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A small business will normally have small amounts of data to store. However, as the business grows, the volume of data also increases and the nightmare of data storage sets in. Poor handling and management of data will always lead to data overload, which contributes greatly to the deterioration of network performance. Depending on the kind of environment, a business can set up an elaborate system to store and backup its data, to free up space on individual workstations and the network. In choosing a suitable storage mechanism for your business, you will need to consider 3 factors, namely the capacity, security and speed. Small businesses that operate standalone workstations may opt to have each employee back up their own data. As most modern computers have their own hard disk, users may choose to store their data on these drives. However, for security and privacy reasons, it is important that the data be stored or backed up on removable media, to allow for recovery in the event that the data on the hard disk gets corrupted, or deleted. Examples of external media that may be used for backup include floppy drives, CD/DVD disks, flash drives and many others. If there is a simple network in place, some solutions such as NAS may be deployed. Medium and large organizations that have an established business network may opt for more complex storage options, as the volumes of data that they need to store and back up is significantly larger. Suitable solutions for network backups and storage include Content Addressable Storage, Storage Area Networks and Network Attached Storage. The size of the organization and the budget set aside for securing the business data will determine the choice of storage solution you choose. Another option that is suitable for both small and large organizations is online storage. This involves the storage of data on remote servers, which can then be accessed via the internet. Online storage is quite scalable and useful for sharing data from multiple geographical locations. With the exception of online storage, the other types of storage require a fast and reliable technique of transfer and handling large volumes of data. The techniques that are commonly used are SCSI and RAID. Both techniques can be implemented with NAS and SAN storage. The type of storage chosen must be compatible with the storage technique to be used, as well as the interfaces.
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