The Top Data Storage Vendors

Data Storage - Emerging trends and top vendors.

By Meenu Gupta
Updated: May 09, 2012

The Top Data Storage Vendors

Data storage networking companies are ranked near the top of Forbes' list of fastest-growing tech companies. But what is Data Storage and why is it getting increasingly crucial?

Out of sight, out of mind might work well when getting rid of unrequired household objects, but not with old computer files that may be needed anytime in future. As storage utilization grows with each passing year, Enterprise Storage Management (ESM) has become an indispensable requirement for IT organizations to survive the information glut. Enterprise, small business and even home media data is growing exponentially; hence the need of timely restoration of access to data is becoming increasingly critical. Network attached storage has therefore become extremely popular. Traditional file servers are unable to keep up with the expanded use of videos, graphics and pdf files. That is where network attached storage comes handy with its versatile storage options.

Buyers seek quality service that complements their business while providing a safe, confidential and independent secure data storage management solution. They require secure data storage that saves time and money. Mirroring helps maintain multiple copies of data and may be done both locally and remotely. In case the disk hardware fails, the system can continue to process or quickly recover data. Database tables/indexes are typically stored on hard disk in one of many forms, ordered or unordered. Vendors also buy or lease storage capacity from hosting companies as networked online storage or popularly called Cloud storage. In Cloud storage software and information is provided to computers and other devices via internet. Data is stored in virtualized pools of storage that are generally hosted by third parties.

EMC Corporation, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Dell, NetApp and Hitachi Data System are the familiar names when we mention the top current data storage vendors. The top data storage vendors offer many options to the companies for bringing new information technology into their data centers. Companies can either acquire all the storage, servers, networking and software from different vendors and put it all together. Another option is to buy one big appliance of a fixed configuration.

Dell offers a wide range of competent storage arrays that include Direct Attached Storage; Server Internal Storage; Storage Area Network; Disk Backup and Tape Backup Object Storage Networking.

EMC, the largest provider of data storage platforms in the world is now offering a third option that combines the best of both of these aforementioned options. It is commonly called VSPEX or EMC's integration with Fully Automated Storage Tiering architecture (FAST). It is paving the way for intelligently placing the data at the most appropriate location in the storage hierarchy. Depending on the requirement and budget, network storage has varied options of 2, 4 or 6 drive bay systems and compatible features for homes, small businesses and enterprises.

HP offers a variety of data storage options including online storage, converged storage products, solutions besides services for businesses. HP's Data Protector software offers automated backup and recovery software for single-server to enterprise environments.

Hitachi Data Systems software provides varied integrated data protection solutions. Hitachi's Global Embedded Data De-duplication results in cost efficient scaling. Its virtualized data protection environments provide multiple data recovery options.

IBM offers efficient Disk storage solutions according to budget and requirements, linear tape file system and built-in solid state drive (SSD) is provided by its unique V7000 Unified storage system. NetApp E-Series Storage Technology is designed to handle demanding performance while maintaining uninterrupted system uptime. Choosing a reliable data center can be challenging for business technology leaders. The American Institute of CPAs is developing a series of services for data centers that can be helpful in making a confident choice. These documents known as Service Organization Control (SOC) reports making sure the vendors use data centers that have passed the proper audit engagements.

With the advent of iPhone and iPad, and the need to track and store communications to meet regulatory requirements, the amount of data created by businesses and research institutes continues to increase exponentially. Information overload if unrestrained can take a toll on companies' bottom lines. This has created a demand for data storage that is greater than ever before causing the data storage industry to grow at a healthy rate and mitigate the effects of infoglut.

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