Storage Management Strategies for the CIO
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Flash is solid storage alternative
Given how slowly storage tends
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to evolve, the adoption of solid-state storage is something of a
phenomenon, going from luxury trinket to a key component of scores of systems in just a few short
years. Right now, 24% of respondents are solid-state drive (SSD) users, with another 10% planning
to add it this year. Toss in 29% who say they’re evaluating the technology and that leaves
approximately 37% on the SSD sidelines.
The most popular spot for solid-state drives is still in storage arrays (67%), but 40% have deployed it in servers, 34% in end-user systems and 20% in caching appliances. The average capacity of installed solid-state storage is 9 TB -- maybe not terribly impressive by hard disk standards, but a hefty amount of flash that has grown from an average of 6.8 TB two years ago. On average, organizations planning to add solid-state storage in 2012 will up their installed capacities by 7.1 TB.
Key statistic
65% of non-users say solid-state storage is still too expensive.
By the numbers
- Two years ago, only 10% of respondents said their companies were using solid-state storage vs. 24% today.
- The average of 9 TB of installed SSD capacity represents an increase of 18% since last fall and 32% vs. one year ago.
- Thirty-one percent say they have 10 TB or more of SSD installed.
Cloud storage slowly gaining fans
Not too long ago, it took a leap of faith for a company to use a cloud storage service, especially for housing primary or nearline data. But service providers have made great strides in the last couple of years, and they’ve begun to win over some converts. Today, about 30% of companies use some form of non-backup cloud storage (more on cloud backup later); the current survey indicates that the top three applications are data center primary data (12.1%), disaster recovery (10.8%) and data center nearline data (10.8%). To put those numbers in perspective, two years ago only 14% were using non-backup cloud storage and the top app was DR at 6%.
Companies using those cloud storage services have an average of 19 TB of data stored in the cloud. That’s nearly 20% higher than the number reported last fall when we asked the question for the first time. Current users also seem pretty pleased with the services as 83% plan to add services in 2012, with DR (38%) and storage for primary data (37%) topping their shopping lists.
Key statistic
26% have already deployed -- or plan to deploy -- private storage cloud products.
By the numbers
- Some cloud use is substantial: 44% say they have more than 10 TB in the cloud.
- Only 6% are currently using hybrid storage devices, which integrate on-premises storage with a cloud storage service.
- Nine percent of reporting companies use a cloud file sharing/synching service; 7% plan to add one this year.
This was first published in May 2012
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