Data Centre Magazine February 2022 | Page 51

THE RISE OF COLD STORAGE AND THE COMPLICATIONS OF DATA SOVEREIGNTY
DATA CENTRES

THE RISE OF COLD STORAGE AND THE COMPLICATIONS OF DATA SOVEREIGNTY

EXPERT INSIGHTS FROM DAVIDE VILLA , DIRECTOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EMEAI AT WESTERN DIGITAL
“ Hybrid working is here to stay : 52 % of UK workers are expected to be remote in 2022 . This has brought up a new challenge for enterprises : with employees operating from multiple different locations , critical and confidential data can no longer be stored on-premises in one site . For data to be accessed and protected at these various locations , enterprises must deploy local , external and cloud back-ups , and archival solutions .
Archival data ( also known as ‘ cold ’ storage ) is stored in lower cost , infrequently accessed tiers that archive information until it is needed , for example in the event of a failure or cyber-attack . As the world generates and stores more archival data than ever before , with use cases such as genomics or video footage , cold storage will become the go to for data which must be protected but doesn ’ t need to be accessed within milliseconds . As enterprises start to run back-ups two or three times in various locations , the amount of storage in data centres will further build up and require a serious look at the way organisations archive their data .
The prominence of archival data also tackles the ever-present issue of ransomware attacks and prevents them from becoming far less impactful if you can access backups of stolen or corrupted information . The same principle applies in the cases of floods , hurricanes and other extreme weather incidents that are occurring with higher frequency worldwide . This data , which isn ’ t needed actively , can be stored in pools of cooler storage at a lower cost .”
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