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1Why Object Storage Is Coming of Age in the Big Data Era
If IT were a television show, it would be “Hoarders.” Organizations are creating and storing more and more data every day. According to research by IDC, by 2020 total data volumes will hit a mind-boggling 44 zettabytes, with about 80 percent of the data stored outside of structured databases. With such unprecedented data growth, IT teams are looking for flexible, scalable and easily manageable ways to preserve and protect that data. This is where object storage shines. Object storage manages data as objects rather than as a hierarchy of files, tables, columns and rows, or block storage, which manages data as blocks within sectors and tracks. This slide show, using industry information from Clayton Weise, cloud architect for Key Information Systems, looks at trends in the industry that are encouraging businesses to consider the object storage approach.
2Big Players Are Starting to Use Object Storage
3Adoption is Slow but Coming Along
Interest in object storage is high. Adoption isn’t necessarily increasing rapidly, but it’s gaining momentum. Companies that were born on the web already use object storage, since it makes more sense for the HTTP-focused processes they’ve been using. More adoption may occur in the midmarket, where people are looking at object storage as a secondary or other backup storage.
4Object Storage Works Well When Instant Access Isn’t Necessary
5IoT Becoming a Major Factor in Data Growth
6Why Health Care Should Use Object Storage
The medical industry would benefit from object storage, especially research hospitals. These organizations must store large amounts of data, such as genomes or other data-intensive projects, and object storage can store data long-term with the ability to “stretch” and consume more data. However, the data isn’t available instantly.
7Law Enforcement Use Cases That Make Sense
Law enforcement is another industry that would benefit from object storage. These agencies collect massive amounts of data constantly from sources such as police body cameras and cruiser cameras. Object storage scales extremely well with unlimited capacity and can work for large, unstructured data sets.
8Pay Attention to Access Costs
9Study Up on Object Storage First
Education is paramount with object storage. Relatively few experts fully understand it. Object storage is a completely different way of accessing data—an important consideration, because users currently still think in terms of the block-and-file storage paradigm, which they’ve always known.