Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Receive the latest technology news and information.
Storage
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
Cloud Computing
View all newsletters




Privacy Policy
 

27 billion gigabytes to be archived by 2010

IT executives clamor for ways to prune and centralize their mushrooming data stores.

December 31, 2007 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - In 2008, almost every sector will continue the battle with data overload. Entertainment powerhouses - from television stations to big-name amusement parks - will struggle to house huge media files or to manage the data necessary to track customer spending trends. Universities will need extra capacity to spur e-learning and to hold more detailed data on students. Hospitals will cling to enhanced storage projects to avoid buckling under onerous regulations and the prospect of storing massive image files.

These are just a smattering of scenarios that point to a now-staggering need for space. In fact, respondents to Computerworld's most recent Vital Signs survey ranked storage-related initiatives as their No. 2 project priority this year, up from No. 4 last year.

According to Milford, Mass.-based analyst firm Enterprise Strategy Group Inc., private-sector archive capacity will hit an eye-popping 27,000 petabytes by 2010. Skyrocketing rates of e-mail growth account for much of this figure.

For instance, the University of Pittsburgh now pegs monthly e-mail traffic at more than 30 million messages, vs. 17 million just one year ago.

Other new factors driving the need for capacity include the pervasiveness of large files, be they media-rich elements or specialized program data such as the computer-aided design drawings now used in building everything from cars to furniture. Cloned copies of the same information are also bogging down many corporate networks.

Ironically, the adoption of virtualization technology - billed as a way to centralize and simplify storage strategies - can also trigger an initial spike in data capacity demands.

Trim the Fat

To combat spiraling data overload, corporate IT leaders will scour the market for ways to centralize storage and they will pursue options such as clustered architectures and unified storage-area networks (SAN). Data-pruning techniques, including the use of thin provisioning and data de-duplication tools, will also be high on 2008 corporate storage wish lists, according to Forrester Research Inc. analyst Andrew Reichman.

Mounting interest in these approaches highlights a pronounced shift away from "big-iron storage" - traditional storage arrays typically composed of custom application-specific integrated circuits, RAID controllers, and fixed-disk and cache-scalability ceilings.

"The alternative is software-focused solutions that make more use of general-purpose hardware and advanced software," Reichman says.



Jump to comments

Vital Signs

Additional Resources

Microsoft
Here are some of the key reasons why you would want to run Unified Access Gateway with DirectAccess.
Microsoft
Review how one energy firm tightened protection and simplified IT work using business-ready security solutions.
Sybase
In this white paper, IDC analyzes the role of next-generation mobile enterprise platforms as organizations seek a more strategic deployment of mobile solutions.

Learn the important issues you must consider before starting your next mobility initiative. Get your mobility white paper from IDC now, compliments of Sybase.

What People Are Saying

White Papers & Webcasts

Cache Tier Memory Efficiency with Gear6 Web Cache
Download this valuable white paper!  

Connecting to the Cloud with F5 and VMware VMotion
F5 and VMware partner to enable live application and storage migrations between datacenters and clouds, over short or long distances.  

Virtualize Microsoft Applications on VMware
Register for this live webcast now!

F5 Virtualization Guide: Seven Key Challenges You Can't Ignore
Seven Key Challenges You Can't Ignore  

Strategic ECM Webinar
Learn what new strategic business benefits can be realized through ECM!


IT Jobs

 

Partnered Content
Hitachi - Inspire the Next
Storage Economics: Understanding Tiered Storage Solutions
Storage Economics is a suite of methodologies, tools, and services that help customers identify the total cost of storage ownership and provide a tiered storage solution to reduce ongoing costs. Understand the benefits of implementing a tiered storage architecture which include improving storage capacities and easing the access demands to any single storage tier. Learn more.
Download this white paper 
Strategies for an Increasingly Cost-Conscious Data Storage World
Whatever word you use, we can all agree that the global economy continues to face challenging times. Yet, the essential challenge remains the same: IT demands continue to increase but the resources to address such challenges are being flattened or cut. However, we truly have an opportunity here to do more with less and focus on efficiency. Hitachi can help. Learn more.
Download this white paper 
Four Principles to Reduce TCO
Yes, good news! The good news is that there are proven strategic investments available today for storage infrastructure cost reduction. Smart organizations will follow the principles of Storage Economics to evaluate them not just for their technical prowess but also for how well they can support business performance and particularly efforts to economize. Learn more.
Download this white paper