Data storage is available at a low cost, and extending storage space is an easy solution to deal with data growth. However, how often do you take this action only to find out three months later that the same problem has returned and more space is required? Increasing capacity is part of the solution and needs consideration as part of a long-term data storage strategy and retention policies.
The notion that data storage is cheap is very subjective and depends on many different factors beyond the price of disks. The acronym RAID, which initially meant ‘Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks’, is somewhat misleading in that it conveys the message that storage is cheap without considering many other factors including:
- The costs of other hardware requirements
- The costs of physical space in data centres
- Employment costs
- Maintenance
- Ongoing support
The overall cost of data storage is more important relative to the value of the stored data. RAID more commonly means ‘Redundant Array of Independent Disks’, which is more appropriate.
Parkinson’s Law states that one’s work will expand to fill the time available to complete it. The same principle applies to space: a requirement for storage will increase until it reaches maximum capacity. Buying a second filing cabinet has the long-term effect of doubling the number of documents stored. Notice at home that the same applies to cupboards, shelves and coat hooks, and how often a spare bedroom fills up over time. A corollary of Parkinson’s Law relating to the growth of data is that stored electronic data will expand to fill whatever storage space is available for systems to use.
The key areas to be fully explored before investing in new hardware are:
- Housekeeping – cleanup of historical data storage where appropriate to reduce strain on systems
- Ongoing policy – decisions on what data is stored and for how long
- Capacity planning – projecting future storage requirements and proactively planning any storage expansion
Reducing the need for storage has an added benefit to the environment of reducing energy consumption.
We are committed to saving energy and resources. We offer our clients a challenge to use housekeeping, policy implementation and capacity planning to reduce storage requirements and to contribute a portion of any financial savings from the storage budget to their favourite charity.
Information security, risk management, internal audit, and governance professional with over 25 years of post-graduate experience gained across a diverse range of private and public sector projects in banking, insurance, telecommunications, health services, charities and more, both in the UK and internationally – MORE