Is It Time To Upgrade Your Data Center?

The fact that you’re behind the curve of progress may not always be obvious. You may have a friend who drives an old clunker they constantly have to take to the nearest mechanic and is about as fuel efficient as an SUV towing the Queen Mary. Yet no matter what anyone tells him, he sees no good reason to get rid of the car despite the effort and money it takes to keep it running. For him, what worked in the past should still work today and tomorrow as well.

When it comes to IT plans at the office, that kind of reluctance to give up old technology can add up to an inefficient use of time, energy and budget. A cutting-edge strategy from a year or two ago is like a new bike left out in the rain for a few months: sure, it hasn’t been used much, but that doesn’t mean it’ll work well or that anyone will want to use it. With the ever-increasing amounts of data being generated and stored, it’s worth the time to evaluate your data center’s performance and assess whether your company should upgrade from the old standard of hard disk storage to the latest innovation, solid-state storage.

Is It Time To Upgrade Your Data Center?

Hard Drive vs. Solid-state

In one corner of the ring, we have an established force: the spinning solution, hard disk storage. It’s dependable, although easily subject to damage and one that requires a lot of power and a cooling system. It has the ability to store large amounts of data for a significant amount of time. In the other corner, we have a rising contender whose speed leaves the hard disk in the dust and is a more low-maintenance solution than its opponent.

When examining these two strategies in action, you may find that you don’t have to take an either/or approach to them. When it comes to data that many employees access frequently, an SSD system can provide instant access to information for updates and verifications. For important information not accessed daily, hard disk storage can be the way to go. Depending on the storage needs of your business, taking advantage of both is the wisest choice to make.

Where Solid-state Outperforms Hard Disk

We’ve come to expect instant access times; whether it’s a website or internal data, no one’s interested in waiting around. Solid-state provides this consistent speed, around 100 times faster than a hard disk system, and allows for greater employee productivity and efficiency, with network delays or outages becoming outdated. The inherent properties of solid-state memory are what allow it to reach such superior speeds since its internal components don’t include any moving parts.

An entire rack dedicated to hard disk storage will require a good deal of maintenance, including the electricity and necessary cooling to reduce heat buildup. Solid-state storage, in comparison, doesn’t take up the same amount of physical space or necessitate the same amount of effort from an IT department.

And the Winner is …

Well, the winner of the matchup really depends on your company’s needs. Yet with slow data storage being a common issue a variety of industries are facing, solid-state is becoming an attractive means for handling storage requirements. If your business has suffered from slow boot times, website performance issues and limited data storage, then you’re in the market for an upgrade to your data center. A hybrid approach may suit your needs, combining the tried and true hard disk with solid-state handling the day-to-day tasks of employees, yet a future that doesn’t include a solid-state storage solution may be akin to that old friend clinging to his worn-out car that’s ultimately more of a disservice than a benefit.

Image credit: watcharakun on Freedigitalphotos.net

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