With the retention life of data increasing, many organizations are trying to determine the best long-term storage strategy for the future. To do this, organizations must analyze the reliability, security and speed of data storage solutions, including both cloud and tape storage.
This white paper considers how a hybrid archive solution, consisting of both cloud and tape, may be deployed in the event of a cloud mandate, and how data growth and future costs can impact a storage solution selection.
While we recommend tape for many storage needs, cloud storage can provide some excellent usage models for different scenarios. A common storage idiom is: ?Three copies, on two different media, and one offsite?. With this in mind, a combination of tape and cloud storage could fulfill this basic storage principle.
For these situations, it is recommended that data that is touched be stored in the on-premise storage and data that may never be touched be stored in the cloud to be used as supplemental disaster recovery.
For data that will only be retrieved in the worst possible circumstances, a deep layer of storage, Amazon Glacier, might be recommended. To control both on-premise storage and cloud storage, a single hub should be considered.
Cloud costs can vary drastically, and it?s important to keep in mind how much the cloud market structure is changing. It is very probable that a new cloud provider could appear, or an existing cloud provider could alter its structure, so a day may come when an organization will need or want to switch cloud providers.
This is where an on-premise copy is imperative. Organizations that have on-premise storage provide themselves with the option to abandon cloud data, rather than pay exorbitant egress fees. Furthermore, modern-day object storage like BlackPearl can enable a change in cloud vendor by uploading a local copy with the touch of a button, without having to pay any egress fees.