As companies become more dependent on digital tools and programming, the data that powers them becomes an increasingly important element. In many cases, data storage and communication play vital roles in the relationships that businesses have with customers, clients and other partners. If that data is stolen or damaged, it can deprive those parties of trust and could lead to business loss.
To ensure that important data is not lost enterprises need a reliable communications and data storage platform. Platforms should be able to ingest huge amounts of data in real-time and also be able to store this data indefinitely. They must also allow multiple systems to access data.
Direct area storage and network-based data storage are the two main types. Direct area storage, also referred to as direct-attached storage (DAS), is stored on hardware that is directly connected to the computer that is able to access it. Examples include hard disk drives, USB flash drives, optical discs and solid state drives like compact discs, or digital video discs. DAS devices are more expensive than storage that is networked however they offer faster access and more local backup capabilities.
Network-based data storage can be found on servers that are connected to a network, usually within the data center. This type of storage facilitates sharing of data and also offers more robust redundancy and disaster recovery protection than DAS. It may be more affordable depending on the selected storage solution. Common solutions include network-attached storage (NAS) as well as storage area networks (SAN) and object storage platforms.