The battle to keep pace with unstructured data is an ongoing challenge that doesn’t appear to be letting up any time soon. Data is being created faster than the many organizations can properly manage it. However, since the country’s workforce has moved the majority of employees to remote work, more content than ever has become digitized. Even water cooler conversation now exists via chat. Organizations have no choice but to accelerate their digital transformation even faster – and with the momentum behind AI/ML/DL and advanced analytics, data management is at the top of the priority list. With so many options available, it’s difficult to know which choice is best. Here are some considerations to keep in mind as your transformation reaches full speed in 2020.
Flexibility is Critical and Will Pay Dividends in the Future
The global pandemic has shined a bright light on the need for IT organizations to be ready to pivot quickly. The ideal data management solution has to lead with flexibility and scalability first. As data volumes change and require flexible infrastructure, software-defined object storage is transforming data centers, surpassing the limits of conventional storage options. The ideal solution supports a wide range of needs with the ability to easily shift from managing hundreds of Terabytes to hundreds of Petabytes of data. Traditional storage options are more rigid in nature, as are traditional means of procuring technology. Object Storage as-a-Service provides a flexible architecture, as well as a flexible procurement model.
Manage Data No Matter Where It Lives
There is a distinct advantage to a software-defined storage solution. The ideal solution can sit on a standard x86 server with off-the-shelf IP networks, making it a simple addition to on-premise data center infrastructure that eliminates data silos. In the multi-cloud world that many IT leaders are moving to, consider choosing a storage solution that is truly agnostic with proven reliability and simplified orchestration across various clouds. The right solution will support hybrid cloud environments and easily enable cloud archiving and disaster recovery.
As Data Volume Grows, Keep Costs Manageable
It’s difficult to anticipate the total cost of ownership for data management as data continues to be created at a faster rate and greater volumes. However, software-defined object storage that works with commodity hardware ensures compatibility for the long-run and no lock-in. This creates real long-term savings over traditional storage solutions. The ideal software-defined solutions store data in tiers on-premise for easy access and movement, enabling IT leaders to reduce overall data management costs.
At ViON, we are in tune with the new and unexpected challenges our customers face. That’s why we’ve partnered with Scality, a market leader in software-defined object storage to help government realize the benefits of this flexible solution – all delivered as-a-Service. Scalable Object Storage with Scality RING can provide a lower TCO than SAN and NAS storage, while providing greater data protection for current and future large-scale storage needs.
Scality RING leverages loosely-coupled, distributed systems designs using commodity, mainstream hardware along the following key tenets:
- 100% parallel design for metadata and data – to enable scaling of capacity and performance to unbounded numbers of objects, with no single points of failures, service disruptions, or forklift upgrades as the system grows.
- Multi-protocol data access – to enable the widest variety of object, file and host-based applications to leverage RING storage.
- Flexible data protection mechanisms – to efficiently and durably protect a wide range of data types and sizes.
- Self-healing from component failures – to provide high-levels of data durability, the system expects and tolerates failures and automatically resolves them.
- Hardware freedom – to provide optimal platform flexibility, eliminate lock-in and reduce TCO.
If we have learned anything in 2020 it is the need to adapt quickly and be flexible. This is true for many facets of our day-to-day activity, but is especially relevant in how IT infrastructure is managed. Object storage delivered as-a-Service is enabling new levels of technical and financial flexibility. Learn more about how ViON can help you improve your data management posture to support digital transformation with our unique as-a-Service capabilities.