ree Reasons to Archive Corporate Data by Jay Livens

The concept of information archival is not new and has been around for decades. Traditionally, companies focused on archival in the context of paper records. However, the need for an archive does not stop with physical assets and the technology is more important than ever in the data center. Let's look at three key reasons why companies should consider data archival.

1. Reduce primary storage cost

Rapid data growth is the new normal which naturally leads to accelerating storage growth. Disk storage is not inexpensive and frequent storage system upgrades can lead to expenses spiraling out of control. However, how much of your data is being actively accessed? The percent varies widely, but for most end users inactive data accounts for over 70% of data stored. Thus most users are storing vast volumes of information of which they only really access a small percentage. This access dichotomy creates an opportunity. What if you could move inactive data onto alternative storage that would still provide reduced but still manageable access times? The result would be a significant reduction in storage spending and costs with a minimal impact on service levels. It is a win-win for IT and users and a key reason why archiving technologies are more relevant than ever in the data center.

2. Shrink backup windows

As data grows, so do backup windows and thus backup system performance must increase to maintain SLAs. Historically, we added more backup hardware to achieve increasing performance objectives, but what if you could avoid the problem? A simple solution would be to backup less data; however, you must protect your information. The solution is data archival. Archival storage platforms not only provide low cost storage, as discussed above, but also incorporate protection technologies to ensure that archive data is available for the long-term. This protection is usually achieved using some form of replication and versioning. The result is that an archive and its associated data is not typically backed up using a traditional backup infrastructure. Thus, when data is archived, it is removed from the traditional backup process and as a result backup operations are simplified and windows shrink.

3. Compliance/legal

We all dread the late night call from legal or compliance indicating that a law suit is pending and that a discovery request will be forthcoming. The discovery process is often long, complex and costly. Many companies expect their backup systems to assist in this process which can add to the difficulties. Iron Mountain's Archive Tape Management solution can help expedite the access to data for compliance purposes, but there is a powerful alternative archival systems. A dedicated archival system will typically include advanced storage and search functionality to dramatically enhance access to older data. Imagine being able to respond to the request with a simple Give me a few minutes to run the search and get back to you. A true archive system will give you this flexibility and responsiveness.

As the three examples above illustrate, there are significant benefits to archive systems. In the first two points, we can directly point to cost savings as they all us to defer costly primary storage or backup infrastructure upgrades. The compliance situation also provides benefits because the costs for discovery are significant. As you are looking to the future in your IT architecture, I suggest that you take a close look at archiving technology and how it can fit in your infrastructure.

LINK:	http://blogs.ironmountain.com/2013/service-lines/data-backup-and-recov...
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