The five expected trends in the world of storage

Along with the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and smart technologies that will ensure network availability and processing resources – it is also important to address another component that goes “under the hood” of our data machines: information storage

By: Yossi Raphael

A new decade is approaching, and it is time to examine the emerging technological trends, and their implications for the world of storage. Along with dealing with the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and smart technologies that will ensure network availability and processing resources – it is also important to address another component that goes “under the hood” of our data machines: information storage. Efficient and effective infrastructure is key to the success of the organization – and expansion and growth opportunities are essential for leveraging this data.
The increase in storage density presents us with 16TB capacity disks – while examples of 18TB conventional disk (CMR) and 20TB magnetic powder (SMR) disks are already provided to manufacturers, and are expected to be available in bulk later this year. In the next five years, the scope of adoption of SMR technology will increase. Increasing storage density is key to delivering greater capacity while maintaining an attractive total cost of ownership (TCO). Meanwhile, the value offered by storing Flash in applications such as analytics and artificial intelligence is increasing. Advances in 3D NAND technology have enabled higher density in more compact cases, thanks to the combination of density per unit area, the addition of layers, and an increase in the number of bits.
A key engine in promoting Flash memory power is the transition from SATA to NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express). This protocol is used by servers, storage systems and storage networks – while dramatically reducing the level of delay, and accelerating the handling of application workloads.

The world of storage is now being reshaped, thanks to a combination of a number of factors:

The number of local storage centers will increase, alongside the introduction of new architectures. Contributing to this are regulatory requirements regarding storage location, along with the growing tendency of organizations to store their own data to ensure a better level of control. New architectures such as zoned storage will help optimize disk and flash storage.

Artificial intelligence standardization will simplify storage tasks at the edge of the network. The tendency to store more workloads at the edges of the network, creates a need for appropriate storage systems capable of running analytical tasks on large amounts of data. These systems will require standardization and the possibility of integrated work – based on open architecture.

The separation between storage levels will continue and expand: storage solutions will be required to be assigned and accessible through the network weave, based on service level agreements (SLAs) defined according to the special needs of each application. The use of SSDs will be expanded to handle data that requires fast access, while the demand for ex-byte volumes in effective prices and in a flexible expansion range simultaneously accelerates the increase in the capacity of hard disks required for Big Data storage.

The web fabric will allow the unification of storage coagulation processes. Ethernet networks are becoming the “universal backbone” of data processing centers, enabling the unification of storage sharing. Composable infrastructure uses NVMe over the network fabric (NVMe-over-Fabric) to significantly improve storage, performance, and data-centered storage efficiency. They make it possible to disconnect storage from processing, and share a single repository of storage capacity and data between different applications. During 2020, there will be an increase in the use of such infrastructure.

Hard disks will continue to thrive in the environment of data processing centers. There is no substitute for their capacity and the cost of their attractive ownership. The average annual growth rate in this area is expected to be 36% (TRENDFOCUS report), while IDC predicts that in 2023 103 ZB of data will be generated, and 12 ZB will be stored – most of them at the network edges.
Hard disks and flash technologies are among the most important foundations for building a successful and secure business. Investing in comprehensive storage infrastructure will put the business in a better position, which will allow it to cope with the increase in data volumes.

* The author is the sales manager of Western Digital Israel and Turkey