Edge Storage Services: All You Need to Know

Providers for storage services are releasing better and quicker data storage options every year. Our electronic devices produce enormous volumes of data every second. An estimated 2.5 exabytes of data are generated every day, including movies, sensor data, postings, and emails. Because most devices can only retain a certain amount of data, a method to save those excess bytes must be created to minimize data loss.

This information, whether it's raw or processed, ought to be collected, stored, evaluated, and analyzed for future use and auditability. 

Classifying Edge Data

Edge data can be classified into system data and user data. Sometimes logging data is arguably considered a type of edge data. Any existing logging service will or should be integrated with an edge solution. Edge systems may save logs on edge devices with smaller storage capacities or, in many situations, no storage at all. Unless these gadgets are regularly monitored and maintained or alternative logging storage is established, there is a significant risk that lower-capacity devices may rapidly run out of local storage with logs and other data. Therefore, remote logging services are so necessary.

Most enterprise data classification and storage technologies can assist in identifying, tagging, and cataloging data. Data categorization is vital for triaging, which is the process of deciding whether to save, discard, transfer to pre-processing, or archive data.

Distributed Data

A distributed approach is used in the storage of massive volumes of data on the cloud. Rather than keeping data in a single location, the distributed approach stores data periodically across numerous physical computers known as nodes, which might be in the same area or even on other continents. Distributed storage systems have numerous benefits over centralized storage systems and may provide any of the three forms of storage: block, file, or object.

In distributed cloud storage service, satellite locations operate near the edge, where the data is created. This technique helps meet the objectives of low latency and data sovereignty. Because cloud object storage or databases are physically stored on-premises, compliance and other security needs are simpler to implement.

Edge Storage Options

There are many available edge storage choices and even more things to consider while choosing a storage service. Sometimes, the industry dictates the cloud deployment paradigm to be used. Highly regulated sectors and defense-related sectors usually prohibit the usage of the public cloud and place limits on where sensitive data, such as hospital records or financial transactions, is hosted.

Some businesses will handle their data on their own, while others may choose managed data storage services over a hybrid cloud topology. Storage can be situated onsite or offsite, depending on the needs of the firm and the service provider chosen. The major storage consumption models include:

   • Existing or new on-premises storage systems
   • Public-cloud-provided storage
   • Container-native storage (CNS) and software-defined storage (SDS) solutions