Question 1

What is data storage?

Accepted Answer

Every piece of information you gather in your business is potentially important. Whether it’s a database of customer accounts and their purchase histories, human resources records for every employee, financial information such as payroll or accounts receivable, or intellectual property such as specifications for your products, that information needs to be stored somewhere so you can access it as needed to operate your business.

Question 2

Forms of data storage

Accepted Answer

File storage

Also referred to as file-level or file-based storage, this type is presented as files that are stored in folders and subfolders in a directory. If you’ve used a PC and saved a document to the hard drive, for instance, you have experienced file storage. Files are accessible through a path that users must know. File storage is the most common type of storage on computer hard drives and network-attached storage (NAS) devices.

Block storage

Rather than storing data in a complete file, block storage breaks apart data and stores it in blocks that can hold 256 KB up to 4 MB. The blocks are then placed randomly on the storage device – which doesn’t hinder access speeds because each block is tagged with a unique identifier. When a user or application needs a file, the computer queries the block storage system, which rapidly identifies and collects all the needed blocks and reassembles them into a complete file. Block storage is ultra-efficient because it doesn’t use metadata, which takes up room on the storage device. Because it’s so fast, businesses tend to use block storage when they want to scale up quickly and when read/write performance is a critical priority.

Object storage

This type of data storage separates information into distinct objects with unique identifiers and metadata. It doesn’t form a hierarchy like file storage and is considered “flat.” Metadata is a critical component of object storage and each object can have quite a bit of metadata, such as information about the creator of the data and keywords, as well as policies for security, privacy, and access. Object storage works well with APIs so it’s simple to use with existing software and systems. It also scales very well. It could be spread across hundreds or thousands of devices and locations and still be super speedy because all the data is stored in one namespace. It’s the storage type of choice for public cloud providers, such as AWS, and organizations that deal with a lot of unstructured data such as video files, emails, IoT sensor data, social media content, and more.

Question 3

Types of data storage solutions

Accepted Answer

Direct-attached storage (DAS)Network-based storage: NAS and SAN

Question 4

The importance of data storage

Accepted Answer

Long-lasting preservation of data – Digital data storage makes it easy to pool large volumes of information for long periods of time. Easier accessibility – Everyone can get the information they need, right from their desktop computers instead of having to physically go to a room full of file cabinets.More efficient data recovery – Stored data is easily backed up by making copies, so recovery is faster and simpler if a file gets lost or corrupted. Smaller physical footprint and easier scalability – There’s no need for physical file cabinets, which take up lots of room over time, and adding more digital capacity is simple.Potentially increased security – For very sensitive data, there are many more ways to secure and protect that information digitally using today’s advanced security tools and features.Easier collaboration across teams – Centrally stored data is accessible to every authorized user and can be accessed and shared among teams as they work together. More efficient document management – It’s easier to categorize and organize data digitally, and it can be done from a computer desktop or other connected device. Enhanced productivity and workflows – Saving data digitally takes less time than printing out physical pages and creating files, which must be stored in file cabinets.

Question 5

How does data storage work?

Accepted Answer

When you store data on a computer, the digital information is saved to a device, where it remains until deleted. Storage differs from computer memory in a major way: While you can access information quickly from your computer’s RAM, that data is only available in RAM until your computer is turned off. Data storage, however, retains data whether the computer is powered on or off. That’s how it can store data long-term.Saving data on a computer storage device lets you access that information when you need it. For example, the accounting department can retrieve stored data about employee work hours and use it to carry out bimonthly payroll tasks. A sales rep can pull up information about a customer before a sales call to see recent orders and go over the last visit to remind them of the issues they discussed.

Question 6

Types of data storage devices

Accepted Answer

Cloud storageHybrid cloud storageSSD and flash storageBackup storage

Question 7

What is the best for storing data?

Accepted Answer

DAS can be a good choice for:Small businesses, branch offices, and home offices that want a cost-efficient solution and don’t need networkingHosting just one application and its dataSecuring and isolating data for compliance purposesSAN can be a good choice for: Large data centers or business-critical applications that need centralized storage resourcesLarge numbers of employees and an IT staff with skills to manage and maintain the solutionApplications that require very high performance, such as transactional databases Hosting large relational databases that need high performanceLarge enterprises that need a high degree of storage scalabilityA fault-tolerant environment for critical applicationsNAS can be a good choice for:Reliable, cost-effective storage for many users that doesn’t compromise performanceLarge volumes of unstructured data that need to be shared among usersApplications that aren’t performance-sensitiveArchiving or backing up dataServers hosting virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and virtual machines (VMs)Cloud storage can be a good choice for: Archiving or backing up data for disaster recoveryData lakes and data analytics platformsApplication development and testing Storing workloads during a data migrationStorage for cloud-native applications and their dataStorage for industry and regulatory complianceIoT and machine learning data

Question 8

What is the safest form of data storage?

Accepted Answer

DAS can be considered secure in the sense that a hacker cannot infiltrate a network and carry out an attack. Many removable storage devices such as SSDs, USBs, and so on are considered “air gapped” if they aren’t on a networked system. However, if the device is damaged or lost, the data could be irretrievable. NAS is a fairly common target for hackers. The storage system is only as secure as your network and router, so it’s important for NAS users to take proven security measures such as regular updates, two-factor authentication, single sign-on processes, encryption, and so on. SAN is inherently more secure than NAS because its data protection algorithms stay consistent and because if your LAN is attacked, having your data stored on a separate network keeps it protected. Cloud storage is typically considered the most secure type of data storage because major cloud service providers, such as AWS, Google, and Microsoft have put billions of dollars into making it secure. It’s also secure because providers make multiple copies of your data to create a high degree of redundancy – so if a cloud server goes down, you can still access your data because it’s stored in various servers and locations.

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