Archiving holds the key to storage savings
BridgeHead Software, based in Ashstead, Surrey, has released the
results of recently conducted research that shows proper archiving could
reduce the amount of data contained on primary storage systems, to such
an extent that no new capacity would be needed for at least a year.
The research shows that 60% of IT directors estimate they could
remove 30% or more of the data they retain on primary storage, if they
could only identify which data is no longer required. Given that, on
average, storage volumes are growing by 30% per year, a ‘spring clean’
of this size would eliminate the need for new storage purchases for a
comparable period of time.
According to Tony Cotterill, Managing Director of BridgeHead Software
(pictured): “Archiving tools can allow you to manage where information
is held subject to your own predefined rules. For example, it is
critical that digital images from a PACS system are held on a live
system while the patient is being treated. But once the patient has
recovered, they could be accessed from less expensive storage media such
as Serial ATA — if the images are over a certain age, say three months
old or three months after the patient is discharged.”
The BridgeHead survey also revealed that 22% of businesses consider
compliance or corporate governance to be a primary driver for archiving,
and that the majority don’t have an effective data migration solution.
Additionally, 28% of respondents admitted to doing no archiving at all
and, of those that did, less than a fifth use an automated archiving
tool.
Cotterill concludes: “Only by using intelligent, integrated archiving
of images and other information can hospitals hope to maintain control
of their IT spend in the years to come.”
Source: bjhc&im December 2005
Disclaimer
|