (Massive Array of Idle Disks), which first came along in 2004 but fell along the wayside as more impressive technology came along. But four years have made a world of difference and now MAID seems to hold many of the answers that data storage is looking for. It’s fast, reliable, and virtually limitless, as well as energy efficient. In addition, it takes up hardly any physical space at all, occupying barely one square metre.

If, as the study implies, only 66% of files stored are only re-opened once, and 95% are re-opened fewer than five times, then it doesn’t make sense for companies to persist with expensive enterprise storage solutions; not with more efficient and cost effective disk-based systems so readily available.

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http://permabit.dciginc.com/2008/08/is-it-time-to-swap-corporate-f.html