Improving Entry Level Storage -The Role of Next Generation Modular Smart Array Technology

SPECIAL REPORT

Improving Entry Level Storage The Role of Next Generation Modular Smart Array Technolgy Levelling the Data Storage Playing Field The Data is Coming People Think Size Matters but it Doesn’t Backup, Scalability and Automation The Choice Is Yours

Published by Global Business Media

SIMPLIFY YOUR STORAGE AND UNLOCK THE POWER OF YOUR DATA WITH THE HPE MSA GEN6

Growing at a pace that makes sense can be a challenge for smaller firms. Trying to manage key applications as the workforce expands. Optimising your capital and cashflow. And in the middle of everything, making your company a great place to work. The HPE MSA Gen6 array helps by letting you share storage and key applications so you can grow operations effortlessly and with greater insight. It’s flexible, automatically providing extra performance where it’s needed, while HPE MSA Data Protection Plus keeps a watchful eye over every aspect of system performance. For an entry-level price, you have enterprise-class shared storage that is simple enough for one person to manage from a single, at-a-glance, dashboard. And you can leverage HPE Cloud Volumes for seamless on-demand backup to the cloud. HPE MSA Gen6 storage array: simplifies your storage and unlocks the power of your data. Learn more at

hpe.com/storage/msagen6

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IMPROVING ENTRY LEVEL STORAGE -THE ROLE OF NEXT GENERATION MODULAR SMART ARRAY TECHNOLOGY

SPECIAL REPORT

Improving Entry Level Storage The Role of Next Generation Modular Smart Array Technolgy Levelling the Data Storage Playing Field The Data is Coming

Contents

People Think Size Matters but it Doesn’t Backup, Scalability and Automation The Choice Is Yours

Foreword 2 John Hancock, Editor

Levelling the Data Storage Playing Field

3

John Hancock, Editor

Using Data: The Key Resource Getting the Right Start Published by Global Business Media

Published by Global Business Media Global Business Media Limited 62 The Street Ashtead Surrey KT21 1AT United Kingdom Switchboard: +44 (0)1737 850 939 Fax: +44 (0)1737 851 952 Email: info@globalbusinessmedia.org Website: www.globalbusinessmedia.org Publisher Kevin Bell Editor John Hancock Business Development Director Marie-Anne Brooks

It’s All About Performance Continuity: The Assurance of Commitment

The Data is Coming John Hancock, Editor

A New Digital and Data Powered Order Data Storage The Importance of Keeping Up-To-Date An Increasing Demand

People Think Size Matters but it Doesn’t Different Needs for Different Sizes SME-Specific Challenges with Data

Advertising Executives Michael McCarthy Abigail Coombes

The Problems from Not Moving Forward

For further information visit: www.globalbusinessmedia.org

8

Camilla Slade, Correspondent

Senior Project Manager Steve Banks

Production Manager Paul Davies

6

Meeting the Challenges

Backup, Scalability and Automation

10

Peter Dunwell, Staff Writer

Cloud Backup Scalability

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Storage Technology Automating

The Choice Is Yours

12

John Hancock, Editor

How Modern Storage Array Technology Can Help Key Considerations to Take into Account When Choosing a Storage Solution Looking to the Future

References 14

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Foreword

D

ata: it’s invisible, it’s intangible and, for

value. Next, Camilla Slade reviews the topic from the

a modern business, it’s indispensable;

perspective of the small and medium businesses and

plus, if we carry the alliteration to its extreme,

how their understandable perceptions that the best

it’s infinitely large. That, inasmuch as the rate at

solutions are for the larger businesses are simply

which data is being added to what we already

not true.

know is growing at an exponential rate. That’s good

Peter Dunwell then considers some key issues

because knowledge is, as they say, power or, in a

pertaining to data storage. In particular, the need to

modern small or medium enterprise (SME) sense,

have a backup so that precious data cannot be lost

knowledge is the means to level the playing field

in the event of any disaster, like a fire or flood, hitting

with larger competitors. But that size without limits

the business. He also looks at scalability; it is vital for

of data volumes is also a challenge. How can we

a growing business that the storage solution can grow

safely store it and make use of it without being

with it. And he looks at automation which, again is

overwhelmed by its sheer size?

vital if an SME is to be competitive but which requires

In this paper, we look at the topic of data storage

well-ordered data with which to work. Finally, we

with a particular focus on the needs of the small to

consider what factors need to be taken into account

medium organization. The first article is from our

when choosing a modern storage array solution as

partner HPE and it’s about the latest developments

well as taking a peek at what the future might hold

in data storage technology and solutions plus how

for data storage.

they will enhance the businesses using them. We then have an article about data, the new business asset and what is required in order to harness its undoubted

John Hancock Editor

John Hancock has been a journalist and editor covering a number of business and industrial sectors over more than thirty years. As well as editing CEO Reports, he writes and edits in commercial aviation engineering and operations IT, chemical engineering, advanced engineering and for CEO Magazine in the Americas and Australia. Subjects covered have included aero-engineering, auto-engineering and electronics, high value manufacturing, aviation IT, materials engineering, weapons research, supply chain, logistics and supply chain.

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IMPROVING ENTRY LEVEL STORAGE -THE ROLE OF NEXT GENERATION MODULAR SMART ARRAY TECHNOLOGY

Levelling the data storage playing field John Hancock, Editor Storage solutions that let them compete with even the largest players

A

LL BUSINESSES at all times have to balance competing priorities and demands. On the one side, the business needs to function efficiently; maintain good levels of production and service; collect, record and use data; manage customer relationships; and continually evolve to match changing market expectations and developing technologies whose capabilities themselves change the nature of work and processes. This, of course, requires the best possible systems and equipment including, especially, in terms of their infrastructure, and IT capabilities, data storage. On the other side, they have to control costs and not introduce systems and equipment that will themselves pose a challenge for users. Small IT organizations have the same problems as large enterprises.

In fact, those challenges are faced by all businesses but to a disproportionate degree by small and medium businesses (SMBs).

Plus, the pandemic from which we were only just emerging at the time of writing has placed significant constraints on many business activities and budgets. Among the many challenges facing smaller businesses is that their IT infrastructure is often as complex as that in any large organisation but, of course, their resources to handle that are not so large.

Using Data: The Key Resource As economies and businesses emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, they will need to be able to marshal and utilize all of their resources with maximum effectivity and there is no resource more important to a modern business than data.

Along with the growing importance of data in all aspects of economic activity today, there is an increasing need for effective, efficient and capable storage. Data storage does not sit at the more world-facing front-end of the IT system but at the back-end providing all of the vital data and capabilities to supply and power the servers driving and supplying front-end systems.

HPE has been serving the SMB (Small and Medium Business) sector for more than two

decades now with its HPE MSA (Modular Smart Array) range of hybrid storage solutions which offer reasonably priced but high specification solutions to balance the competing priorities and demands mentioned above. And, from the user’s point of view, they are simplicity itself to use. As the sixth generation of these solutions, HPE MSA GEN6 offers users looking to deploy storage area network (SAN) based storage, an excellent entry point solution with key advantages that include: • The ability to accelerate to hybrid-flash storage at a reasonable cost; • Performance that users can see and understand; • Proven simplicity in deploying and managing storage resources.

Building on a long-experience in this field, HPE is able to offer small and medium businesses performance that is comparable with that available to large corporations but at a cost that matches the smaller scale of SMBs operations and budgets.

While HPE MSA Gen6 arrays might be reasonably priced and simple to use they do not compromise on functionalities or benefits; offering the smaller business as high performance and quality as any large enterprise would expect.

For technically minded readers, MSA GEN6 architecture highlights include: • Dual controller architecture, two pool, activeactive design that delivers the reliability needed to access both incoming and outgoing data in their business applications; • N ew Gen6 RAID Acceleration ASIC and processor to provide the performance needed to improve user productivity and minimize system latency; • 12Gb SAS midplane to provide end-to-end high-performance communication between configured media and the array controllers; • Support for a wide range of media (HDDs and SSDs) to align with user workload, capacity, and budget requirements; • Users can expand configurations through Disk Enclosures to add data capacity and protect user investment as storage requirements grow; • Support for Data Encryption with multiple SED drive options for an added level of data security;

Among the many challenges facing smaller businesses is that their IT infrastructure is often as complex as that in any large organisation but, of course, their resources to handle that are not so large

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IMPROVING ENTRY LEVEL STORAGE -THE ROLE OF NEXT GENERATION MODULAR SMART ARRAY TECHNOLOGY

One important thing for any product aimed at serving a fast-growing SMB is that it should be possible to start at the right level and then scale up or transition with minimum disruption

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• Rich Data Services standard with an upgrade to additional data protection and automated data tiering features through the HPE Advanced Data Services Suite (ADS); • Support for HPE’s MSA-DP+ RAID technology that improves the efficiency of how configured media is used while reducing data rebuild times by a factor of up to 25X.

choice along with capacity expansion as needs change. As importantly, users pay for what they need, when they need it. There is also the ability to deliver secure solutions and the architecture not only simplifies set-up, management and expansion but also dramatically reduces rebuild times

Getting the Right Start

We’re often told that speed is of the essence in the world of commerce today, so HPE’s MSA Gen6’s RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) acceleration, ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) and controller architecture have improved performance by as much as 50 percent over previous generations. The resultant improvement in IOPS (Input/output Operations Per Second) and throughput help to lower system latencies so that connected systems and users can achieve better productivity. This is just as important for a small/medium business as it is for the very large corporations; in fact, given that they’re often working in more crowded and competitive markets, it might be argued that speed is even more important for SMBs. While this might seem technical, in short, better performance means happier users and that means greater productivity.

One important thing for any product aimed at serving a fast-growing SMB is that it should be possible to start at the right level and then scale up or transition with minimum disruption. That’s something the HPE MSA portfolio of storage solutions can offer with any combination of solid-state drives (SSDs), high-performance enterprise SAS HDDs or low-cost midline SAS HDDs. For a new business or one that has smaller IT workloads, the HPE MSA 1060 will deliver everything they need but at entry-level cost. As the business grows or for an already larger business with larger workloads, the HPE MSA 2060 will offer three times the capacity and double the performance with the scalability and flexibility to meet a growing business’s needs. That growth is catered for with the HPE MSA portfolio’s modular architecture which will enable users to grow their storage capacity as the business and the inventory of products, services and clients grows. The HPE MSA 1060 array can handle up to three expansion enclosures while up to nine such expansion enclosures can be added to the HPE MSA 2060 array.

In summary, HPE MSA GEN6 offers amazing performance at a low cost with resiliency to ensure optimum application availability and uptime. It also provides flexibility and customers

It’s All About Performance

Making life simpler for users But speed isn’t only about the technology itself.

In the past, significant amounts of time were spent just understanding how to use the various IT-based solutions in a business. Many readers will remember trying to resolve a problem while referencing several sections in the manual: it might even have contributed to not using all the capabilities of a piece of equipment or solution. To help overcome this issue, the HPE MSA Storage

IMPROVING ENTRY LEVEL STORAGE -THE ROLE OF NEXT GENERATION MODULAR SMART ARRAY TECHNOLOGY

Management Utility offers step-by-step guided workflows to support system configuration by helping to eliminate errors to improve user experience. The guided workflows help to eliminate errors and make complicated steps easy to follow.

Continuing with the simplification theme, the dashboards that go with HPE MSA SMU (Storage Management Utility) management enhancements are also simplified so that users can more quickly access important system information – utilization, activities history, alerts, capacity, performance and more. The dashboard also features a scrollable change log page facility and the option to drill down into information of interest.

To ensure that the most important data gets priority, MSA also includes a hands-free performance tiering engine that moves the hottest data to the fastest media in real-time 24 hours a day. It also offers twice to four times the performance that you might expect from HDD (Hard Disc Drive) only. The engine is simple to set up and delivers application acceleration to any workload. What is more, Tiering 2.0 enhancements have made the engine 45 percent more efficient than for the previous generation MSA.

Avoiding unplanned downtime by design Any equipment or solution will require maintenance from time to time which won’t affect speed or productivity as long as that maintenance can be scheduled to take place at a convenient time for the business. However, another time issue is the unproductive use of time which often results from unplanned downtime. With that in mind, HPE MSA storage solutions come with a Health Check utility that makes the task of monitoring the storage system’s health as straightforward as uploading a log file from the HPE MSA array to the cloud hosted HPE MSA Health Check utility.

The application checks the log for indicators of

non-compliance with a range of best practices, then generates a report setting out the system’s health, the extent to which best practices have been adhered to and known failure signatures.

This pre-emptive approach is supported, in the report, with useful guidance on what steps to take in order to solve any predicted issues and avoid failures as well as the time they’ll cost.

Continuity: The Assurance of Commitment Building on a familiar technology base is important. For any business and especially for a smaller business with greater restraint on costs, continuity of IT solutions is an important factor in any choice. Not only does it make the transition through generations and enhancements smoother but also it avoids the disruptions often associated with a wholesale move to a new supplier. In this context, MSA’s DNA with HPE ProLiant started back in 1996 and has continued to build through a long history of delivering storage solutions for small and medium organizations. This started from the first HPE MSA2 2000 in 2008 through an array of generations that leveraged the latest technologies of the day to enhance each generation’s capability, up to generation 6 today. This can be contrasted with a number of other suppliers whose discontinuities through the years have left users facing exactly the sort of disruptions identified above. As a result of this customer-centric approach, there are thousands of HPE MSA storage solutions in service around the world, including from the GEN6 family of latest products.

The 6th generation HPE MSA leverages today’s architecture to a totally new hardware platform to ensure that small and medium organizations have access to the same quality and capability of data storage solutions, and therefore the same competitive capabilities, as much larger organizations.

Building on a familiar technology base is important. For any business and especially for a smaller business with greater restraint on costs, continuity of IT solutions is an important factor in any choice

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The Data is Coming John Hancock, Editor Data has always been important but using it has often been time-consuming and, frankly, daunting: but that need not be the case any more

T

Data is now a form of capital, on the same level as financial capital in terms of generating new digital products and services

RADITIONALLY, ASSETS in a business have been either tangible items such as property, machinery, materials or intellectual property, or people. And, while those assets might still be valuable, there is a new asset class whose value is already eclipsing tangible items. Data has always existed but the ability to collect it, let alone use it, has been limited.

Today, technology has made it possible for data to be the fastest growing asset around in terms of importance and volume, and the technology now available to leverage the huge potential in data. As a measure of importance, today’s businesses giants are built on their ability to collect, record, store and use data.

Every business generates data but the ones that manage to store it in a useful architecture that supports organizing and using it will be the ones to remain relevant as our economies embrace the digital fourth industrial revolution.

‘Industry 4.0’ or ‘i4.0’ as some have dubbed it, harnesses data to automate processes, reduce costs and, at the same time, improve choice and quality.

A New Digital and Data Powered Order The MIT Technology Review, ‘The Rise of Data Capital’1, explains that, “Data is now a form of capital, on the same level as financial capital in terms of generating new digital products and services. This development has implications for every company’s competitive strategy, as well as for the computing architecture that supports it.”

Reinforcing that last point, the report continues to add, “The vast diversity of data captured and the decisions and actions that use that data require a new computing architecture…”

So, what is this wonderful new asset class we call data? It is simply facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis. TechTarget’2 tells us that, “data is information that has been translated into a form that is efficient for movement or processing. Relative to today’s computers and transmission media, data is information converted into binary digital form.” In particular, data is information in a form that can be acquired, stored and processed by a computer to an extent 6 | WWW.CEOREPORTS.COM

and at speed that has never been possible before the computing age.

The importance of data OK, so data is here and we all think it’s great but why is that? What can data do for us? Chron3 boils it down nicely; “The role of data is to empower business leaders to make decisions based on facts, trends and statistical numbers.

But with so much information out there, business leaders must be able to sift through the noise, and get the right information, so that they can make the best decisions about strategy and growth.”

The prerequisite for that is to marshal and logically store data so that it can be applied to whatever consideration or decision is required. And not only the big decisions. It is that ‘logically storing’ data that Sisense4 refers to, “Data organization is the practice of categorizing and classifying data to make it more usable. Similar to a file folder, where we keep important documents, you’ll need to arrange your data in the most logical and orderly fashion, so you – and anyone else who accesses it – can easily find what they’re looking for.” Storage and organization ensure that we get the best value out of data in the organization.

Data Storage If storage is that important, what do data storage systems and solutions do? The answer is not complicated. In data storage, files and documents are recorded digitally and saved electronically to be used when needed and to back up files for safekeeping and quick recovery in, say, the event of a computer failure or cyberattack. That digital and electronic element is important. “The longer your business is around and the larger it grows, the more data you’ll be storing. If you store this information on paper it’s going to start taking up large amounts of space… Storage costs go up, it’s harder to find files you’re looking for... Plus, paper files are easily damaged and you risk losing years’ worth of records if something like a fire or flood happens… Storing business data electronically… comes with a number of benefits.”

That’s how Next Process5 explains the case.

And it isn’t just an issue for large organisations to consider. Talk Business6 adds that, “Small

IMPROVING ENTRY LEVEL STORAGE -THE ROLE OF NEXT GENERATION MODULAR SMART ARRAY TECHNOLOGY

businesses should never underestimate the need for good data storage to safely backup vital information and to distribute data quickly when required.”

The Importance of Keeping Up-To-Date As with any other asset or system, IT-based systems eventually age so it is not a good idea to keep a solution for too long and that is as true for storage systems as for any other. Impact7 explains, “Legacy systems have been a hurdle to digital transformation efforts for several years now… Unfortunately, despite the large amount of investment from SMBs, success can often be elusive… One of the reasons transformations can be difficult is the upgrading of legacy systems. A legacy system is a computer system, software solution, or similar technology that is outdated and difficult to manage, yet vital to workflow processes within an organization.” In a competitive market, keeping up-to-date is critical for long-term success.

An Increasing Demand Economic growth is often not so much in the large settled organizations but occurs in the SME sector where innovative ideas and entrepreneurial energy are still mainstays of success. With many predictions that SMEs will enjoy the fastest growth rate in the next few years, it is to that sector that many IT suppliers are now looking for growth by offering solutions tailored to the needs of small and medium organisations.

As Entrepreneur8 confirms, “Sooner or later, your small business will need more space for data storage. Information, in the form of e-mails, documents, presentations, databases, graphics, audio files and spreadsheets, is the lifeblood of most companies…”

The problem for small and medium organizations is that, while their requirements are growing rapidly, the calls on their budget are also growing which means that they have an increasing need to be able to source reliable, simple to use and low-cost data storage solutions.

Small businesses should never underestimate the need for good data storage to safely backup vital information and to distribute data quickly when required

Sooner or later, your small business will need more space for data storage. Information, in the form of e-mails, documents, presentations, databases, graphics, audio files and spreadsheets, is the lifeblood of most companies

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People Think Size Matters but it Doesn’t Camilla Slade, Correspondent Worrying about the challenges of size can blind SMEs to the opportunities of data

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This rapid data growth is a huge concern for 76% of businesses that fear it will lead to escalating data storage and management costs

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N THE previous article, John made many mentions of small and medium sized organizations which, in the context of this paper, are usually designated SMB (small to medium business) or SME (small to medium enterprise). But whatever the term we use, small businesses are not simply miniature versions of large businesses. Positioned at a different point on the business evolution timeline, they are different entities in many ways. That can also affect their IT requirements.

volume is also a worry. CMI Blog10 reports that, “According to a 2017 Fujitsu study among senior finance professionals in small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) data storage requirements are predicted to double over the next four years.

The study also revealed that this rapid data growth is a huge concern for 76% of businesses that fear it will lead to escalating data storage and management costs.”

Different Needs for Different Sizes

“For small and medium businesses, using data is like trying to rescue a piano from a burning room – it’s nice to have but I have higher priorities.” That was the arresting statement from a small business owner interviewed by Analytic for Humans11. The article continued to offer five factors that inhibit small businesses from joining the data revolution – check out the reference. The article adds, “… despite all this hype around the commercial sector leading the ‘data revolution,’ for most small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), using data feels like it’s making life harder, not easier.” The opening statement and that conclusion are a sad indictment of the IT providers: not so much of their capabilities (most of them offer great products for SMEs to use) but of their failure to communicate their messages about solutions in terms that don’t spook SMEs. “Big data shouldn’t have to be an unnerving challenge for small and mid-sized enterprises/ businesses (SMEs/SMBs). There is no size limit for the businesses to access, store, and explore the big data.” states esds12, continuing to add, “The big data needs to be harnessed, and it is beyond the capability of traditional databases to store, handle, and process all the data in realtime.” and then, more encouragingly, “If SMBs/ SMEs can manage big data in a better way, then it can help in revealing lots of business patterns, data-focused insights, and correlations.” That ‘better way’ will include the use of hybrid flash solutions that can sort currently important data for action from historical/background data for storage and can direct the currently important data to the faster SSD part of the hybrid solution.

Whereas a large business will probably have established a loyal market for which inertia might be what retains customers – as long as the business doesn’t harm them or their interests, customers will stay – small businesses have to actively win market share in their chosen sphere.

Their resources are fewer which means that, for some jobs, where a larger company will be able to allocate, say, a whole person to a task, an SME will have to add it on to one member of staff’s job description. This might be customer records or ensuring regulatory compliance. On the plus side, a smaller business can be more agile and adapt faster to changing trends.

As far as IT is concerned, Storage Craft9 explains that, “While there are some similarities, businesses generally leverage information technology in differing ways depending on their size. Larger enterprises rely on specialization in their staffs – with advertising and social media experts working in marketing, technology wizards working in the IT department, and number crunchers working in accounting. Many small businesses don’t have this luxury, however, as key personnel wear many different hats trying to accomplish the roles of an entire department, especially when considering technology usage.”

Size can also affect data storage requirements.

Although smaller than their larger competitors, SMEs still generate huge quantities of data and, arguably, because they are still growing, that data is potentially of more value for them in terms of winning new market share. But data

SME-Specific Challenges with Data

IMPROVING ENTRY LEVEL STORAGE -THE ROLE OF NEXT GENERATION MODULAR SMART ARRAY TECHNOLOGY

The Problems from Not Moving Forward

Meeting the Challenges Large businesses are already big users of big data in their customer relations, product selection and development and consequent profitability, and smaller businesses do understand the values that can be gained from harnessing data.

However, despite that understanding of the benefits, ReasearchGate13 tells us that, “Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have proved themselves to be slow adopters of the new technology of big data analytics and are in danger of being left behind.”

Smaller organizations need IT and storage solutions that do not daunt them, do not cost the earth but do not compromise on quality or capability. They need a solution that will not only work for them today but can scale up as the business grows without creating huge IT migration disruptions. This is important for all SMBs/SMEs and especially for those who run on-demand services such as media streaming and online education for whom interruption would be very costly but who want to run their distributed applications and workloads more easily.

In his article, John brushed upon the risks attendant upon hanging on to old systems.

Actifio14 in talking about business resilience specifically identifies “7 Inevitable Problems with Legacy Backup and Disaster Recovery Strategies” adding that, “Businesses are facing a wide variety of issues by not modernizing their Backup and DR strategies.”

Of course, the accountants might well wince at the thought of more new equipment and solutions but any such apparent prudence would be wrong.

CIO UK15 considers, “The True Cost of Aging Infrastructure: Don’t Wait to Deploy Modern Data Protection.” Concluding that, “… tight budgets should not discourage business leaders from modernizing data protection – in fact, it’s the other way around. Most legacy infrastructures deliver very little value for the cost, and they can leave your data vulnerable.”

The take-away from all this should not be doom and gloom or resignation that smaller businesses are inevitably at some sort of disadvantage on the data front. Nothing could be further from the truth but SMBs/SMEs need to open their minds to the possibilities that are available to bring their businesses up to a standard on data from which they’ll be able to compete with all-comers, no matter how large.

They need a solution that will not only work for them today but can scale up as the business grows without creating huge IT migration disruptions

For most small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), using data feels like it’s making life harder, not easier

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Backup, Scalability and Automation Peter Dunwell, Staff Writer How the different aspects of data storage technology are interlocked and interdependent

I

51% of small businesses still use local hardwarebased backup solutions for their data. That makes them vulnerable to data loss due to certain disasters (fire or floods, for instance)

N CAMILLA Slade’s article above, she touched upon the thorny topic of cost and it is true that, for a budget constrained small or medium organization, cost can be an issue, including when considering IT equipment and solutions. But, of course, the benefits of a technology-based solution in the first place – the removal of paper from the business, the speeding up of processes and the enhanced access to information – will only be as good as the devices and solutions used. However, no matter how good your equipment and solutions might be, in the event of a disaster such as flood or fire, all of your data could be lost. Backup is important.

Cloud Backup One possible solution is the Cloud. Even where an organization maintains on-site computing, there will still be a benefit in utilizing Cloud backup and disaster recovery resources. Applied Innovations16 reports that “… an hour of downtime costs a small business around $8,000. If disaster strikes, you need to be prepared. It’s no wonder why cloud backup has become the next big thing. After all, business data can be lost quickly, and it can cost you everything… 51% of small businesses still use local hardware-based backup solutions for their data. That makes them vulnerable to data loss due to certain disasters (fire or floods, for instance) … [and] 54% of SMBs that suffered from data loss in the past say they can’t find the time for efficient data backup.” Cloud backup is straightforward with your own system regularly backing-up to an off-site service so that, were there to be a loss of data, it could easily be recovered to a new device. Also, using cloud backup means that the data is available to be accessed from anywhere on any device at any time as long as there’s an internet connection and the user completes the usual security steps.

Scalability The term ‘scalability’ is often bandied around when IT systems are on the agenda; but what does it really mean and why does it matter?

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The meaning is nicely explained by Gartner17; “Scalability is the measure of a system’s ability to increase or decrease in performance and cost in response to changes in application and system processing demands. Examples would include… how well a database withstands growing numbers of queries...” For a growing business, scalability is critical in order that the system can grow with the business. A further refinement on scalability is that it can be either vertical or horizontal. Suse18 describes vertical scalability as, “… [increasing] the capacity of hardware or software by adding resources to a physical system, such as adding processing power to a server to make it faster.

For scale-up storage, this means adding more devices, such as disk drives, to an existing system when more capacity is required.” and, “Horizontal (scale-out) scalability connects multiple items in order to work as a single logical unit. For scale-out storage, this means adding devices in connected arrays or clusters.”

For data storage purposes, Stonefly19 suggests that, “Scalability ensures that your acquired infrastructure can endure the data requirements of the future. Instead of revamping the entire infrastructure, you can expand the existing one and accommodate additional workload volume.

With scalable infrastructure, you don’t have to worry about additional capacity requirements.”

Storage Technology As with any IT solution, there are technology options for data storage. Each one might warrant an article of its own so we’ll identify them and urge readers to follow up the references to get the full information.

Hybrid Flash Storage Tech Target20 explains that, “A hybrid flash array is a solid-state storage system that contains a mix of flash memory drives and hard disk drives (HDD)… Flash memory, which has no moving parts, is a type of non-volatile memory that can be erased and reprogrammed in units of memory called blocks.” The advantages for data storage purposes are set out by Data Center Knowledge21,

IMPROVING ENTRY LEVEL STORAGE -THE ROLE OF NEXT GENERATION MODULAR SMART ARRAY TECHNOLOGY

“Hybrid solutions offer increased adaptability and efficiency… By mixing the speed of flash with the capacity of HDDs, the hybrid approach offers a balanced infrastructure between performance and capacity.”

Storage Array Technology DNS stuff22 tells us that, “Rather than store data on a server, storage arrays use multiple drives in a collection capable of storing a huge amount of data, managed by a central management system.” adding, “Storage arrays keep storage separate from servers using a collection of hard disk drives (HDDs) or solidstate drives (SSDs). In some cases, they use a combination of both so they can scale much more efficiently than the storage capacity of a collection of servers.” This kind of fast flexibility will well suit the needs and capabilities of small and medium organizations.

Automating When we think of automation, all too often, we imagine that the process concerned must be on a huge scale such as a car manufacturer. But automation is not exclusive to large organisations.

“Automating certain jobs can be expensive for

small and medium-sized businesses. However, the benefits of automation make the investment worthwhile. Think about the return on investment (ROI) that could result from increased productivity, lower labour costs and reduced lead times.”

That’s the conclusion from Design World23 which continues to set out seven benefits of automation for small and medium-sized businesses.

However, automation is not simply about installing a few robots, real or virtual. Automated processes need significant amounts of data.

Antares24 offers the view that, “what you may not know is that there’s more to effective process automation than just automating timeconsuming manual tasks. Leveraging the power of data, analytics, business intelligence and the cloud can make a big difference to automated process or workflow outcomes.” Data is at the heart of modern processes which means that, if small and medium organizations are to take full advantage of any of the new processes, they’ll need to embrace all of them.

In the next article, we’ll bring together the themes covered so far, we’ll consider what the future might hold for data storage. And we’ll have a look at what criteria should be applied when selecting a data storage solution.

Hybrid solutions offer increased adaptability and efficiency… By mixing the speed of flash with the capacity of HDDs, the hybrid approach offers a balanced infrastructure between performance and capacity

The benefits of automation make the investment worthwhile. Think about the return on investment (ROI) that could result from increased productivity, lower labour costs and reduced lead times

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The Choice Is Yours John Hancock, Editor Deciding on the right solution for your business and what the future holds

D

ATA STORAGE, if done properly, is not simply an electronic version of those carboard crates into which people used to dump all their data on paper. At the very least, an IT storage solution will make accessing the right data for the job at hand easier than it might otherwise have been but it can even do more than that.

To maximize the value of data, you have to be able to harness its power quickly. Speed matters, and the slowest thing in your data center is people. Automation is a must.”

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How Modern Storage Array Technology Can Help A properly structured data storage solution with good architecture can add value to a business in a number of ways including supporting automation and simplifying IT processes.

Supporting automation This one cuts both ways inasmuch as there is both the automation of data in order to make it more useful and the application of data to support the automation of other processes in the business. Even when data was limited to what can be collected and stored on paper, its management was a significant task to be available to support the business.

Readers won’t need me to tell them that speed is of the essence and won’t be surprised that speed is also key to the best use of data.

Technologent25 puts it thus; “In a digital economy, data is incredibly valuable – but that value diminishes over time…To maximize the value of data, you have to be able to harness its power quickly. Speed matters, and the slowest thing in your data center is people. Automation is a must.” All-flash arrays are a costly investment for the average SMB so there is a method of handling data that offers them both reasonable cost and the highest speed for the most important data.

Data tiering is a good and cost-effective way to optimize data handling speed. Hybrid-flash arrays automate data movement between SSD and HDD storage to ensure that the hottest data is on the fastest media to increase performance and minimize cost, allowing users to gain real benefit through ultra-fast media, while using lower cost HDD to carry the bulk of the storage load As far as the application of data to support the automation of other processes is concerned, Automation Academy26 explains the importance

through describing the role of the data analyst on an automation project. “The basic role of a Data Analyst in an automation project is to help with preparation, cleaning, and analysis of… data, as well as business process data for robotic process automation and validation...“

Simplifying IT processes This is mainly about using modern simplified IT processes to simplify the overall business.

DXC Technology 27 confirm the value of simplification; “To address these business needs and gain immediate savings to invest in modernization, organizations can focus on simplifying and optimizing their IT environments, applications and processes.” Automation uses data as we use memory and learning, to inform an action or process, but an automated process will use the data it has much faster than us and so, the more of the right data it can receive, the more effectively it will do its job. A good data storage solution will support that process.

Key Considerations to Take into Account When Choosing a Storage Solution For the article, ‘How do I select a data storage solution for my business?’ Net Security 28 spoke to several industry leaders to glean their insights and we’ve noted a couple of highlights below. Phil Bullinger of Western Digital suggested that “…your storage system should be designed to support the accelerated performance and scale requirements of analytics workloads.” Ben Gitenstein of Qumulo adds, “… ask the right questions. Is it a trusted provider? Would it integrate well within my existing technology infrastructure? Your storage solution should be easy to manage and meet the scale, performance and cloud requirements for any data environment and across multi-cloud environments.” David Huskisson of Pure Storage reflects on a theme that we’ve already covered, “Look for solutions that offer simplicity in management, can ensure backups are viable even when admin credentials are compromised, and can be restored quickly enough to greatly reduce major organizational or financial impact.”

IMPROVING ENTRY LEVEL STORAGE -THE ROLE OF NEXT GENERATION MODULAR SMART ARRAY TECHNOLOGY

In its useful guide, ‘Demystifying the hybrid storage array buying process’ TechTarget29 suggests, “Before investing in a hybrid storage array, there are several key questions to ask. For example, what kind of workloads do you plan to run? What are your performance requirements?

Does your organization require long-term data retention? Will this hybrid storage array replace or supplement an existing system?”

Beyond that are the usual suspects when selecting any technology-based device and solution. Cost isn’t everything but value for money is important. The old adage says that you get what you pay for but we all know that is not entirely true. Evaluate how well the device and solution meet your business’s needs as well as its cost. Ease of use is always a factor because the easier a system is to use the more productive will be the people using it and ease of use will also play a part in reducing errors plus it will make it easier to address changing needs.

That brings us on to Scalability which has already been covered above so sufficient to say that this is also a key factor to consider when choosing any technology item including an entry-level hybrid-flash storage solution. In a similar vein, i.e., to avoid costly interruptions during any system migration, the continuity of

the selected solution is important, will the range, albeit with updates and improvements, still be available in a compatible form in the future?

Finally, and still on the theme of business continuity, does the product have a good reliability record. You don’t want to have the solution out of action or the people and processes that rely on it having to be idle as a result of system failure plus, however unlikely failure might be, does the provider offer a good and always accessible support service?

Your storage system should be designed to support the accelerated performance and scale requirements of analytics workloads

Looking to the Future Computer Weekly30 suggests that,” Flash-based storage is here to stay and will continue to be enhanced, even as helium and DNA are being primed for use in the distant future.” Others go so far as to consider that the technology will be of less importance than how it can support the needs of the business which is where hybrid flash can add value by allocating data to the appropriate part of the system for fast action or secure storage. What is not in doubt is that, as data volumes increase at an exponential rate, data storage will also become ever more critical to any small or medium organisation that wants to level the playing field vis-à-vis their larger competitors.

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References: MIT, ‘The Rise of Data Capital’ P2 Exec Summary files.technologyreview.com/whitepapers/MIT_Oracle+Report-The_Rise_of_Data_Capital.pdf

1

TechTarget, ‘Data’ searchdatamanagement.techtarget.com/definition/data

2

Small Business Chronicle, ‘The Role of Data in Business’ smallbusiness.chron.com/role-data-business-20405.html

3 4

Sisense, ‘Data Organisation’ www.sisense.com/glossary/data-organization/

Next Process, ‘How important is it to store business data electronically?’ www.nextprocess.com/document-management/6-reasons-store-data-electronically/

5

Talk Business, ‘The importance of safe data storage for your small business’ www.talk-business.co.uk/2015/02/19/the-importance-of-safe-data-storage-for-your-small-business/

6

7

8

Impact, ‘Legacy System in digital transformation: risks and challenges’ www.impactmybiz.com/blog/blog-legacy-systems-digital-transformation-risks-challenges/ Entrepreneur, ‘Choosing the best data storage solution’ www.entrepreneur.com/article/172226

Storage Craft blog.storagecraft.com/information-technology-uses-vary-small-large-businesses/

9

CMI Blog, ‘Data storage for SME’;s: what you need to know’ www.newcmi.com/blog/uk-london-it-provider-data-storage-for-smes-0

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Analytics for Humans, ‘5 key factors holding small businesses back from joining the data revolution’ medium.com/analytics-for-humans/5-key-factors-holding-small-businesses-back-from-joining-the-data-revolution-6b95618deb7f

12

esds ‘Big data challenges, solutions, & benefits for SME’s/SMBs’ www.esds.co.in/blog/big-data-challenges-solutions-benefits-smes-smbs/

13

ResearchGate, ‘How can SMEs benefit from Big Data? Challenges and a path forward’ www.researchgate.net/publication/302972531_How_Can_SMEs_Benefit_from_Big_Data_Challenges_and_a_Path_Forward_S_Coleman_et_al

14

actifio, ‘7 inevitable problems with legacy backup and disaster recovery strategies’ www.actifio.com/company/blog/post/7-inevitable-problems-legacy-backup-disaster-recovery-strategies/

15

CIO United Kingdom www.cio.com/article/3605275/the-true-cost-of-aging-infrastructure-don-t-wait-to-deploy-modern-data-protection.html

16

Applied Innovations, ‘The pros and cons of Cloud backup and disaster recovery’ www.appliedi.net/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-cloud-backup-and-disaster-recovery/

17

Gartner, ‘Scalability’ www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/scalability

18

SUSE, ‘Scalability’ susedefines.suse.com/definition/scalability/

19

Stonefly, ‘Understanding scalability in data storage’ https://bit.ly/3zHVaN6

20

TechTarget, ‘Hybrid flash array’ https://bit.ly/2V0M8fx

21

Data Center Knowledge, ‘All-Flash vs Hybrid Flash – Choosing what’s right for you’ www.datacenterknowledge.com/industry-perspectives/all-flash-vs-hybrid-flash-choosing-whats-right-you

22

DNS stuff, ‘What is a Storage Array? Data server and disk architecture’ www.dnsstuff.com/storage-array

23

Design World, ‘What is a Storage Array? Data server and disk architecture’ https://www.designworldonline.com/7-benefits-of-automation-for-small-and-medium-sized-businesses/

24

Antares, ‘Why data-driven process automation is essential for digital transformation’ antares.solutions/why-data-driven-process-automation-is-essential-for-digital-transformation/

25

Technologent, ‘Leveraging all-flash to drive storage automation’ blog.technologent.com/automated-tools-help-optimize-cloud-spend-0

26

Automation Academy, ‘Role and Responsibilities of a Data Analyst in an Automation Team’ automationacademy.com/en/blog/role-and-responsibilities-data-analyst-automation-team

27

DCX Technology, ‘IT modernization: Simplify and optimize IT’ www.dxc.technology/cloud/insights/148783-it_modernization_simplify_and_optimize_it

28

Help Net Security, ‘How do I select a data storage solution for my business?’ www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/10/07/select-data-storage-solution/

29

TechTarget, ‘Demystifying the hybrid storage array buying process’ searchstorage.techtarget.com/buyersguide/Demystifying-the-hybrid-storage-array-buying-process

30

Computer Weekly, ‘A peek into the future of storage’ www.computerweekly.com/feature/A-peek-into-the-future-of-storage

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Notes:

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Notes:

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