Enterprise storage refers to computer data storage as practiced by enterprises. While there are similarities between this and consumer storage, enterprise storage has many more demands on it. These include a higher level of reliability, scalability, and fault tolerance.
Enterprise storage has a number of elements. These include online storage, which refers to data that is accessible within a minimal time and which is generally retained on large disk arrays; back-up storage which is data that is stored in order to protect it in case the original data should be lost or corrupted; and data archiving, which in many ways is similar to back-up however its purpose is different as its primary purpose is long term retention of business data for purposes such as e-discovery and regulatory compliance. Data is also stored for the purposes of disaster recovery in order to ensure business continuity in the case of technology failure or physical catastrophe.
In-house enterprise storage systems all have one thing in common. They are very expensive, many more times more expensive than consumer storage. For instance looking at the cost per GB, typically consumer storage technology might cost £100 to £200 per GB; however enterprise storage typically costs £3,000 per GB.
As the amount of enterprise data that must be stored is growing rapidly, the costs of storing it are burgeoning, so what is the solution? The obvious one is storage in the cloud, but here too there are differences between the consumer cloud and the enterprise cloud.
Consumer cloud storage services are accessed over the internet. Although a minimal amount of free online cloud storage is available, for anything significant they are charged for according to the amount of data that is stored. Often consumer cloud storage is used to enable data to be accessed on alternative devices such as smartphones and tablets, and for data sharing using services such as Dropbox.
Although many enterprises make use of certain consumer cloud storage services, Dropbox and Box being popular ones, enterprise cloud storage solutions are used by businesses that need to store large volumes of corporate data securely. They also need cloud backup and archiving, and to be able access the data efficiently and implement retention policies that are compliant with current legislation, for instance e-discovery, and the Data Protection and Freedom of Information acts.
There are several different enterprise cloud storage solutions. For instance Mimecast provides a cost effective solution that includes all of the elements referred to above along with a data archive that can access corporate wide data on multiple devices as well as the LAN and consumer cloud storage services such as Dropbox and Box. The model is infinitely saleable and the costs are based on volume, which eliminated the need to invest in costly enterprise storage hardware.
Other advantages of enterprise cloud storage are that corporate data becomes accessible on an anytime anywhere basis giving personnel global access. It is a solution for the modern world; in fact it is the only solution.