Industry Verticals Tackle Unstructured Data

Convergence: The Catalyst to Transform Scientific Research

By G C Network | January 7, 2015

by Melvin Greer  Greer Institute for Leadership and Innovation A new transformative research approach is gaining global attention and adoption. The scientific opportunities enabled by convergence—the coming together of insights…

Cloud Computing Promises: Fact or Fiction

By G C Network | December 29, 2014

Cloud computing is currently making information technology headlines, and vendors are aggressively promoting the many benefits it can provide organizations. This White Paper addresses the claims and questions that are…

Super Smart Person’s Guide to Cloud Computing – San Diego

By G C Network | December 24, 2014

We are offering a fun and educational event just about the cloud. This session will help CEOs, Directors, Managers, and Dilberts learn what the heck the cloud is all about.…

A Managed Services Business Owners Lament: A talk with Joe D.

By G C Network | December 22, 2014

 by Kevin L. Jackson A few days ago I received a call from a small business owner asking if I would meet him for coffee.  He wanted to run some…

Technology and the Evolving Workforce

By G C Network | December 17, 2014

by Melvin Greer Managing Director Greer Institute for Leadership and Innovation According to a Greer Institute Workforce and Talent study, the 2020 workforce is both “the most educated and culturally…

Security attacks and countermeasures

By G C Network | December 14, 2014

by Sandra K. Johnson   Cyber security is rapidly becoming a significant issue in the C-suite as well as the population at large. The results of Dell’s Global Technology Adoption…

ITIL in 7 Minutes!

By G C Network | December 9, 2014

What is ITIL & how can it benefit your organization? Learn the answers to these questions plus gain an understanding of the ITIL Service Lifecycle in this video.  Download a…

How Resilient are FedRAMP Clouds Anyway?

By G C Network | December 8, 2014

By Jodi Kohut For the uninitiated, FedRAMP is the Federal Risk Authorizationand Management Program, a government-wide program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for…

Federal Tech Talk: Cloud Transition Challenges in Government and Industry

By G C Network | December 2, 2014

Cloud Computing is revolutionizing today’s business marketplace. While “learning the art of the possible”, corporate executives today are struggling with the business and security challenges associate with this important transition. Just…

Cloud, Mobile, Social and Cyber: 2015 Predictions That Will Rock The World (AGAIN!)

By G C Network | December 1, 2014

2015 PREDICTION TIME!! The worlds of cloud, mobile, social and cyber will continue expanding, permuting and recombining. Their individual effect on society and commerce will become moot as these technological…

 

Organizations around the world are struggling to cope with the current data explosion. A vital characteristic of this data is that it is unstructured and represents things like email, images, and videos.  Storage of this form of data is typically in an object format which differs significantly from the database norm. Databases housed data grows very slowly because most of it is structured. Object storage formats are now being used to optimize access to large amounts of non-transactional files across a growing number of vertical markets. These markets include:

 

  • Media and Entertainment – video Pre- through Post-Production which requires secure distribution and hassle-free scalability on a mix of standard hardware
  • Retail Consumers – HTTP accessible Photo and Video Sharing that offloads SQL databases to custom metadata which significantly reduces web applications complexity and latency
  • Research (images, raw datasets) – Which requires robust multi-tenancy for shared access to large datasets and integrated metadata customization.
  • Digital asset management (unstructured files) –  A global scale-out storage repository with integrations to Alfresco and other S3-based asset management solutions.

Companies in every one of these markets face many storage challenges where traditional file-based storage systems tend to fall short.

 
One more critical example lies in the healthcare industry where PACS [picture archiving and communication system] systems store images derived from MRIs. In most cases, law or by policy requires retention of this data for up to 30 years. Although the customer may be charged for the image when taken, the healthcare provider is responsible for the ongoing cost of storage.
 
Another crucial industry vertical that is feeling the data storage squeeze is law enforcement. Many agencies are now using cloud computing services for delivering mission-critical information to officers in the field. Standard applications include digital video evidence storage, management, and cataloging; crime mapping and analytics; records management; and backup for disaster recovery. Mike Donlan, Microsoft Vice president of State and Local Government Engineering Sales estimates that the average United States city or county now owns between four or five petabytes of data, with that requirement expected to double every two years. 

 

Object storage is perfect for tackling these unstructured storage business requirements because: 
  • Scalability – Object storage does not face the same file count and capacity limits of file-based NAS systems.
  • Interoperability – Object storage has better interoperability with various protocols with the flexibility needed to move data across a global namespace.
  • Data Backup – Continuous data backup protection that reduces the risk of data loss and can reduce data restoration time after a system failure.
  • Pay-as-you-grow pricing – Avoidance of substantial capital expenditures for storage acquisition through a pay-as-you-go economic model.
  • Searchability – More effective and efficient use of metadata

 

According to PC World, one of the more exciting object storage providers is Wasabi Technologies. To meet these growing industry vertical challenges, they are offering an object storage solution that offers six times the performance of Amazon’s S3 service at one-fifth the price. This startup’s service is available globally and claim that their single pool of capacity can deliver primary, secondary or archive data at a sustained-read speed of 1.3GB per second, versus 191MB per second at Amazon. To support law enforcement needs, Wasabi has deployed in fully secure and CJIS-compliant redundant data centers. Wasabi storage services were awarded the official CJIS ACE Compliance Seal by Diverse Computing, a trusted third-party law enforcement agency solution provider with deep CJIS audit and compliance expertise.  Enterprise Strategy Group analyst SteveDuplessie sees this as an ideal option for enterprises looking to use cloud storage as a much cheaper alternative than traditional storage options.

( This content is being syndicated through multiple channels. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of GovCloud Network, GovCloud Network Partners or any other corporation or organization.)

 

Cloud Musings

( Thank you. If you enjoyed this article, get free updates by email or RSS – © Copyright Kevin L. Jackson 2017)

Follow me at https://Twitter.com/Kevin_Jackson
Posted in

G C Network