2024 Data Storage and Active Archive Trends – Part I
Members of the Active Archive Alliance shared their 2024 predictions for data storage and active archives. In Part I, we look at universal data systems, AI, healthcare IT, video surveillance and long-term data management. Here are some of the top trends to watch:
2024: A Breakthrough Year in Data Management with Cost-Effective Universal Systems
2024 will herald the adoption of universal data systems that promise a seamless integration of data management, orchestration, global access, and multi-protocol storage. A pivotal feature of these systems will be their affordability, offering a sophisticated array of services at costs significantly lower than those of traditional legacy cluster file systems. Active archives will play a crucial role in this new ecosystem, acting as a rich reservoir of labeled data indispensable for training AI and deep learning models. This will mark a departure from data repositories of the past, transforming active archives into dynamic, intelligent platforms that actively contribute to the advancement of AI research and application. These advances will revolutionize the way organizations interact with their data, providing them with the tools to harness the full spectrum of their information’s value while maintaining cost efficiency. The impact will be widespread, propelling innovations and operational efficiencies across the industry. – Jason Lohrey, CTO, CEO Arcitecta.
Increasing Data Volumes will Require Sustainable Active Archives
AI’s mass adoption, driven by Large Language Models (LLM) in 2024, by all organizations (hospitals, government, universities, pharma companies…), will drive the exponential increase in data volumes, especially archive data, in each organization requiring more active access to cold data. Sustainable solutions (especially those that lower energy use) for data storage will be sought after. This is because, as data storage increases, limited energy and rare materials, will restrict data growth. Concomitant with sustainable solutions, more efficient cooling technologies will be in demand to reduce the growing negative impact of data centers. – Bhupinder Bhullar, CEO, Swiss Vault.
2024 IT Investment Targets in Healthcare
As cloud expenses increase, more organizations will likely pull back or choose alternative methods of storage or find other ways to reduce costs, especially as the size of data increases. This may be a hybrid solution, investing in their own data center, or purging data that is deemed non-critical. Healthcare organizations will not only be investing in cyber security technology but will focus on active archives to reduce overall costs and the IT footprint. Additional investments in 2024 will also need to be made to adhere to the CURES Act regulatory requirements including using the HL7® FHIR® (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) for interoperability. – Kel Pults, DHA, MSN, RN-BC, NREMT Chief Clinical Officer and VP Government Strategy, MediQuant.
Video Surveillance Market Will Benefit from 2-Tier Active Archive
The storage of video surveillance content has become a challenge as data-intensive, high definition cameras proliferate while users need longer retention periods. How can VS storage become more efficient and affordable in 2024? Solutions are emerging that combine high-speed HDD storage with efficient LTO tape storage to create a 2-tier environment that balances cost, speed, and long-term retention needs. In the “active tier”, high-speed hard disk storage manages the most recent video content. In the “active archive tier”, LTO tape technology can be leveraged for the long-term retention of video content, providing an energy efficient, cost-effective, and reliable solution. In a 2-tier scheme, video surveillance video is replicated to LTO tape in the active archive tier. This ensures access to older video footage that can be removed from expensive and energy intensive high-speed storage in the active tier. – Rich Gadomski, Head of Tape Evangelism, FUJIFILM Recording Media USA, Inc.
Your Data Will Outlive You: Building the “Forever Active Archive”
As digital data continues to massively grow, so does its life span. More and more organizations are recognizing the potential long-term value, increasing data retention requirements from years to decades or even hundreds of years. At the end of the day, your data will outlive you. This means your organization must have a plan for its long-term management and ongoing platform infrastructure today. How can it be easily curated, accessed, and analyzed in the future when the current experts are no longer present. Plus, how can it be ensured that data is always durably protected? The solution requires implementing an evolutionary storage architecture that can seamlessly adopt and decommission across multiple generations of platforms and technologies for Quantum Corporation.
