Introduction
With the growth of data in the recent years, there has been the need to have protection of the enterprise data from loss. Companies have been struggling to ensure that there are methods that will allow them to recover their data using the shortest time as much as possible. As company data continue to growth, so is the time that will take to recover. This has made data recovery an issue that should be considered by many companies. There is need for a large bank, for example, to provide protection for the large volumes of data they have. The options they use to store their data will need an easier process of getting this data back. The process of storing and retrieving data from the storage locations needs security and reliability. The more data that is to be stored, the more time it will take to recover, and the less protection the company has in terms of recovery from loss and lost time for business. This means that the greater the need of an organization to use their data, the higher the risk that they have in handling this data (Raizen et al., 2013).
Network-based storage is the storage of organization data in remote locations where they can be accessed using fast networks. The good thing is that there are new networking technologies that are used to compress the time for data backup and recovery. These networking technologies enable organizations to formulate new strategies that they use to manage their data. The network-based storage technologies enable companies to store their data in long distances using the shortest time possible. With network-based storage technologies, it is possible for organizations to get access to the data that has been stored in remote locations (Ting, 2011).
The development of remote location storage
This new technology of storage is an extension of the traditional storage methodology. The traditional method of data storage has advantages over the new technology when the disadvantages of network-based storage capabilities are considered. The storage using local techniques have relied heavily on duplexing or making the data in duplicates of the data. This is possible with the use of disk and tape techniques. If the primary data is not available, the recovery of the copy of the data is initiated by the company. The original and duplex copies are located in the same place (Williamson et al., 2011).
Network-based storage is an extension of the remote storage of information. This is where the data are backed up and stored on storage disks and transported to remote locations. The tapes are transported with the use of trucks. The offsite warehouse comes up with an inventory where backups of the data are stored. If there is failure of the processor, the data in the offsite location is used with the backup tape being used instead of the current file. Whereas the truck method of transferring data to offsite locations is effective, the number of tapes that are transported to offsite locations will increase and will limit the data that is transferred to the offsite remote locations in a single day. The process of error recovery will take a long time depending on the efficiency of the transmission (Suryadevara, & Mukhopadhyay, 2012).
Features of network-based storage
The development of network-based storage strategy takes the true enterprise network approach in developing a remote storage. One feature and enhancement of the network-based storage approach is automation of the movement of data from the organization to the remote location. The retrieval process is also automated. This is an important development that has been made with the data model and data storage model. This process is done over a wide geographical network without compromising on service delivery.
The power of managing the storage devices is located on the network and the efficiency of that given network. The application of this technique of network-based storage is in the disaster recovery and protection and also the enhancement of data access on the network. Each of the application of this technique will depend on the software that is available, the budget that has been assigned, the networking that has been done and the peripherals that are available (Navalkar, & Soman, 2011).
Configurations for network-based storage
The configurations that are required for an effective network-based storage include the need for high speed connectivity. This is required so that the process of sending information to the remote storage is done effectively and in a reliable manner. There is the use of transmission services which have high speeds. This includes the use of T1 or DS3 circuits which are known to provide high connectivity. There is the also the use of fiber optic links which are known to be effective and high in speed (Fan, Aji, & Bruck, 2009).
There is the also the use of robotic tape libraries. One inclusion of this is StorageTek4400. This is a possibility that has been enabled with the use of this service. These provide high connectivity which is an alternative to the provision of this type of network connection. There is also the use of channel networking (Sharma et al., 2009).
Benefits of network-based storage
This storage technology is known to provide storage of backup data and information in remote locations. The access of this information is also seen to be fast and effective. This has eradicated the need to handle the tape cartridges in the process of storage of backup data. There is much that can be obtained if the data centers can be connected together. Data mining capabilities can also be exploited with the use of this technology (Bingham et al., 2011).
Another benefit with the use of this technology is that the cost of storing data in remote sites is reduced to manageable levels. This is because of the fact that there is the sharing of the storage locations by many sites. Another important benefit is that there is the provision of recoverability of the data when there is disaster occurring. With the possibility of connecting many data centers with this networking capability, there is ease of data recovery with the use of high speed networks.
Conclusion
With the emphasis of having a reliable data recovery and protection mechanism, there has been the need to have viable solutions to this problem. For a long time, the use of remote sites to store backup data for organizations has been a viable option that has been use, although at primitive levels. The emergence of network-based storage technology has been a solution to this and there has been the developments and enhancement on storage of backup data with the use of this technology. This technology has proved to be effective in terms of speed and reliability. There are other benefits that can be obtained with the use of this technology if the data centers are connected together.
References
Bingham, S. F., Buchman, M. D., Singhal, U., Rokicki, J. C., & Murthy, V. (2011). U.S. Patent No. 7,971,091. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Fan, C. C., Aji, S. M., & Bruck, J. (2009). U.S. Patent No. 7,546,354. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Navalkar, P. V., & Soman, S. A. (2011). Secure remote backup protection of transmission lines using synchrophasors. Power Delivery, IEEE Transactions on, 26(1), 87-96.
Raizen, H. S., Freund, D. W., Harwood, J., & Bappe, M. E. (2013). U.S. Patent No. 8,416,954. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Sharma, S., Gai, S., Dutt, D., Kumar, S., & Mahajan, U. (2009). U.S. Patent Application 12/364,416.
Suryadevara, N. K., & Mukhopadhyay, S. C. (2012). Wireless sensor network based home monitoring system for wellness determination of elderly. Sensors Journal, IEEE, 12(6), 1965-1972.
Ting, L. (2011). A Review of Network-based Storage Technique. Computer & Digital Engineering, 1, 035.
Williamson, L. D., Buehl, J., Callahan, J. W., Carlucci, J. B., Chiddix, J. A., Hayashi, M. T., & Leddy, K. J. (2011). U.S. Patent No. 7,908,626. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
