Storage Optimization
Primary disk storage is an expensive investment from both a capital and operations perspective. It is therefore vitally important to understand the value and near-term urgency of access for all information across your organization. Especially as prevailing research indicates that as much as 70% of an organization’s storage data is inactive (low or no touch). Movement of such data into an Alliance Storage Technologies NETArchive solution results in a significant reduction in storage expense and a dramatic increase in positive asset utilization and storage optimization.
Implementing the right data storage technology for the lifecycle of the information is the key to reducing business costs and risks.
- Tier 1 Active (<30 days) and Semi-Active Business Data (<30-90 days) - data used for normal business operations (short-term data storage) should be stored on highly redundant disk arrays with high access and availability.
- Tier 2 Backup Data - Tape and SATA disk solutions are excellent for backup strategies and provide quick capture of data in order to restore data on the disk arrays in the event of a disaster or other loss.
- Tier 3 (>90 days) - Alliance Archive Solutions implement technology designed specifically for long-term data archiving and retention including Network Attached Storage (NAS) optical libraries and Cloud Integrated Storage (CiS). These Tier 3 storage options preserve data unaltered for extended periods while retaining the ability to be randomly accessed. This infrequently accessed fixed-content data can be removed from expensive primary disk arrays onto optical media reducing costs and backup-window time-frames substantially lowering costs.
Alliance's Network Attached Storage (NAS) or Cloud Integrated Storage (CiS) solutions provide a third tier of archive storage that effortlessly integrates with existing storage infrastructures. Systems are complemented by: Encryption for high-level security and Replication for high-availability.
Alliance Storage Optimization Benefits
Preserving Data Unaltered – Alliance's solutions are based upon true Write-Once-Read-Many (WORM) optical technology. Encrypted data is written to optical media after which it becomes unalterable remaining intact for periods greater than 50 years.
Encryption – With this optional feature, data at-rest is encrypted with unique keys for each object using FIPS 140-2 compliant AES-256 encryption algorithm. Encryption adds another layer of security to your data enabling compliance with specific regulations and ensuring that all data remains confidential.
Transmission Security and Integrity – Alliance's NAS solutions integrate seamlessly with existing storage networks presenting as a standard TCP/IP resource with support for CIFS, NFS, and FTP protocols. The server security-administration ensures that it can recognize and approve validated clients.
Flexible Controls – The Archive Management Software offers the flexibility needed for regulatory compliance with powerful policy-based controls. Users can set policies for data migration, manage volumes, and release and migrate files and online/offline media.
Device and Media Controls – Accountability – Optical media can be offlined and removed from the library. The Archive Management Software tracks all nearline and offline media by barcode, human readable code, date ejected, pool and archive.
User Authentication (person or entity) – Users accessing the Archive Appliance are assigned unique passwords. Authentication services are supported using Windows Active Directory, Local User Level Security, or LDAP.
Backup and Recovery – Archive libraries are capable of backing up all RMDB (Resource Manager Data Base), FSC (File System Catalog), HSM (Hierarchical Storage Manager) which significantly increases the speed of data recovery in the event of system failure.
Disaster Recovery - Optical media provides an affordable disaster recovery option as automatically duplicated media can be removed from libraries and stored off-site. The Replication feature of the Archive Appliance offers the ultimate in disaster recovery protection with duplicate libraries located in different physical locations providing constant access to data – the key to business continuity and high-availability.
Scalable/Expandable Archiving – Expandable optical disk archive systems are based upon high-capacity media magazines and scalable robotic libraries. As data storage requirements increase, libraries can be easily expanded within the same footprint offering investment protection through capacity expansions and future-proof system upgrades.
