There is a lot of electronic data out there. It seems like everywhere you turn businesses are moving to e-filing systems. From hospitals, to schools, to governments, both public and private institutions are finding the value and efficiency in storing their data electronically.
While electronic document filing helps save in terms of physical storage, where do all those electronic files get stored? That’s where the data archiving system fits in. A data archiving system takes data that isn’t being used on a day-to-day basis and puts in on a data storage device to keep on-hand for the long-term. It may just be whereallyour childhood medical records are now being stored. Data archiving systems are often times used not only in the medical profession, but also in other industries like insurance, banking and technology companies. These industries often have to comply with stringent security measures to ensure any transactions made are documented.
In most cases, data archiving systems can be indexed so that when an employees has to find a specific file or document down the road, they can simply search for it through a computer that that is tied to the data archive system. But just like traditional paper file storage, the more files you have tostore,the more space you need. This is also true when talking about the realm of electronic data archiving systems. Instead of physical space, information is saved within what is known as a disk array. A disk array is a storage system made up of a number of disk drives. A disk array is made up of controllers, with its own memory and power supplies.Data archiving systems that use disk arrays to store data are typically used in a variety of different types of storage solutions including:Network attached storage arrays (NAS) – Network attached storage is a type of data storage systems that is connected to a computer network. This type of system is oftentimes built with the specific purpose of storing and serving files through a computer network system. These types of systems are known for ability to bring up data faster and can be easier to configure than other options.
Storage Area networks (SAN) – The SAN is system where you will most likely find disk arrays with information that can be accessed through servers. These systems allow for the disk arrays to look like the are attached to the device through the operating system of a computer.
Storage Virtualization – Storage virtualization as it relates to a data archiving system can refers to how the information that is stored is seen by those who view it through an operating system. Typically the storage is seen through blocks of data that are saved or through file virtualization where the data can be seen and then accessed individual file by individual file.
