Data Backup Digest

Data storage continues to evolve at a rapid pace. As consumer needs change, the market is adapting to keep up with exciting and unique developments in technology. With that in mind, let’s take a look at where storage is heading for 2016 and what some the trends to keep an eye on are for your business.

Flash falling in price

It’s clear that flash storage has a load of benefits compared to standard mechanical drives. However, the latter continue to be extremely popular due to the low cost. That looks to be changing as flash drops in price. In the middle of 2015, reports claimed that the price of flash storage had fallen by 75% over the previous 18 months. It’s likely that we’ll see many more data centres looking to use the speed and reliability benefits of SSDs as they drop in price.

Cold storage

Not only is the data we’re storing growing in size, but the volume of data is surging too. As more technologies rely on storing data, the need for large amounts of archive storage is great. Many businesses have to store all of their data to meet legal requirements and using cold storage is a cost effective way to do just that. Data that rarely needs to be accessed can be stored on chap and slow drives. While archival storage may not have been important in the past, it’s a vital priority now.

Evolving drive technologies

New technologies for data storage are always being developed and Intel is bringing a new one to the table in their Optane drives. The chip is named 3D Xpoint and is capable of operating up to 1000 times faster than the standard technology inside hard drives, memory sticks and mobiles. Their special drives can hold data even when the device is powered down. Though likely to launch with a hefty price tag, it’s clear that hard drives will continue to be innovated on.

Hybrid cloud

The cloud isn’t a new concept by any means, but enterprises are still struggling to properly executing their hybrid data storage solutions. With data that can be stored in the public cloud, private cloud and data centres, organisations need to be able to access and move this data with ease. The hybrid cloud market is set to grow at an annual compound rate of 29.22% until 2019.

Flash and cloud workstations

As flash storage grows in popularity and lowers in cost, a number of desktop and laptop computers are coming with flash by default as their primary storage. Corporate workstations may be utilising a combination of flash and cloud as their storage methods.

Tape sticking around

Tape has been predicted to be dying out for years, but it’s still holding on for specific applications. For example, video surveillance setups still make ample use of tape and some companies still use it as an archive storage type. Though the industry is unlikely to suddenly boom this year, it’s certainly going to be sticking around for a little while longer.