Data storage for dedicated servers has always been an important concern for businesses and users, especially since data tends to grow in size every year. It’s crucial to ensure that your data will be preserved properly and consistently, so you don’t have to worry about getting lost when you need it most.
Cold data storage refers to making copies of data to use if the original copy becomes unusable or corrupted, and it can be a great way to ensure your data will remain safe and sound. Here are seven tips for storing cold data safely.
What is Cold Data Storage?
Much like a traditional archival system, cold data storage is a system that stores data that is not frequently accessed. The main difference is that cold data storage uses cheaper and slower media, such as tape drives or optical discs. That is because the data stored in cold storage is not typically accessed or used very often, so slower media is not a problem.
Examples of the kinds of data that cold storage may benefit include video, photos, and data stored for backup, archive, or disaster recovery purposes, as well as information that a business must maintain for regulatory compliance.
Why Cold Storage?
There are several benefits to using cold data storage. Cold storage can be used to store data that is not accessed often, which can save money on active storage devices. Additionally, cold storage can protect data from being lost or corrupted, as it is not subject to the same wear and tear as active storage devices. It also helps improve the performance of active storage devices by taking some of the load off of them.
In recent years, cold data storage has become more and more prevalent. The causes for this include the exponential growth in data, modifications in storage requirements, established and new compliance laws, and the low cost of cold storage.
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Exponential Data Growth
According to IDC, by the end of 2020, annual data growth is anticipated to surpass 44 zettabytes and rise. The majority of this data is either regularly accessed or dormant. Unstructured and artificially created data is responsible for more than 80% of the data.
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Primary Storage Consumption
Resources are continuously used by storage. Most of the time, data stays in the primary target throughout its existence. Although main storage is frequently updated, cold data still uses costly hot storage resources.
Heat maps reveal that data remains hot within the first 72 hours after it is created, data remains hot. Data cools down after 30 days. Data gets stale after 90 days. Although cold data is a waste, NAND flash SSD media assets are very effective for active data.
High performance is not required for cold storage. That may result in unnecessary expenses and high storage costs. However, it is believed that cold data consume between 75 and 90 percent of primary storage.
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Regulatory Compliance
The use of private data has become more widely recognized in recent years. More and more regulatory bodies are being established To standardize data usage and protect citizen privacy.
For instance, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) mandates that businesses adhere to particular criteria while processing the data of EU persons and organizations (EU).
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Cost-Effectiveness
Compared to heat storage, cold storage offers a significantly less expensive alternative. Options for storing cold data range widely, from various cloud services to storage systems and media choices. While each cold storage solution has special advances, most are still affordable, allowing businesses to cut storage expenditures.
How to Effectively Manage Cold Storage
Utilizing cold cloud storage, reviewing cold data consumption annually, using cheap storage, and automating data storage are all common techniques.
1. Use Inexpensive but Dependable Cold Storage
Tapes and slow hard drives are frequently seen as suitable storage media for cold data. To make sure the media is functioning properly, you must yet examine all disks and tapes on a regular basis.
2. Consider Cloud-Based Cold Storage
There are many different cold storage options available in the cloud that can be more appropriate for your needs than on-premise options. Cloud storage can occasionally save expenses while giving you access to security and compliance controls.
3. Conduct yearly analyses of cold storage data
Not all cold data needs to be kept around indefinitely. Conduct an annual evaluation of your data to make sure you are using your resources effectively. To decide which data should be retained and which should not end user employees and legal departments might participate in the review.
4. Use Data/Storage Automation
Most storage manufacturers use artificial intelligence to enable tiers of data storage (AI). The consumer can often specify the triggers and rules that the AI program will use to disperse data in storage.
Cold vs Hot Storage
| Cold Storage | Hot Storage | |
| Definition | Cold storage should be used for all infrequently used data. | Hot storage should be used to keep any data that is often and promptly accessible. |
| Use cases | Archival data, data that cannot be accessed because of legal restrictions, and compliance data are examples of typical use cases for cold storage. | Data that is dynamically modified, data that users query, and data needed for use in ongoing workflows are some examples of typical use cases for hot storage. |
| Characteristics | Data that isn’t used frequently, like obsolete databases, can be kept in a secure area with cold storage. “Dormant data” is a common term for this information. | Hot storage offers dependable, instant access. “Data streams” are frequently used to refer to data sent from hot storage repositories. |
| Speed | Data from cold storage is often more difficult to retrieve than data from hot storage. The time it takes to retrieve data varies and might range from minutes to hours. | The number of paths that a piece of data must take in order to reach its destination greatly affects how quickly it may be transferred. |
Alternatives for Cold Storage
Your need for data storage will determine the cold storage solution you select. If you have sensitive data, such as medical, financial, or legal information, traditional offline cold storage alternatives might not be practical. Specific accessibility needs for these sectors must be met, necessitating more sophisticated solutions like private clouds, hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI), or cloud archive storage.
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Cloud Archive Storage
With the Cloud Archive option from OVHcloud, cold storage is an affordable and reasonably accessible choice. Data security, compliant accessibility, and cost-effective archival storage should be the top priorities for enterprises with sensitive archive data. All of these are addressed by solutions like Cloud Archive.
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Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) Private Cloud Storage
Companies that require more protection and assurance for older data can benefit from more expensive archive solutions from hyper-converged infrastructure and private cloud storage alternatives. By storing your data in several places, these storage alternatives offer improved disaster recovery assurance (failure at one location doesn’t impact the data’s accessibility).
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Dedicated or Bare Metal Servers
Dedicated servers are great for hot and warm storage, but they are unnecessary for cold storage. In general, fast-accessible data, including regularly utilized hard drive documents, is stored on dedicated servers. This type of data necessitates additional resources because it must be easily accessible.
Conclusion
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