This is a collaborative post: Every year enterprise tech evolves beyond the previous year to give SMBs and SMEs the capacity to handle more complex workloads. And handling diverse work portfolios is hugely important for any SME or SMB, as this can attract a wide range of clients to do business with.
At the core of cutting-edge technology is always storage solutions. Ever since the first digital storage solutions hit the commercial market, the amount of data we generate and the store has increased from megabytes to gigabytes to terabytes. With applications and workload demands requiring more and more storage space, it is no wonder this is the case.
But what is ideal for your SME or business? In today’s article, we’ll cover enterprise data storage solutions for 2022 that’ll help your business thrive – no matter the digital sector you operate within.
Let’s delve.
Hard Drive Disks
Hard drive disks (HDDs) are most storage solutions’ bread and butter. These disks can expand your storage capacity by a significant amount depending on the drive’s make, model, and size.
Primarily, hard disk drives will come in either 2.5” or 3.5” sizes and be connected to a machine or server via a SATA or SAS connection. Most machines will have a capacity for several terabytes of data storage using hard drives, which is more than enough for most business and enterprise operations.
Larger scale operations will use various machines with these specifications to adequately store all the data they use and process. In any case, getting your own business high-quality hard disk drives for your servers, such as the selection offered at ETB Technologies, is a great way to store what you need easily.
Solid-State Drives
While hard drive disks excel at storing large amounts of data efficiently, they can be a bit slow for write speed and read speed. This usually isn’t much of a problem for smaller scale digital businesses, but for larger scale businesses such as data centres – this can be a huge bottleneck.
A solid-state drive compromises the storage capacity the drive can provide for high write and read speeds. This is ideal for operating systems or intensive applications such as 3D design environments, video production, or audio production software.
Even getting a small solid-state drive for your employee workstations is a good idea. Using these SSDs to run only the workstation operating system can speed up the workstation considerably compared to running the operating system from a hard drive disk.
Consider SSDs for a smoother, quicker, and more streamlined daily operation.
Storage Arrays
Not every business or enterprise will require a storage array. Very few businesses will need one; if they do, they’ll usually opt for a fairly small storage array. But a storage array may be a better choice if your business uses a lot of space on hard drives (and you pay a fortune for cloud storage options).
Storage arrays allow you to seamlessly combine various hard drives into one cohesive system that allows easy browsing and data retrieval. They are ideal for hosting files to an internal or external network and can save you money and time.
A good storage array can act as a ‘hub’ for your business and give you a localised, secure way to store all your necessary data easily.
Portable Hard Drive Disks
This suggestion will not be ideal for every SME or SMB owner that reads this, but it can offer value to various digital businesses and does have a valid application. Having portable hard drive disks on hand saves time and money.
Storing sensitive information on a portable hard drive allows you to keep your vital information secure and offline. Nobody can get to it when that hard drive is disconnected from your internal network. This is a great option for smaller businesses to secure things such as financial information or confidential employee information.
You can also opt to encrypt the portable hard drive disk with BitLocker to ensure that only those with authorization can access it.
This creates a situation where the theft of sensitive and proprietary information is difficult or next to impossible for would-be hackers.
Cloud Storage Options
Last, but by no means least, is cloud storage options. These options take a lot of the hassle away from running your server and hosting your files. However, it does come at the risk of entrusting your data and information to a third-party (even if that third party is as big as Google or Amazon).
This comes with inherent risks but also comes with the benefit of having your data accessible from anywhere at any time, providing you have the correct login credentials.
This can make the team working seamless and proficient for remote workers.
In Conclusion
There are all kinds of storage solutions out there for SMEs and SMBs. Consider the huge range of options before committing to one or various of the storage options out there.
Be sure to pick one that’s right for you and your business.