2022 Data Storage & Active Archive Predictions: Part 1
Members of the Active Archive Alliance recently shared their 2022 predictions for data storage and active archives. Here are some of the top trends to watch:
Securing Health Information is a Top Priority
The 2021 average security breach within the healthcare industry is higher than any other industry and more than double the global average. Protecting health information is a must. That protection requires a security strategy that includes decommissioning vulnerable legacy systems and consolidating patient, employee, and business records to a secure, HITRUST CSF®-certified active archive. – Shannon Larkin, VP Marketing & Business Development, Harmony Healthcare IT
Active Archives Will Increasingly Combine HDD-based and Tape-based Object Storage
In 2022, object and cloud-based storage technology will become more important due to the ongoing exponential growth of unstructured data. In this process, the generated data will become inactive very quickly, but it will nevertheless need to be archived due to compliance and legal requirements. Meeting these challenges will require Active Archives, based on object storage technology with standardized interfaces, that can be homogeneously integrated into existing infrastructures. Object storage systems based on hard disks will continue to be used for a long time for data archiving. However, tape-based object storage systems will be used increasingly for replication or backup of disk-based object storage and for tiering cold data from disk-based object storage to tape. As a result, in 2022, more and more active archive installations will combine HDD-based and tape-based object storage. – Thomas Thalmann, PoINT Software & Systems GmbH
Ransomware Isn’t Going Anywhere
Ransomware will continue to push organizations to think through how they prevent cyber-attacks, but also how they will recover if (or when) the worst-case scenario occurs. Organizations should move towards a 3-2-1-1-0 data protection strategy, which includes 3 different copies of data, 2 copies on different media, 1 copy that is off-site, 1 copy that is offline, and the ability to use the offline copy (copy 0) as a no errors backup that can be used to recover. They should also consider implementing a zero-trust network and multi-factor authentication to better safeguard critical systems and data. – Tara Holt, Senior Product Manager, Iron Mountain
Active Archive Deployments to Accelerate due to Security, Access, Cost, and Eco-Friendly Advantages
Active archive solutions will shine in 2022 with the ability to intelligently manage data and move it from expensive tiers of storage to cost-effective tiers of storage such as today’s modern and highly advanced tape systems with the lowest available TCO. Moving data copies to offline and secure off-site locations establishes an air gap against ransomware hackers. 2022 will also be a year when IT operations are compelled to take meaningful action against climate change and global warming. With its ability to reduce energy consumption by 87% and CO2e emissions by 95% compared to HDD, tape systems will be a logical and eco-friendly choice to support the strategic implementation of active archive solutions. – Rich Gadomski, Head of Tape Evangelism, FUJIFILM Recording Media U.S.A. Inc.
Organizations will Seek Multi-Service Data Management Platforms as Unstructured Data Proliferates
Unstructured data volumes are growing exponentially as fueling innovation. All verticals are now faced with unstructured data management issues and the need for distributed archives is increasing. Multi-service data management platforms, which analyze and store data according to its criticality, will increase in prominence. IT managers are looking for solutions addressing the needs of all storage tiers, whether NAS, Parallel File Systems, Cloud or Tape wherever if on-premises, across multi-clouds, or in hybrid cloud environments.
Challenges ranging from securing data against cyberattacks including ransomware and crypto locker to data placement aligning with the agility required by the business users are nowadays strong priorities in IT operations. Secured Active Archives can use data analytics to boost archiving efficiency, lower storage TCO and improve enterprise-wide decision making. – Ferhat Kaddour, VP Sales & Alliances, Atempo
Artificial Intelligence Will be Game-Changers for Unstructured Data Storage and Disposition
Both data crawler technology and AI are not new, but they are both getting extremely quick, and equally, if not, more importantly, they are becoming fast and accurate. They can enable organizations to identify optimal storage classes within hours of a creation event, as opposed to days or weeks. The obvious integration with InfoGov and storage mediums will be apparent with the changing classification of storage. What can be figured out after the data is created and what must be figured out before data is created. This may not reshape the way InfoGov principles are articulated, but it has the immediate capacity to modify the IGMM (Information Governance Maturity Model), where storage and disposition become altered by A.I. Plus, with 45TB of storage space (LTO9) and 3.5TB/hour transfer speeds, large, cyber-nervous storage users may increasingly opt to put active archive data on tape rather than the cloud. – Brendan Sullivan, Founder & CEO, SullivanStrickler
Organizations Will Utilize a New Cloud Class of Storage: Tape as Object Storage or Tape as Cloud
In 2022, more organizations will roll out a new cloud class, known as “Tape as Object Storage” or “Tape as Cloud.” Tape as Cloud allows organizations to archive data to a remote cloud storage provider via a cloud API protocol such as S3. Data is written to tape remotely and that media is periodically removed and stored offline as an ultimate Disaster Recovery copy. Tape as Cloud is very economical and can be used as part of a multi-cloud solution – where organizations send data to two or more Cloud Storage providers, or as part of a Hybrid Cloud solution where an on-premise Cloud storage solution is used with remote Tape as Cloud. – Dave Thomson, Senior VP Sales and Marketing
Data Tape Libraries Remain Attractive for Large Active Archives
Organizations with large volumes of unstructured data will continue to find that a tape-based active archive is their most cost-effective option, rather than using a public cloud service. Data tape libraries provide a low TCO due to the low cost per TB of the cartridges themselves and low system power requirements and remain an important element, alongside disk and management software, in high-capacity active archive systems. For users who need remote access to on-premises active archives, solutions that offer an object storage interface will gain traction as it allows the archive to be securely shared by remote users and other facilities. Unlike most public cloud services, tape-based active archives avoid unpredictable and costly egress fees. – Philip Storey, CEO, XenData
Increased Use of Active Archives to Balance Cost of Storage and Speed of Access
Organizations are challenged with extraordinary data growth that is creating a need to balance the cost of storage and the speed of access – literally what data, at what time, should be stored on what storage medium. Cloud is changing the way organizations not only store but use, their data. The question isn’t cloud or not, but what data needs to be in the cloud, on-prem, or both, and when. Workflows are getting more complex and seamless integration of applications regardless of location need to be supported. Active Archive solutions solve the issue of utilizing a more cost-effective storage tier, making data available and searchable, and taking advantage of the cloud and on-prem solutions in a unified platform. – Betsy Doughty, Vice President Marketing, Spectra Logic
Metadata Is the Key to Future-Proofing Data
Data is growing at an unprecedented rate, and most organizations are moving away from storage-centric solutions to hybrid solutions. With that shift, it’s more important than ever to leverage the power of metadata. Properly implemented, metadata acts as a roadmap to give organizations the insights needed to control all of their data and storage resources. In hybrid environments and cloud environments, metadata can be used to help better manage “paradigm swings,” improve the organization’s data resilience, and reduce egress charges by targeting specific files. In 2022, organizations will increasingly leverage the power of metadata to future-proof their data and enable intelligence and unified data management across storage types from different vendors. – Tony Cahill, Senior Solutions Architect, StrongBox Data Solutions
