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Data Storage Predictions for 2008

Posted by Zonk on from the we-all-like-storing-data dept.

Lucas123 writes "IDC just released its predictions for 2008 with regards to data storage trends. Its research shows, among other things, a greater adoption of online backup and archiving services, the 'prevalent' use of full-disk encryption in the data center, and mainstream adoption of solid-state disk drives due to falling prices. From the story: 'There are very simple situations and application scenarios where solid-state disks will be worth the risk. It does promise some great potential benefit in terms of I/O ... [and] solid state will make a significant impact on reducing heat from spindle usage in server blade deployments and to boost functionality in mobile devices.' According to IDC, storage capacity is exploding at a rate of almost 60% per year."

8 of 81 comments (clear)

  1. Datacenters by fishybell · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I imagine that full-disk encryption for datacenters is a while off as any drop in I/O and throughput will be a non-starter for the already tasked drives. IMHO full-disk encryption isn't necessary as long as the datacenter is physically secured, just that all off site backups be encrypted. Anytime data leaves the datacenter it should be encrypted, but encrypting local storage only matters if you fear someone breaking in physically (encrypted disks won't help when broken in through a network as the computer will decrypt the data for the intruder) or you are selling the disks on eBay afterwards.

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  2. Numbers 9 and 10 are red herrings... by SacredByte · · Score: 2, Insightful

    9. Green storage initiatives will cause companies to seek nondisruptive/partial hardware upgrades.
    This assumes that the 'environmental cost' of continuing to operate obscelete technology is less than the 'environment cost' of upgrading to more efficient technology. This is not always the case; Imagine adding capacity to a PDP-11 to 'keep it modern.' The cost of powering the equipment more than makes up for any possible environmental ills. So basically what they are saying is that next year people are going to start upgrading their computers a little bit at a time instead of chucking out the window every time Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Dell, HP, Apple, etc. come out with something new. It seems like a good idea, so much so that; in fact, most sane people already do it.

    10. De-duplication, thin provisioning and virtual tape libraries will be in demand because of power saving efforts in the data center.
    The issue here is that they make the false assumption that skimping on backups is a good thing. Due to certian high-profile corporate scandals, many companies MUST keep certian records either for a specific term, or indefinately. The problem with TFA's assumption is that they assume that the 'saving' money by not having multiple backups in multiple locations couldn't come back to bite the company in the ass big-time (huge fines). The reason companies keep multiple off-site backups is simple: The cost of keeping multiple off-site backups is LESS THAN the cost of losing the data.
    1. Re:Numbers 9 and 10 are red herrings... by DaveWick79 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      9. I agree with you - the cost of powering old equipment is going to be the driving force behind hardware upgrades in the next 2 years, not the requirement for more speed and capacity. I don't think people have been upgrading their systems a little bit at a time since the sub-$1000 computer became mainstream. The only systems that are going to be upgraded that way are the systems that are designed for expansion, like servers that are designed for storage expansion or blade-type expansion.

      10. I don't think they mean skimping on data backups, they mean de-duplication of unnecessary hardware and not necessarily data backups. For instance not having 2TB of storage on a server when it is only using 100GB - use thin provisioning to give that server access to a dynamic storage volume that gives it only the space it needs. Cut down on duplicate hardware that handles things like backup AD controllers, data backup, etc. and put those tasks on virtual servers. Virtualize your tape libraries with an offsite hard disk backup array. All these lessen the power footprint of your datacenter without lessening the redundancy of your critical data backups.

  3. Predictions, my arse... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    IDC just released its predictions for 2008 with regards to data storage trends. Its research shows...


    If you've ever been involved in an IDC, Gartner or whatever marketing discussion, you know that the "research" mainly consists of going from vendor to vendor (data storage vendors in this case) and asking what, in their wildest dreams, would the ideal demand curve look like. Then they charge for actually coming up with some supporting information to meet the vendors' preferred conclusion, and release the whole thing to consumers in the hopes of stimulating some demand for the paying vendors. Very scientific.

    1. Re:Predictions, my arse... by dave562 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Someone mod this up.

    2. Re:Predictions, my arse... by OnlineAlias · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I have, and you hit it right on the head. IDC, even more so than Gartner in my opinion, are famous for their ridiculous "predictions". Nothing to see here, please move along...

  4. Re:Forecase: Overcast with clouds increasing by tokamoka · · Score: 2, Insightful

    For the most part, storing personal or sensitive data on Amazon S3 (like backups - see duplicity) should go hand in hand with encryption (GPG etc). I carry my laptop in my bag to work, and really do think that the data on that stands much more chance of being nicked than the encrypted data I have on S3.

  5. My predictions by Markus+Landgren · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I predict that drives will get bigger, and that many slashdotters who have not heard of wear levelling will be worried about the limited write cycles of flash and get modded insightful for that.