Be it any business belonging to any industry, data is an important aspect. As the business grows big, the amount of data starts to increase every single day and you’ll need batch data processing engineers atlanta ga. Every business has some files that are made during the starting days of the business. These files are generally on meeting regulatory compliance. As days pass by, such files are scarcely opened or used.
Then there are some historic files which require preservation as these are barely in use frequently. As the amount of such data increase, it becomes important to keep these data secured among the herd of files that are being dealt with on a daily basis. The fact that these are not in use now, does not mean that these won’t be used in near future. Such files might be needed in many cases and no business would risk losing them at any cost.
Especially the files about regulatory compliance require preservation as these might come handy during some important tasks. This is where data archiving comes in. Data archiving is the process of storing important but not usually used data in a place from where these can be accessed when necessary. The files are stored in an indexed way and it does not depend on how it was stored during active usage. On needs to use parameters like file contents, author and origin to retrieve the data from the archive. Archiving is the best option for long term retention of data. Here is some more information here about data archiving.
Why choose data archiving
Data archiving uses a storage system that is low on operation costs and maintenance. This brings down the amount a business pays for storing data. As data gets removed from backups, the size gets reduced. It also eliminates unnecessary data which takes up space. That is how a business can enjoy better backup option as well as better performance.
Businesses archive data that are not only in use currently but also must be saved from any kind of modification or alteration unless necessary. Archiving helps to secure data from unwanted alteration. It is also a great way of prevent data loss. Archiving means the data will not be circulation anymore on a daily basis. This keeps crucial data safe from any kind of malware infection or cyber attack. There are licencing options like free licenses which make it a better money saving process.
Things to consider before archiving data
It is not every day that a business decides to archive one or two files. The files are chosen and put in the archive for preservation and future usage. As a business chooses the archive, it is necessary to focus on a few things. The type of the storage decides too many things like how accessible the data will be, how much safe it will be once it is put into the archive and how much the whole process will cost.
An archive is only effective when you can retrieve the data whenever necessary. It is necessary to check if the storage options that you chose is still functional or not. Technology is advancing at an unimaginable speed. There are regular updates as well as withdrawal of old systems and products. If you chose a storage option a few years back, it might not match with the current set of products or services.
In such cases, your money and effort, all goes wasted. Checking the functionality will help to know whether you need another archive or the old one is still perfect. While you consider archiving, it is necessary to consider factors like priorities when it comes to transfer or storage, how long it will be kept in the archive and how much data will be there. There are also the offline archive and online archiving.
Online and offline archiving
Online archiving is great for anytime retrieval. Online archives can be accessed from anywhere and at any point of time as long as there is internet connection. There is the freedom to add more data to it when you need and effectively manage it more easily. But internet connection is a necessity and without it, no files from the archive would ever be retrievable. Along with that, this very need of internet makes it prone to cyber threats. Though private cloud can provide better security, these are definitely more costly than public cloud. On the other hand, public cloud requires ongoing fees.
Tape or disk drives are the offline storage options which come with lesser risk of alteration or theft. The storage and maintenance cost are also lesser than online archiving. The only issue is retrieving the data. It is not only a time taking procedure, but there can be great barriers in case of transferring data at times as well. Before choosing any of the mentioned storage type, it is necessary to consider these facts.
