5 Reasons You Should Have Centralized Data Storage

Business organizations aren’t unaware of the various advantages of centralized storage. Most businesses have already moved to flexible and scalable centralized storage systems and more are expected to follow. The cloud storage facilities have become extremely popular and taken over the previous data storage models. A recent survey found out that more than 50% of businesses have provisioned centralized storage of some sort. An equal number of corporates (around 45%), sceptic of the cloud hosting technology, haven’t completely abandoned their legacy storage systems, and deploy a combination of both cloud and conventional storage (corporates indeed know how to reap benefits of both). Most businesses aren’t aware, however, that the benefits of centralization and consolidation of information can also be extended to servers. Corporates do have the option to also pool their web servers and have a centralized management portal to manage data as they would on a centralized storage system.

The benefits of consolidation and centralization of information are so numerous that we cannot put them all in a single blog. Here are 4 reasons – and the most compelling ones – why your organization should have a system of centralized storage for servers.

Centralization is convenient

On a conventional system, where storage remains scattered instead of being huddled together as in a centralized assembly, the files are to be moved back and forth from one server to another. Centralized file sharing allows for quick and easy access to data from anywhere in the world. This relatively easy mobility and control can help organizations to enhance their workflow because the data is readily available. The fact that files are always within reach makes for a more continuous and less disruptive workflow, the Holy Grail of any business.

Reliability

It is much easier to maintain a single system however large than maintaining various smaller systems. Since a network is only as fast as its slowest member, it makes more sense to run and maintain a single network because it is relatively easier to maintain.

Distributed storage systems tend to have multiple storage nodes and more the nodes, difficult it is to predict where a failure may occur. The distributed systems are thus infamous for being highly unpredictable and erratic.

Centralized systems are more fault-tolerant than they might seem at first. Data stored on central servers may have more than one instance, for the most part on another ‘backup’ server. The backup ensures that files are available even when the servers undergo irreparable damage.

Cost-effective

Centralized systems are not just reliable but also cost-effective. They do cost more at first but save cost in the long run.

The longer you use a centralized data storage solution, the more money you will save. Conventional scattered systems take less capital to setup initially but involve high-maintenance expenditure. As we have told you, the scattered data repository is erratic and prone to error, which makes maintenance even more challenging and altogether less affordable.

Easy to upgrade

It is easier to upgrade hardware when the systems are bunched together at once place. A single system is also easier to setup and configure.

An enterprise server undergoes upgrade more often than you think. For reference, Go4hosting’s servers are so frequently upgraded that we almost have new servers every 6 months. This obviously would not have been possible had we not clustered our workstations at one place. One cannot go on endlessly changing components in a server. It makes all the sense to have your systems so near that upgradation – and maintenance – becomes more of a pleasure and less of a pain.

Security

Contrary to what most people say and think, we believe centralized components are much easier to safeguard. Think it this way. The more scattered around your servers are, the more vulnerable you will become. The logic is simple. In a distributed data repository, you will need to defend several attack points at once, while you will be defending only one in a centralized data storage system.

That centralized storage systems have only one gateway to be guarded also makes it easier to exploit. Breaking into the only entry point will give an attacker access to virtually all the data on the server which isn’t the case with scattered storage. In scattered systems, an attacker will need to break into as many gateways as there are entry points, and a breach into one of the servers won’t give away all of the data of the storage system.

Takeaway

There are endless reasons to change to centralized storage but the above five reasons sum them most. A central repository is definitely more reliable, cost-effective, and also more secure so what makes you stick to conventional storage systems, let us know in the comment section below.

Happy computing!