Why is Object Storage the right solution to underpin your Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, and IoT analytics strategies?
Selecting the right storage architecture is essential for organisations that are leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Big Data and IoT analytics. For example, AI applications that involve scientific and medical research create and interact with numerous large files, and therefore need a storage system that can scale to a petabyte level, with zero restrictions. Similarly, ML applications and Big Data projects require a scalable, cost-effective storage solution to accommodate the high volumes of data that will be produced. This raises the question of which storage solution enterprises should use to underpin their overall analytics strategies.
We would suggest Object Storage - a secure, cost-effective, and scalable Cloud storage solution, which seamlessly integrates with a range of applications and offers excellent interoperability with Public and Private Clouds.
The advantages of Object Storage include:
1. Flexible Scalability
AI, ML, Big Data, and IoT analytics create significant demands from any storage solution, which Object Storage's native scalability can help to mitigate. Object Storage uses a flat address space to store data in 'buckets', instead of organising it in a hierarchy (as is the case with traditional file storage), meaning it scales out on demand, to meet the business' immediate requirements. This also makes it a more cost-effective storage solution, as you can start off with a small volume of storage, and only scale out when you need to, minimising the amount of money wasted on unused storage
2. Easily classify data with metadata
Finding the data that is required can be difficult, with only 3% of employees reporting they are able to find the data they require in seconds*. Therefore, the ability to easily classify data is what makes Object Storage so convenient for any type of advanced analytics. Users can tag files with metadata to help describe their contents, which makes sorting and searching far easier than with other storage solutions. By way of contrast, File and Block Storage only support small amounts of metadata, such as the date as file was created, where it was created, and who created it. Object Storage, on the other hand, has a unique identifier number (UID) which can be used to easily find the location of the specific data required.
3. Smooth integration with applications and Clouds
Object Storage is the most Cloud-ready storage architecture because it supports a broader range of Application Program Interfaces (APIs). A Cloud Storage API connects a local or Cloud-based application to the Object Storage system, so organisations can programmatically send and retrieve any data stored there. This way, Object Storage solutions can integrate with a range of applications and your preferred Cloud environments to deliver all the advantages of a modern Hybrid Cloud architecture.
However, it should be noted that numerous vendors charge for data retrieval from object stores, which should be considered when budgeting for your Cloud data and storage strategy.
4. Data security and resiliency
Object Storage encrypts your data (both at rest and in transit) and replicates it across multiple geographic locations, ensuring its ready availability and resilience against data centre disaster. This is significant when we consider incidents like the one earlier this year, when many companies were affected by fire damage at a data centre in Strasbourg. With Object Storage, your data is stored and replicated in more than one location, ensuring it can be quickly recovered in the event of disasters like these.
Finally, for companies that need to store petabytes of unstructured data, a dedicated infrastructure, such as Dell EMC Isilon, is an extremely attractive option, thanks to the long-term cost savings and ability to scale to tens of petabytes without disruption.
Ultimately, Object Storage offers highly scalable and cost-effective Cloud storage that integrates with a range of applications through compatible APIs, making it the ideal solution to underpin your AI, ML, Big Data, and IoT analytics strategies. You enjoy flexibility to scale up or down, depending on your specific requirements, whilst ensuring maximum security and data resilience. Find out more about Cloud Object Storage here.
*2020 Global State of Enterprise Analytics Report - MicroStrategy
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