Older dedicated server storage technology is still relevant in a data center. Even though new storage media has a higher cost they are proving to be gradually more popular.
Hard drives have proven to be reliable and a cheap means of storing vast amounts of data. Many experts agree that hard drives are certainly not disappearing anytime soon. Many dedicated server providers offer the solid state drivealternative as a marketing tool for “faster & better” marketing terminology. However, many providers simply put more clients on the faster SSD drive resulting in minimal speed improvements.
There is still a big incentive to utilize hard drives for their very low-cost benefits compared to flash storage. The argument can also be made for not making smaller hard drives since the size of the drives is not always the main issue. 5.4” hard drives are a must in laptops but with dedicated servers and office computers etc. the 7.2” drive size is still used. The case for primary storage as SSD is mainly low power usage and speed except in ultra mobile devices where size is still an important factor to consider.
Decreasing prices on SSD technology will have an impact on dedicated server storage. That’s of course, good news for dedicated server providers and mobile devices. However, worth considering is if it is needed in every scenario and if the provider is passing on the benefits to their clients.
It is physically impossible to make hard drives spin any faster at this time, so SSD will continue to improve while dropping in price. The main advantage to hard drives is the price per Gigabyte and the Terabytes of capacity they can store. In many cases, as SSD technology improves they will be running alongside older hard drive technology. The future will most likely replace hard drives completely. SSD technology is also available for dedicated server storage within a hard drive enclosure. This is sometimes referred to as hybrid storage solutions.
Another bottleneck can not only just be the dedicated server storage technology but in a remotely connected environment. The network port speed and internet congestion can play a big factor in the speed of data coming and going to a dedicated server.
For very large backups, tape backup is used as a proven and effective way of storing vast amounts of data. The fastest memory available is CPU cache and then DRAM, however that particular type of memory is strictly for short-term use and once powered off, the data is lost completely.
Long-term storage is flash, hard drives and tape in order of speed. (Arguably, reliability is in reverse order.) Tape storage is the cheapest option for storage and backups, especially for duplication and compression. The Internet of Things is generating incredible amounts of data on a daily basis, and the cheapest way to store that is still tape, even if it has been considered by many experts in the industry as a dead medium. Datacenters utilize tape storage for the main reason that it is very inexpensive. For office and home computer backups, it is no longer used. A single hard drive is enough for a backup. Datacenters, on the other hand, will certainly require a lot more than that. This is also one of the areas where flash storage will certainly not be taking over in the near future.
Another factor that both SSD and tape storage have in common is if they are dropped or not handled with too much care, they should be still able to function. This would not be the case with hard drives and their spinning speeds of thousands of times per minute.
However, investing in improving technology will make it difficult to determine whether to invest in new technology now. This may require upgrades again sooner. Waiting until improvements develop and prices go down further before purchasing newer technology may be best for some firms.
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