In any enterprise solution determining the best data storage is one of the most crucial areas that an organization must resolve for smooth operation. In today’s arena, data is the most vital criterion based on which critical business decision takes part in the organization. Companies derived many important insights on data, especially from unstructured data, utilizing data analytics and machine learning algorithms. This data answers many crucial points of the business, like customer insights, competitor analysis, and many more. Thus, the best way to store data is a critical area of research for any company. No doubt, it is a daunting challenge as well.

Broadly speaking, there are two main options for data storage – on-premises and off-premises. And on these two categories, also there are multiple options. Storage technology has been changed significantly, and it ranges from magnetic tape to room-sized mainframe computers to cloud storage and even to the latest form of solid-state drives (SSD). Let’s explore what they are and how data can be stored there.

What is Data Storage?

In an organization, data comes from various sources. Nowadays, a massive amount of data is being collected thanks to Internet devices and social media applications. This data needs to be stored in a secure and accessible way. Data storage refers to how this enormous data is stored so that information retains securely and can be retrieved and read later in time by the computer systems. Mostly physical recording media is used for this purpose. So, if you as what is the best way to store data, then the data storage must comply with certain conditions so that data remain free from cyber-attack and backup in place to ensure data is not lost or inaccessible downtime.

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Latest methods available for data storage

1. On-Premises

On-premises means inside the premises. Sometimes this is known as the original data storage method. In this scenario, data is stored in the servers owned and managed by the organization itself. You can imagine it as a handful of machines located in a dedicated room inside the office. However, when the data amount becomes heavy for larger companies, they use private data centers as data storage. So, in the case of on-premises data storage, the data owner takes full responsibility for managing the data storage. This means a greater amount of control of data and networks involving a significant amount of cost. This is a huge burden of maintenance where outdated equipment needs replacement, software updating, and patch implementation, and many more. 

2. Colocation

This is a modified form of on-premises data storage. In this system, organizations own the data storage; however, the maintenance part is offloaded to another body. When on-premises data servers are in place, they consume a considerable amount of power and need cooling functionality. Providing continuous power and cooling regularly is a tedious job. Additionally, there is a burden of maintaining the IT-infrastructure, which is challenging as well as time-consuming. So, in this case, companies choose collocating equipment with a data center in off-premises mode. As a result, they gain the benefits of gaining data center services and versatility while keeping complete control over data. This reduces variable operating costs and helps to predict the pricing of data maintenance.

Additionally, with the connectivity options of data centers, they can incorporate new features into their network. Also, it helps to maintain security and data compliance, which may be complicated for a company to implement in-house. However, this remote service needs to be available 24x7x365.

3. Public Cloud

Cloud provides a pervasive solution when it comes to the question of data storage. It is one of the best ways to store large amounts of data. Cloud has proved to be a pertaining solution of data storage for small to medium-sized companies. Because for them investing a lot of cost for data storage does not make much sense. They utilize public cloud providers to migrate their whole data either by lift and shift strategy or through specialized migration. This is true sense provides tremendous versatility along with other benefits. This is a scalable solution that provides more provision of storage and computing resources. Additionally, while data is in the cloud, it can be accessed easily from anywhere through the internet.

4. Private Cloud

Although public cloud implements security, however, it is open in nature, which is a serious drawback of the cloud. So, there are possibilities of unauthorized access, which is a potential risk for sensitive data. Thus, many companies do not compromise with security and implement private cloud solutions through the virtualized data center. This offers a greater level of security as it is coupled with encryption protocols. This can be compared with colocation, where no hardware is involved. Using virtualized servers, companies can get the benefit of physical equipment while there is no hassle of maintenance. Hybrid and multi-cloud solutions are new additions to that.

5.  The Drobo Server

What is the best way to store large amounts of data? Yes, large means huge, which may range to thousands of gigabytes. In this case, if you want to store data in multiple external drives, then the Drobo server may be the ideal solution. It will give more resistance too. Drobo is a small server that can store multiple hard drives. Once data is copied onto Drobo, it combines all the hard drives into one single drive. This is also a good backup solution. Suppose 4 hard drives are used, then 3 of them will be used for data storage and one for backup.

Final verdict

Now that we have discussed the best way to store large data, it depends on the organization which option it would opt for. Each of the latest methods available for data storage has its own pros and cons and cost. So, before implementation, those factors must be analyzed properly.