Entries categorized under “Archiving”

A major objective for most organizations either right now or in the near future is to put in place a private storage cloud architecture to make the storage and ongoing management of their data easier to accomplish. It is for these reasons that many organizations are turning to scale-out storage systems as the preferred architecture to achieve this objective. Here is where it gets tricky. Scale-out storage system architectures have diverged to offer organizations many paths to follow in order to arrive at their desired private storage cloud destination. (read more)

The line between archive and backup data stores has always been a little fuzzy from the viewpoint of end users. How these respective data stores should be deployed and managed from a theoretical standpoint were always fairly clear cut even though in reality they often ended up on the same backend storage pool. The growth of unstructured data stores is changing that. However it is only altering how these processes will be managed going forward even as their data continues to cohabit next to one another. (read more)

Everyone frequently talks about archiving data when they know the make-up of the data is and where it is located. But what no one want to discuss is the more common real-world problem of not even knowing where data is so it may be archived - especially as it pertains to Outlook PST files. In this sixth and final blog entry in my interview series with C2C Systems' CTO Ken Hughes, he talks about the real world problem of finding and archiving PST files in organizations and how ArchiveOne takes that into account in its architecture. (read more)

Bad news is only bad until you hear it, then it's just information followed by opportunity. Information may arrive in political, personal, technological and economic forms. It creates opportunity which brings people, vision, ideas and investment together. When thinking about a future history of 2013, three (3) opportunities come to mind. (read more)

One of the most common initial use cases for cloud storage is for the storage of archival data. However that does not mean every organization is quite ready to move all of their archival data to the cloud or, what they do move to the cloud, trust the cloud to be available to provide access to the data when they need it. In this fifth blog entry in my interview series with C2C Systems' CTO Ken Hughes, he talks about the importance of having access to cloud storage repositories for archival data and the advantages of keeping on-premise and data in the cloud synchronized. (read more)

Optical media's 100 year life span earns it top marks among all media from a longevity perspective. But as optical media's cost per GB soars and manufacturing ranks thin, its future looks dismal at best. In its place, removable disk technology (RDX) makes a strong case for small and midsized businesses (SMB) to use it in lieu of optical. (read more)

Doing searches across unstructured data stores and understanding who owns this data are emerging as higher priorities in today's Big Data era. However archiving software can vary greatly in how it performs these tasks of search and assigning data ownership. In this fourth blog entry in my interview series with C2C Systems' CTO Ken Hughes, he examines how C2C performs search across distributed email and file systems and what techniques it employs to establish data ownership. (read more)

Ever since I got involved with IT in general and data storage specifically, the predominant way that organizations manage their data growth is by throwing more storage at the problem. Sure, they pay homage to technologies like archiving, data lifecycle management and storage resource management (SRM) but at the end of the day the "just buy more" principle prevails. Yet as we enter 2013, data management is finally poised to become a data center priority. (read more)

As the last business day of 2012 it is time for DCIG to unveil its most read blog entries of 2012. While a few long time reader favorites remain in this year's Top 5, a couple of newcomers also made first time appearances on this year's list driven by what is likely growing user interest/concern in managing Big Data and doing eDiscovery across their unstructured data stores. (read more)

The purpose of archiving is becoming more than simply facilitating smaller email stores, faster response times or better use of expensive storage capacity. The growing driver behind archiving is to enable organizations to implement information governance. In this second blog entry in my interview series with C2C System's CTO Ken Hughes, Ken explains eDiscovery and retention management are becoming the new driving forces behind archiving and why C2C's ArchiveOne is so well positioned to respond to that trend. (read more)

Archiving is emerging as one of the hot new trends of the next decade with organizations looking for better ways to manage their Big Data stores. Perhaps nowhere is data growth more rampant - and the need for better ways to manage it - more evident than with corporate email stores. In this blog entry, I begin an interview series with C2C System's CTO Ken Hughes in which we initially discuss C2C's focus on Microsoft Exchange and which size environments C2C's products are best positioned to handle. (read more)

SNW 2012 revealed a dynamic industry that is innovating across all storage tiers. From incorporating super-low-latency flash memory into the data center to new tape formats that essentially turn tape libraries into high-latency disk drives, lots of talent is being applied to meet the growing demands that enterprises have for their storage systems. (read more)

Most organizations already have more than enough on their plates in terms of simply trying to meet the day-to-day demands of their business. So the last thing many have time to deal with is the complex mix of both pre-existing and emerging regulations that govern how they access, maintain, retain and secure their records. Yet respond to these demands they must. Doing so begins by following four tips so they may address these concerns in an economical, efficient and effective fashion. (read more)

In today's information age our focus always tends to be on the here and now and how quickly we can access information that was made sometimes just seconds ago. But in terms of the total amount of data in the digital universe, that is just the tip of the iceberg with possibly as much as 90% of today's data existing as archival data. Ensuring the integrity of that data and making sure it is stored cost effectively for decades is the responsibility of today's new generation of tape libraries. In part 3 of my interview series with Spectra Logic's CEO Nathan Thompson, we discuss how tape libraries have continued to mature to meet today's new business demands for retaining archival data for even longer periods of time. (read more)

Crawl. Walk. Run. That progression pretty well summarizes how most people look to take advantage of cloud service providers over time though, in cloud services terminology, the progression may be better summed up as: Archive, Replicate, Recover. Today I conclude my conversation with American Internet Service's VP of Network Engineering, Steve Wallace, as we examine how many of AIS' clients initially get their data into the AIS cloud and then expand their use of AIS cloud services over time. (read more)

Everyone talks about how Big Data is changing how data and storage is managed but what many forget is that Big Data also comes with "Big Costs" in terms of the hardware needed to store it and the software and people needed to manage it. Imation saw these three costs coming down the pike and now provides SMBs and SMEs a very affordable and practical solution to address all of these concerns (read more)

If small and midsized businesses and enterprises think about archiving at all it is generally in the context of "They are not doing it." Imation wants to change that as it envisions a world - and is offering a technology solution - that enables SMBs and SMEs to centrally store their data, seamlessly archive it and eliminate the need to do backups. In this second part of my interview series with Imation's Global Marketing Director, Bill Schilling, we discuss how the Imation InfiniVault opens the door for more SMBs and SMEs to achieve these lofty objectives. (read more)

DCIG is very excited to announce the availability of its inaugural DCIG 2012 Big Data Tape Library Buyer's Guide that weights, scores and ranks over 140 features on more than 60 tape libraries from 8 different storage providers. Driven by the explosion of storage requirements to address "Big Data" and the "Cloud," organizations are now more than ever looking for cost-effective, viable storage media on which to store this data. This is why DCIG believes tape libraries are poised to be one of the big benefactors of these growing storage demands which prompted DCIG to produce its first ever Tape Library Buyer's Guide to help enterprises choose the right solution for their environment. (read more)

It's no secret that 'Big Data' is becoming a 'Big Problem' for organizations from a data and storage management perspective. However what organizations may fail to realize is that the best way to solve their Big Data problems is NOT by mindlessly throwing more resources at them. Rather it is to look at Big Data more strategically and then tackle the data management problems it creates in one fell swoop using software like CommVault® Simpana® and its OnePass technology. (read more)

It seems there is no shortage of storage appliances on the market today from which small and midsize businesses (SMBs) may choose to meet their varied data storage needs. However, SMBs looking for an all-in-one storage appliance that can address both their current storage demands and position them to meet the unpredictable requirements of Big Data may wonder what such a solution even looks like or if it even exists. (read more)

One of the most exciting and terrifying times in the lifecycle of a company is transitioning from a small to mid-range or mid-range to enterprise sized company. Well led companies that survive those transitions have often been planning for the occasion for some time. The longer they have been planning the more likely they've become aware of the need for long term archiving. Of everything. (read more)

DCIG attended LegalTech New York January 30th thru February 1st, 2012. The conference was well attended by legal professionals, consultants, and vendors. While meeting with them a few opportunities stood out as compelling: Mobile device handshake, Four Rules of Early Data Assessment, Enterprise Versions of box.com and dropbox.com, THE Best LegalTech Cocktail Party (read more)

Choosing the right cloud-based archiving and backup solution may well be one of the most important - and difficult - decisions facing small and midsize organizations in 2012. However a recent acquisition by Imation should contribute to easing which solution organizations should choose in 2012. This acquisition did more than give Imation a cloud-based backup offering. It put Imation among an elite class of providers that offer both local and cloud-based data backup, recovery and archiving options from a single solution. (read more)

Choosing the right cloud-based archiving and backup solution may well be one of the most important - and difficult - decisions facing small and midsize organizations in 2012. However a recent acquisition by Imation should contribute to easing which solution organizations should choose in 2012. This acquisition did more than give Imation a cloud-based backup offering. It put Imation among an elite class of providers that offer both local and cloud-based data backup, recovery and archiving options from a single solution. (read more)

About a month ago I started to put some thought and research into what might emerge as the top trends of 2012 by keeping a notebook next to my keyboard so as ideas struck me I could jot them down. Now as I look at the four trends that made today's short list, they ended up being on the surface ones that I hear, write and talk about every day. (read more)