Packing It In

Today's storage managers face the packrat predicament -- namely, where and how to fit it all in.

The issue is not just finding more storage space for data. It's also vital to improve the quality of that space. After all, oodles of data are being saved not only because there's more of it, but because regulators and others are keeping a closer watch on it. That means data archives must have better searchability, faster retrieval, and the assurance of recovery after disasters.

Solutions are multiplying with the data. There are new tools for "data forensics" that organize information in corporate archives, ensuring that if some item is needed, it will be an easily found needle in a burgeoning haystack. (See De-Classifying Data Classification, Vendors Fire Up Data Forensics, A Hex On You, and Lawyers Urge Doc Management.)

Mountains of data can also saturate existing storage, so another crop of wares is aimed at addressing performance problems. This is the space that HP, Applimation, Solix, and Princeton Softech are looking to address with database archiving tools. There are similar products for use with unstructured data. (See Archivers Prepare for Upgrades .)

More data is also being saved across distributed networks, highlighting the importance of having faster, more reliable links to and from remote sites. In this vein, we see a burgeoning of schemes for WAN optimization and WAFS (wide area file services). (See F5 Hits Accelerator.)Disaster recovery is also part of the new mix of requirements stemming from the data boom, highlighting the emergence of disk solutions over tape. As Charlie Pelton, CIO of Market Street Mortgage in Clearwater, Fla., told Byte and Switch this week: "Five years ago we had traditional tape backup, but with the amount of data we have stored today, it takes 24 to 48 hours to get it restored. And that's if you don't have any problems. If the tape breaks or you have a bad drive, all sorts of things can go wrong." (See Market Street Mortgage.)

The current migration to more, better, and faster storage is also opening the way to services that ensure data can be adequately protected even if a company lacks the means to make an immediate change in its own infrastructure. These services are gaining in importance as the dangers to traditional methods of storage go by the boards. (See Iron Mountain Feels the Heat.)

Indeed, dealing with the data boom provides IT pros with further evidence, if any is needed, that tape's day is done. As I noted in this column two weeks ago, it's clear that the degree to which any company still relies on tape is the measure of just how forward thinking it is. And they're also the sort of packrats that will perish under the weight of their own stored data.

Mary Jander, Site Editor, Byte and Switch