Types of Data Storage
Should I store my data in the cloud, locally, or on DVD?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of how data should be stored. Most people will opt for a mix of storage types depending on what they need from their data.
The big questions are:
- How often do you need to update/access your data?
- How sensitive is your data?
- What is your data storage budget?
Cloud Storage
Cloud storage has been marketed as a panacea to all your storage needs. The reality is lot more complex. For example sensitive data should always be encrypted before sending it to a cloud provider to mitigate the risk of unauthorized access. Additionally cloud storage is usually quite expensive.
PROS
- High Availability: Cloud storage makes it easy to retrieve your data from any device with internet access.
- Disaster Resilience: Providers generally distribute your data across multiple geographic locations, mitigating the risk of data loss in a localized disaster.
CONS
- Cost: Keeping data in a highly available state is expensive. Even low-cost providers can charge as much as $75 per TB per year, more than 10x what you'd be paying for local storage options.
- Trust: Cloud providers have full access to the data you give to them. If they play fast and loose with your data, you're the one at risk.
- Cyber Attacks: Cloud providers are an appealing centralized target for people looking to steal or destroy data.
- Network Limits: Storing and retrieving large amounts (more than 1TB) of data is usually not feasible due to network limitations.
Which Data Should I Store in the Cloud?
Cloud storage is an excellent choice for data that needs to be accessed frequently across multiple devices, but given its cost and security profile you should aim to minimize the amount of data stored in the cloud.
Local Drives
Local drives have gotten very cheap, with 4TB conventional magnetic disk drives going for less than $100 and having an expected lifetime of more than 5 years. That's less than $5 per TB per year. They are also extremely fast by design, meaning you can access and update your data orders of magnitube faster than the other options I've listed.
However local drives are probably the most susceptible to data loss. It is very important to back up important data to other storage options on a regular basis.
PROS
- Cost: Local drives are usually the cheapest option available for storage.
- Speed: The read and write speeds of SATA and NVMe drives are fast, usually only noticeable for very large files.
- Control: Because you have full control of your hardware, you can choose how to store your data.
CONS
- Fire and Flood: Hard drives generally don't survive common residential disasters.
- Cyber Attacks: If a malicious actor gets control of your computer, they can easily modify or destroy your data.
- Mismanagement: Mistakes happen. Losing your data due to an accidental wrong command is the most common form of data loss.
- Power: Hard drives start to undergo bit rot after a couple of months without power. They need to be connected to a running system to mitigate data loss. This makes them more susceptible to all of the issues above.
Which Data Should I Store on Local Drives?
Local drives are best for large files that are accessed very frequently, such as those used by media editing software. If you are a creative who is working with large files, a proper local drive setup is a must.
Optical Media
Short of etching symbols onto granite, optical media like DVDs probably provide the most enduring form of data storage. DVDs can store about 5GB of data for at least 5 years for $0.20, or less than $8 per TB per year. There is also a close cousin of the DVD called an MDISK, which researchers expect to store data without corruption for more than one thousand years.
PROS
- Durability: DVDs or MDISKS stored in a fireproof and waterproof safe should survive a typical house fire or flood. They are not susceptible to magnetic storms or EMP weapons.
- Security: Unless someone has physical access to your disks, there is no way for them to steal or modify your data.
CONS
- Hardware: Storing and retrieving data on optical media requires a DVD drive, which aren't as common as they used to be.
- Complexity: Reading from and writing to optical media requires some understanding of various tools like ISO 9660 file systems.
- Loss: Losing your optical disks means data loss, unless disks have been properly replicated and stored in multiple locations.
- Speed: Opical disks are much slower than magnetic disk and solid state drives.
Which Data Should I Store on Optical Media?
Optical media is best for sensitive data that needs to be stored for a long time. Due to its slow read speed, this medium is only appropriate for data that does not need to accessed often. A few examples are backups of family photo albums, private financial records, or records of personal correspondences.
Conclusion
Different types of storage provide different properties. The right storage solution will generally involve multiple types of storage, like keeping commonly used files on local drives and cloud storage while regularly backing up critical data to optical media in case of disaster.
Need more help? I provide both storage consulting and data archival services. Please get in touch!