Search Knowledge Base by Keyword
Data Center Storage – Impact of Cloud & IoT
With hundreds of massive data centers spread across the planet, cloud vendors like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, and Alibaba have the scale and global reach to satisfy the capacity and data locality demands of enterprises all over the world. Hence the Cloud, IoT, and Data Center storage trends begin.
Data storage demands these days continue to escalate at a rapid pace, as the global spread of the Internet and the digitization has disrupted the lives of people. According to a report, there would be around 40 zettabytes of data in the world this year. And by 2025, it’s predicted that the global datasphere will reach 175 ZB, of which total 90 ZB will come from edge devices.
The biggest trend of data storage this year is the explosion of the cloud and the ease that cloud storage can bring. But cloud storage isn’t the whole big trend, as IoT data generation ramps up and on-premises storage technology continues its growth. Data from smartphones generated by humans like selfies shared on social media sites account for a fair amount of the data. But the most real data comes from machine-generated such as IoT devices.
Cloud vendors offer a range of storage options to clients. On the hardware front, that means selecting from hard disk drives (HDDs) or solid state drives (SSDs). Tape is also used on clouds, since it provides such a cost-effective backup medium.
The more crucial selection is the storage software interface. The cloud vendors offer block, file, and object storage interfaces, providing customers with a range of options for performance, capacity, and cost.
Meanwhile, in the data center, the shift to SSDs is well underway. The high-end storage array market is transitioning from first-generation NAND flash technology that traveled over established SAS and SATA disk adapters to more advanced NVMe technology that attach directly to the PCIe bus.
Cloud Storage:
Cloud storage is a cloud computing model in which data is stored on remote servers accessed from the internet, or “cloud.” It is maintained, operated and managed by a cloud storage service provider on a storage servers that are built on virtualization techniques.
Cloud storage is also known as utility storage – a term subject to differentiation based on actual implementation and service delivery.
Cloud storage works through data center virtualization, providing end users and applications with a virtual storage architecture that is scalable according to application requirements. In general, cloud storage operates through a web-based API that is remotely implemented through its interaction with the client application’s in-house cloud storage infrastructure for input/output (I/O) and read/write (R/W) operations.
When delivered through a public service provider, cloud storage is known as utility storage. Private cloud storage provides the same scalability, flexibility and storage mechanism with restricted or non-public access.
Data Center Storage:
Data center storage is the collective term used to define the tools, technologies and processes to design, implement, manage and monitor storage infrastructure and resources within a data center.
It is part of the data center infrastructure and includes all IT/data center assets that directly or indirectly play a part in storage within a data center.
Data center storage primarily refers to the devices, equipment and software technologies that enable data and application storage within a data center facility.
This includes:
- Hard disk drives, tape drives and other forms of internal and external storage
- Storage and backup management software utilities
- External storage facilities/solutions such as cloud or remote storage
- Storage networking technologies such as storage area networks (SAN), network attached storage (NAS), RAID and more
It also includes data center storage policy and procedures that govern the entire process of data storage and retrieval. Moreover, data center storage may also incorporate data center storage security and access control procedures and methodologies.
Internet of Things (IoT):
An IoT system consists of sensors/devices which “talk” to the cloud through some kind of connectivity. Once the data gets to the cloud, software processes it and then might decide to perform an action, such as sending an alert or automatically adjusting the sensors/devices without the need for the user. and it’s impact on data storage.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is an interconnected network of physical devices. Every device in the IoT is capable of collecting and transferring data through the network.
Across the Internet of Things, devices create data that is sent to the main application to be sent on, consumed and used. Depending on the device, the network and power consumption restraints, data can be sent in real time, or in batches at any time. However, the real value is derived from the order in which data points are created.
This time-series data has to be accurate for Internet of Things applications. If not, then it compromises the very aims of the applications themselves. Take telemetry data from vehicles. If the order of data is not completely aligned and accurate, then it points to potentially different results when analyzed. If a certain part starts to fail in particular conditions – for example, a temperature drop at the same time as a specific level of wear – then these conditions have to be accurately reflected in the data that is coming through, or it will lead to false results.
Cloud and Data Center Storage Comparison:
The main difference between the cloud vs. data center is that a data center refers to on-premise hardware while the cloud refers to off-premise computing. The cloud stores your data in the public cloud, while a data center stores your data on your own hardware. You may be wondering whether the cloud or an in-house data center is the right fit for your organization. While both have their benefits, it ultimately comes down to your specific organization, its needs, and future plans/goals.
Benefits of Cloud Storage:
For many businesses, utilizing the cloud makes sense. Large enterprise organizations with limited budgets and startup businesses with a lack of resources may find that the cloud is a good option
for them because it gives them immediate capacity without the need for a big upfront investment. Other organizations may find that the cloud is useful for disaster recovery purposes.
With the increasing need for more storage, one big benefit of the cloud is that the transparent infrastructure can be extended when needed. The scalability of the cloud allows your organization to add or reduce capacity as your needs change. Because the cloud doesn’t require a big investment in on-premise hardware, it can reduce your total cost of ownership and simplify your environment. Flexibility, ease of use, speed, and agility are all attractive features of the cloud. Another benefit is that the cloud provider takes care of maintenance and management, like software updates.
Benefits of Data Center Storage:
In many cases, having an in-house data center is a better option. Often, maintaining an in-house data center is expensive, but it can be beneficial to be in total control of your computing environment. For instance, some enterprise organizations using the cloud have to depend on the cloud provider for cybersecurity, performance, and reliability. On the other hand, organizations who have their own data center are in control of their environment’s security, capacity, and performance. For these reasons, organizations that need high availability, require higher levels of performance, run mission-critical applications, or have strict compliance requirements may be better off with their own data center.
How the Internet of Things (IoT) will transform the Data Center:
The Internet of Things (IoT) has a potential transformational effect on the data center market, its customers, technology providers, technologies, and sales and marketing models, according to Gartner, Inc. Gartner estimates that the IoT will include 26 billion units installed by 2020, and by that time, IoT product and service suppliers will generate incremental revenue exceeding $300 billion, mostly in services.
“IoT deployments will generate large quantities of data that need to be processed and analyzed in real time,” said Fabrizio Biscotti, research director at Gartner. “Processing large quantities of IoT data in real time will increase as a proportion of workloads of data centers, leaving providers facing new security, capacity and analytics challenges.
“Data center operations and providers will need to deploy more forward-looking capacity management platforms that can include a data center infrastructure management (DCIM) system approach of aligning IT and operational technology (OT) standards and communications protocols to be able to proactively provide the production facility to process the IoT data points based on the priorities and the business needs. Already in the data center planning phase, throughput models derived from statistical capacity management platforms or infrastructure capacity toolkits will include business applications and associated data streams,” said Mr. Biscotti. “Those comprehensive scenarios will impact design and architecture changes by moving toward virtualization, as well as cloud services. This will reduce the complexity and boost on-demand capacity to deliver reliability and business continuity.”
Have questions about your specific data storage needs? Contact us or read more about on our Server page.