New Concepts in Cloud Storage: The Tiered System
The tiered storage system is certainly not a new concept as it’s been in use for quite some time. It was created for the purpose of offering protection to enterprise information. The only problem with the standard or traditional storage systems was that they were prohibitively expensive and quite complex. Hence, most of the organizations today are looking up to hybrid cloud that offers a much cheaper means of storage.
Setting up a tiered storage system
Tiered storage is nothing but a system where two or more systems work in tandem. More often, the first tier serves as the main storage system and proves to be the best performer. Of course, the first tier is quite expensive as well, and is closest to the application. The secondary storage system or tier two is a bit lower on performance and costs less comparatively, and its main function is to serve as a backup for the tier one, and also serves as a repository for data that is infrequently used. This data may have earlier been stored in the tier one. The last is the archived tier which is the slowest of the three, and the cheapest as well, that usually stores data that is hardly ever used.
Hybrid Cloud
Coming to a hybrid cloud, a comparatively new concept, where the storage exists on private cloud, with the applications also existing on the same private cloud. This is the first tier storage system that stores data for the applications and is considered as an excellent performer in all of tiered storage architecture. The next, or the second storage system also exists in cloud, though not privately but in public. This is where data is transferred to a public storage system like Amazon Web Services, and acts as a reliable backup, for the first tier storage system. Some organizations are known to prefer to transfer old, unused data to the public cloud storage in order to make free space available in the primary storage system.
Today, given that the price of cloud storage has reduced significantly, companies prefer to use secondary storage (public) as a backup for their primary storage, which is more expensive. However, companies should keep in mind that if they prefer to store data in the secondary (public) storage system that was transferred from the primary storage system, they need to design their applications accordingly so that data in both systems can be accessed easily.
The benefits and challenges therein
When you opt for a hybrid cloud tiered system of storage architecture, you stand to gain immense benefits. The primary benefit is that you can set up a two or three-tier storage system that comprises different price and performance levels. Moreover, this type of tiered storage architecture enables admins to adopt storage strategies that are application-specific. This helps you to transfer old, rarely used data to the cheaper storage system, saving considerably in overall costs. More importantly, hybrid cloud helps create an effective backup option in two separate platforms, one public and the other private. The risk of data loss, very often caused by data failure or even human error is minimized considerably. Contact Infognana, the experts in designing the tiered storage architecture so that it stands up to the rigorous standards expected in the industry.
