Data storage management in the modern era can be an incredibly complex process, but that doesn’t mean it has to be overwhelming or stressful. If you know what questions to ask and which products to use, you can get started with a data storage management plan.
In this guide, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about the various aspects of a solid data storage management technique and how they relate to your business overall.
You will also learn how to choose the best data storage services for your situation and effectively implement them in your company’s technology infrastructure.
Backup & Replication
Rather than copy data manually onto another storage medium, you can employ automated backup and replication processes. This ensures that a second (or third or fourth) copy of your data is automatically preserved on a separate storage device in case your main backup fails for some reason.
We’ve found that cloud-based backup services like CrashPlan are popular among consumers, though there are other options out there—for example, Apple offers iCloud Backup.
When choosing a service, the most important thing to keep in mind is how much space it provides. If you don’t have enough storage space, old backups can be overwritten with new ones.
Backup Your Backup
Your primary backup storage should have a backup. Your backup storage is susceptible to disaster or ransomware attacks like your main system’s files. The cloud, for instance, is a safe way to protect your data in case you misplace your physical flash/HDD backup drive.
However, you shouldn’t back up all files without thinking about what you need to avoid unnecessarily large or complicated backups.
Scalability
When you’re launching a new business, it’s important that you can quickly scale as necessary. A small startup might be able to handle everything in-house. However, larger or growing companies will want their IT services provider to understand where they are going and how they plan on getting there.
If you have ambitious goals for your company, speak with your storage service provider about scalability before g on. They should be able to outline strategies for incorporating cloud storage, upgrading systems, and bolstering capacity as needed.
This way, you won’t run into issues down the road when your business needs an upgrade.
Identify Your Critical Data Assets
While developing a sound data-storage management strategy, identify your critical data assets.
What do you need to retain? What must be accessible in case of an emergency or disaster? Does your company require heeding to regulations like disclosures, HIPAA, or PCI DSS? What about security measures for legal, regulatory, and contractual reasons?
These are all things that must be considered when developing your storage strategy.
Stay Current on Technology Trends and Improvements
An ever-changing world of data storage can make it tough for businesses to decide on their long-term strategy. As technology changes and improves, IT professionals must pay close attention to these developments to effectively apply them to existing and future projects.
One of the biggest advancements today is cloud storage. Cloud services have become incredibly popular in recent years because they’re more convenient than tape backups, which require additional software, hardware, and training. It’s also easier to access your information from anywhere with cloud storage.
However, despite its many benefits, there are some risks associated with using cloud storage. For example, if you store sensitive information in a public place such as Dropbox or Google Drive, there’s always a chance that someone could hack into your and steal your files.
It might be wise to use two-factor authentication or another form of security protection when storing sensitive information online.
Have a Central Data Storage
Even for your remote offices, a central data storage or database makes it easier to manage and secure data. Your staff can be distributed, but your data shouldn’t.
It’s easier to control both the technology and data when they’re both in one place. That requires tighter data protection, version control, and security controls. It refers to a single, consistent set of data. It entails greater hardware configuration, capacity, and performance control.
Furthermore, concentrating your efforts in one location will save money and reduce risk.
Some centralized storage solutions provide additional characteristics, such as redundancy, disk performance, and reliability. Regardless, the centralization of the investment and enhanced reliability frequently results in a reduced lifetime cost.
Some of the popular central data databases include:
- High-Availability Cluster
- Storage Area Network
- Network-Attached Storage
Choose the Best Storage Solution
You’ll need the correct storage solution to make sense of the massive amounts of data your small business creates. Choose a storage company with reliable customer service, excellent technical , and on-demand self-service. Today, storage service providers even offer AI guided storage management.
Good data storage services for your small business are reliable, safe, and simple to use, so look into your alternatives and pick the one that best suits your needs.
Install Deduplication and Cloning Software
Deduplication software analyzes repetitive files or data and removes them. This helps customers remove redundant data and manage backup activities more effectively and ensure more effective backups, cost savings, and load balancing benefits.
The best deduplication technology varies from vendor to vendor and your data protection aims. However, this technology is either utilized at the target, inline, or source. Deduplication space-saving helps by about 30%.
Disaster Recovery
Data centers need to be robust and reliable if they will protect all of your sensitive information. Make sure all potential storage vendors you talk to have clearly defined disaster recovery plans. Even if something catastrophic happens, all of your data is backed up safely somewhere else.
It’s never been cheap to recover from a disaster. Many storage service firms skip disaster recovery setup due to the initial cost of building and running a duplicate set of IT infrastructure. If you are concerned about the expense of end-to-end DR, you can outsource the service to the cloud.
Providers of disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) can take advantage of economies of scale by sharing infrastructure across several clients who only pay for their services.
Shift Focus from Storage to Data Management
Traditional business storage methods have been big, dark containers that exacerbate the problem of data hoarding, resulting in a massive waste of IT and data center resources.
It would be best to change the focus from storage to data management instead. You may assume that all you need is to choose a STaaS, SAN or NAS, but this is far from accurate. Implement data enrichment, maintain data security, integrity, multi- access control, and data reliability for an effective management technique.
What’s needed is a storage platform that can store data for various applications and distribute it over many media types, ensuring that the relevant data is stored on the right underlying media.
Final Word
Regardless of how modest your company is, the data it provides is extremely valuable.
All business owners may now anticipate their customers’ requirements, increase the value of their brands, and make the most of the information on their network. This is thanks to advances in data management software, Storage as a Service, and reducing pricing.
If you want to employ big data in your small business, you’ll need to start with the best and reliable data storage options, which the advice above can help you with.
