| Do you know that the wrong type of storage can | | | | replacing paper. An individual might need a huge |
| be harmful to the health of your business? Do you | | | | amount of storage for photos, music files, e-books |
| know what type of storage you need? Do you | | | | and movies. Opening or retrieving these files |
| know how to choose the best storage at the right | | | | doesn’t need to be as fast as running a |
| price? | | | | program or operating a company’s email |
| Many people choose the wrong type of storage for | | | | accessibility. |
| their specific needs. The result can be slower access | | | | Why do email and programs require a higher cost, |
| and operation of the system, it can be slower boot | | | | lower capacity drive? You need to understand that |
| time, or it can affect your bottom line because it | | | | email and applications must operate quickly. Email is |
| costs more than you actually need to spend. | | | | actually like a database everyone in the company |
| As I work with servers and individual systems for | | | | uses. It must be fast and reliable. |
| our clients, I generally see one of three problems | | | | Finally, many individuals and businesses do not have |
| with storage choices companies (or individuals) have | | | | the proper redundancy to protect them in the event |
| made: | | | | of a failure of some sort. Redundancy is basically a |
| • They have the wrong type of storage | | | | backup of what is stored on the drive. If a client is |
| • They don’t have enough storage | | | | storing important data or applications on a drive, we |
| • They don’t have the proper | | | | generally create a redundant drive as backup. This |
| redundancy in case of a failure | | | | way if there is a failure, such as a drive crash, the |
| When choosing storage, you must first look at your | | | | critical files are immediately available. Recovering from |
| server and consider how the new storage will be | | | | a failure with a non-redundant system will require |
| used. Will it be used primarily for programs | | | | locating the correct backup tape, which is stored |
| applications and email, or will it be used just for | | | | offline, and running restore operations from the tape. |
| storage of images, documents and other files? | | | | This is a much slower process than switching to a |
| If you are using the new drive (storage) for | | | | different drive. |
| applications, you need to choose a higher-cost, | | | | Choosing storage for your computer or for a server |
| lower-capacity drive, such as a SCSI. This type of | | | | is not just a matter of cost. Don’t put your |
| drive will run much faster and will be generally more | | | | business or personal files at risk by choosing the |
| reliable. | | | | wrong storage hardware. The three things to |
| If you are using the new drive just for storage, you | | | | consider in choosing your storage option are: |
| will want to get as much storage capacity as possible | | | | • What type of storage do I need? Is it the |
| at the lowest cost. You might want to consider a | | | | right kind of storage for my needs? |
| SATA drive. This type of drive will run a bit slower | | | | • Will I have enough storage? |
| and cost less than a SCSI drive. The new terabyte | | | | • Can I set up the proper redundancy in case |
| drives might be an option if you are purchasing a | | | | of a failure? |
| drive simply for large storage capacity. A graphic | | | | Your answers to these questions will help you make |
| artist, for example, will need to store a large number | | | | wise choices about getting the right kind of storage |
| of images and both templates and files containing | | | | at the best price. |
| images and other types of graphic files, which use a | | | | Stay tuned for my next comments: I’ll be |
| lot of space. If your business has moved to | | | | writing about new Solid State Drives, and this is huge |
| paperless operations, you will also need a large | | | | news! |
| amount of storage to handle the image files that are | | | | |