Data storage is one of the most important aspects of any IT infrastructure, and cloud-native environments are no different.
- 47% of enterprises cite data growth as one of their top three challenges.
- Managing storage growth is the dominant pain point for 79% of IT professionals.
- Data storage requirements are growing at 40% per year.
Cloud-native environments are quickly becoming the go-to choice for corporations of all sizes regarding scalability, flexibility, and cost savings. And yet, with these opportunities come unique challenges such as security, governance, and integration that need to be managed effectively to get the most out of the platform–especially when working with mission-critical data.
If you’re an IT professional or leader in the cloud-native environment, you’ve had to confront the data storage issue. Finding a robust and reliable solution for storing your important business assets can be challenging and time-consuming – but it doesn’t have to be.
In this article, we’ll share our know-how on creating and managing a unique data storage system that will serve your enterprise needs now and into the future. So, stick around–you’ll leave equipped with knowledge on how to build your own robust environment and tips for getting past those common kinks so that nothing gets in the way of achieving success!
Be Honest About Your Data Storage Requirements
Defining the requirements for your data storage is an important part of maintaining a secure and efficient system.
The process begins with identifying the types of data that need to be stored, ranging from structured or unstructured information such as customer records, financial transaction records, confidential documents, or any other form of digital information. Once the data type has been identified, it is necessary to consider what techniques or systems should be used for storage and processing. These could include cloud-based solutions, on-premises hardware, virtualization technology, or software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications.
You also need to consider the size and complexity of your data. Smaller datasets can be stored in traditional relational databases like MySQL, while larger datasets may require a more sophisticated solution such as Apache Cassandra or Google Cloud Bigtable. Next, you’ll need to consider how often your data will be accessed and whether it needs to be accessed from multiple locations. A distributed storage solution such as Apache Cassandra may be the best option if your data is updated regularly and needs to be available from various places.
Planning and Designing Your Data Storage Infrastructure
Planning and Designing Your Data Storage Infrastructure is critical for any organization. To ensure that data is appropriately stored, secure, and accessible, organizations must create an infrastructure that meets their needs. You’ve got to get creative when planning and designing your data storage infrastructure. How do you maximize performance while creating secure backup? You’ll want a balance of cost-effectiveness and storage capacity. But no worries – with some preparation and technology prowess, you can create an infrastructure that works for you. After all, multiple types of data must always be available quickly and safely for your business to operate optimally.
When planning the architecture of your data storage system, here are some questions to ask yourself:
How Often Do I Need to Access My Data?
38% of public cloud storage users keep inactive data in the cloud.It’s important to consider the frequency at which you need to access the data and its sensitivity and criticality. If the data is highly sensitive or mission-critical, it is recommended that regular backups are made and stored in a secure location with frequent updates. Operational purposes data should be stored in an easily accessible format so it can be accessed quickly and regularly. Lastly, if you need to access your data infrequently, then long-term archiving solutions should be put into place to store your data securely while minimizing any retrieval time associated with accessing the information when needed.
What are my Security and Scalability Requirements?
This includes choosing the appropriate hardware and software solutions and developing a network architecture that ensures effective communication between computing resources. Additionally, organizations must consider security protocols that suit their environment to protect their data from unauthorized access or misuse. Organizations should also consider future scalability when designing their data storage infrastructure to accommodate increased demand should it arise.
Which Service Provider Should I choose?
The next step in planning and designing your data storage infrastructure involves selecting one or more service models depending on the organization’s needs and budget restrictions. Examples of service models include public cloud computing services such as Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure; virtual private cloud (VPC) services; private cloud services such as OpenStack; or hybrid cloud services, which combine public cloud resources with existing internal IT infrastructures to meet specific organizational goals.
So, roll up your sleeves and get ready for intelligent system tweaking – now is the time to create an optimized data storage infrastructure!
Securing Your Data Storage Infrastructure
At the heart of any effective plan for securing data storage infrastructure is understanding the different types of threats that can affect an organization’s data assets. These may include external attackers, malware, ransomware, internal users with malicious intent, or even natural disasters or accidents such as fires or floods. Understanding the different threat scenarios allows organizations to develop a tailored security plan that specifically addresses each type of risk.
Encrypt Data at Rest and in Motion
Data encryption is a vital component of any secure data storage infrastructure. Encryption algorithms are used to scramble the contents of a file or database so that it cannot be read without having the appropriate decryption key. This protects against malicious actors trying to gain access to sensitive information by bypassing authentication protocols and gaining unauthorized access to data files.
Additionally, encryption can help prevent accidental leakage of confidential information by ensuring that if it does make its way out into the public domain, it is unreadable and, therefore, useless to attackers.
Protect Sensitive Data Against Leakage
IT teams should adopt a data loss prevention (DLP) system to detect the unauthorized transmission of confidential information such as customer records, financial data, intellectual property, or other proprietary information. The system can be configured to recognize patterns in data transfers and alert administrators if it detects any potential threats. The system can also be configured to prevent the transfer of sensitive data by blocking specific websites or emails containing suspicious content.
Implement Authentication Systems
Authentication systems are also critical for protecting stored data assets. Authentication protocols require users attempting access to enter credentials such as usernames and passwords to prove their identity before being allowed access to sensitive information. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) takes this process further by requiring additional forms of identification, such as biometric scans or token codes, in addition to traditional username/password combinations, for greater levels of protection against potential intruders attempting access with stolen credentials.
Install Physical Security
It’s also essential for organizations to implement physical security measures around their data storage infrastructure to protect against unauthorized entry into restricted areas where sensitive information is housed. This could include controlling access using card readers and CCTV surveillance systems, using reinforced locks on server equipment cabinets, and designating specific personnel with authorized clearance levels required for accessing certain resources within the network environment.
Data storage is only as secure as its weakest link, so knowing where those weak points are will give you confidence in your project in the future. Stepping back and defining the rules of engagement for data security and overall data storage may sound like it could be more entertaining, but it will save you time (and money!) in the long run.
Creating a Cloud-Native Data Storage Infrastructure
If you’re ready to get serious about your data storage infrastructure, it’s time to buckle down and roll up your sleeves. It won’t happen in a snap, but don’t worry — before you know it, you’ll be ready to store enormous amounts of data without having to worry about buffering or bandwidth issues. After all, who says infrastructure building can’t be fun? Enjoy the process as you schmeer some technology glue around and put together the pieces to make your storage dreams come true!
For a cloud-native environment, you’ll need to use open-source tools like Apache Cassandra and ZooKeeper. Apache Cassandra is a distributed NoSQL database that is well-suited for storing large amounts of data in a highly available manner. Here are some of the steps involved in creating a cloud-native data storage system:
- Start by selecting the desired cloud storage technology for your data. This can include block, object, or file storage options such as Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage, Google Cloud Storage and Rackspace Cloud Files. Once you have chosen the storage system that best fits your application requirements, you will need to configure it with your cloud environment.
- Create a secure connection between your on-premises resources and the cloud storage service by setting up a virtual private cloud (VPC) or configuring a public IP address. Configure Network Access Control Lists (ACLs) to restrict access to specific IP addresses and ports to ensure that data is transferred over a secure network connection.
- Set up the necessary authorization settings to ensure that only authorized users can access the data stored in the cloud.This might involve setting up user accounts with different permission levels or using identity management solutions like Active Directory or LDAP for authentication and authorization purposes.
- Design an architecture suitable for storing large amounts of data in the cloudwhile also considering scalability needs to handle future increases in demand. Depending on the type of data being stored and its size, different databases may be required, such as NoSQL databases like MongoDB or relational databases like Oracle Database Exadata Cloud Service.
- Set up an automated backup process for regularly backing up valuable data stored in the cloud to be easily recovered in case of disaster or other unexpected events. Data synchronization should also be used to keep multiple data sets updated with any changes made in real time across different regions and locations worldwide, ensuring high availability and reliability.
- Monitor usage regularly to measure performance levels and identify potential problems associated with storage capacity constraints or latency issues caused by variations in network traffic conditions across different regions/locations worldwide, where applicable. You should also monitor security threats from malicious actors trying to gain unauthorized access to your cloud service.
- Finally, it would be best if you implemented complex security measures such as encryption at rest, encryption of network traffic, user authentication, key management, vulnerability scanning, patching, intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS), etc., to protect valuable data stored within your cloud environment as well as any administrative activities are done by users/administrators who manage it.
Maintaining and Troubleshooting Your Data Storage Infrastructure
Maintaining and troubleshooting your data storage infrastructure is like playing a real-life game of Jenga: one wrong move and everything comes tumbling down. Constant savvy monitoring and preventive maintenance are crucial to ensuring that your data storage infrastructure remains stable and secure. Put yourself in the driver’s seat by establishing preventative care plans that include regular system health checks and tests, firmware updates, configuration changes, etc. Keep it running smoothly with reliable and tested backup solutions. If a problem occurs, the show must go on! Respond quickly and proactively to keep those pesky computer bugs at bay while minimizing downtime so there will be no tears when you come to take away their toys!
Maintaining and troubleshooting data storage infrastructure requires a suite of technology solutions to keep the system performing optimally and detect and address any problems that may arise. The most common technologies used for this purpose are RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks), SAN (Storage Area Network) systems, NAS (Network Attached Storage) systems, and backup software.
RAID
RAID is typically used as a form of data redundancy to ensure data availability if one or more disks fail. It works by writing the same data to multiple drives in parallel, ensuring that the other drives will still have the required information even if a drive fails. Different RAID levels can be used to optimize performance and provide varying levels of protection; these include RAID 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Storage Area Network
SANs are also commonly used for highly available storage networks due to their ability to separate physical hardware from logical partitions/volumes. They allow administrators to configure different types of virtualized storage across multiple disk arrays without requiring them to move physical hard disks. Additionally, this type of system provides high scalability because it allows for shared access across various hosts without reconfiguring anything else on the network.
Network Attached Storage
In many respects, NAS systems are similar to SANs; however, they are designed explicitly for file-level access over local area networks rather than block-level access over wide area networks. This solution is usually preferred when storing larger files, such as multimedia or virtual machine images that require high throughput speeds. It is also beneficial when dealing with more users who simultaneously need access to the same files over a LAN or WAN connection.
Backup Solutions
Finally, backup software is essential for keeping an up-to-date copy of all stored data should disaster strike and make it impossible for users or administrators to access it directly from its native location on the network. Many backup solutions are available these days that offer incremental backups as well as complete system restores; these solutions often include cloud-based options, which further increase reliability since it ensures that copies of your data will be kept offsite at remote locations in case something happens locally that renders your primary storage inaccessible or destroyed altogether.
Wrap Up
Now that we’ve gone through phases of data storage requirements, planning, designing, building, and maintaining, you should have a much better understanding of how to approach this important task for your business. Remember that choosing the right solution for your needs is critical to ensure optimal performance and accessibility to your data.
MSys Technologies’ Managed Storage Services enable your IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives while our engineers meet your end-to-end storage demands. The experts at MSys Technologies can help your business to simplify complex and heterogeneous storage environments. Our scalable data storage infrastructure ensures that your company has the winning edge over your competitors.