It is not a secret that today’s modern businesses have become increasingly dependent on computers for running many different aspects of their day-to-day operations. One very important aspect of running a business which has been taken over by I.T is the gathering and storage of data; whether it is data linked to customers or to the company staffs itself.
And as technology progresses, there are now many ways businesses can manage and store the data which is so vital to their success.
Different businesses have different needs
Of course, the way a company handles their data will depend on the nature of what they do. A shop will have different requirements than a web design company. Where one company will have a computer system which is focused on stock inventory and sales, another company will focus its data on storing and displaying different artwork to potential new clients. But on the overall, even if there I.T systems are different, businesses will have a similar need with regards to data storage: they need the data to be stored safely and to be accessed easily by the appropriate people.
In-house data storage
The most basic method of storing business data will involve saving the data on the staff’s computer hard drives. This makes it easy for the relevant staff to access the information they need on a daily basis. However as companies evolve, they develop methods to ensure that data is safely backed up on their own servers, using methods such as RAID data storage. This popular method uses multiple drives, spreading and duplicating the data around those drives to ensure there exists spare copies of the data, making it accessible even if a hard drive fails. RAID is the safest, but also one of the most complex ones to put together. It is often best left taken care of by RAID data specialists, especially in the advent of hardware failure; as unqualified staff dealing with RAID issues can lead to the business losing all of their vital data.
External data storage
Using methods such as RAID may not be affordable for every company, especially for start-ups on a lower budget. This is where online cloud based storage such as Google Drive and Drop box come in handy. They offer a fast, secure and easy access to business data by storing the data onto their own servers. Those servers work in a safe way so that the data will still be available in the advent of hardware failure. Most online cloud based services also have great operating system and browser compatibility, meaning that they work natively well with our computers and are very easy to use.
Choosing the right method
Figuring out which data storage method is best for our business will depend on many factors, the first one being affordability. Complex systems like RAID will have a high setup cost and will required maintenance but depending on the amount of data being stored, it could cost less overtime than paying for online cloud-based data storage. The other main factor is access and safety. When a company’s information has to be kept private, it is safer to do everything in-house. Of course since affordability is always a key concern, the best approach will be to start using cloud services and slowly migrate all the data to in-house servers when the business can afford doing so. Like with a lot of business practices, planning will help a great deal and will ensure that our vital business data is kept safe and secure.
