

This solution is a necessity for any large company that needs to reliably and quickly access massive amounts of data. SAN gives access to large blocks of data between servers and storage devices across multiple locations. SAN solutions are a good fit for large companies and enterprises that have the space to store multiple disk arrays, switches, and servers. If your business is looking for centralized storage, remote access, file sharing, and scalability, consider utilizing a NAS solution. NAS are usually pieces of hardware fitted with multiple hard drives in a RAID configuration, and can be connected to a switch or router on a network via a network interface card. NAS allows these companies to store data in a centralized location, and can be accessed remotely from various devices on your network. Small to mid-size companies have more demanding data storage requirements than small businesses. Remote access is usually not possible with DAS. Because of the relatively cheap price and minimal space obstruction, DAS is a great choice for very small businesses with only a handful of employees. High-capacity backup hard drives, solid state drives, and optical disc drives are all examples of DAS solutions. DASĭAS solutions are typically the simplest and the cheapest. When it comes to picking a data storage solution, companies can choose from a variety of options, but the most common ones fall into three categories: Direct Attached Storage (DAS), Network Attached Storage (NAS), and Storage Area Network (SAN). There are also options to rely on the resources of other companies and store your data in the cloud. It’s big decision to make, and it’s important to weigh the pros and cons of the different methods available to you. When your business starts needing to store petabytes, exabytes, or even zettabytes of data, you’re going to need a lot of hardware. Digital storage requires physical servers, hard drives, cables, and other technology that needs to be stored. It’s important to consider not only budget restraints, but physical limitations as well. The jump from small business to mid-size and enterprise-level business is a large one, particularly when it comes to data storage needs. There are also services like Google Drive and Dropbox that let you store files online. For small businesses, it can be enough to store files, images, or other important documents on CD’s, USB drives, and low-capacity external hard drives. Although storage capacity for enterprises is negligible until we start talking about solutions with massive amounts of storage, small businesses have more freedom. But the average consumer might not realize that every single day, the world is creating over 2.5 quintillion bytes of data, with most of that data being created in the past few years.Īs mentioned above, a bit is the smallest possible data storage unit of measurement.
Computer memory chart images portable#
Large floppy disks have been replaced by tiny memory cards, USB drives, and a variety of portable storage devices. Today, consumers buying a TB of external hard drive storage for their personal laptops can store 100,000 that amount. Technology has evolved so rapidly in the past few decades that the biggest hard drives thirty years ago would barely be able to store more than than a couple of modern MP3 files. But a s the need for greater storage increases with the volume of data over time, we will inevitably develop the necessary vocabulary. This volume of data is really only relevant to tech giants and massive corporations. Once the numbers get high enough, it can be difficult to realistically visualize how much data we’re talking about. Above terabyte, we have petabyte (PB), exabyte (EB), zettabyte (ZB), and yottabyte (YB). This means that you could keep adding more prefixes to talk about more and more data. All memory storage is expressed in terms of bytes, so although bits might be the foundation upon which data storage is built, bytes are the building blocks that truly denote the usability of any one storage solution.īecause storage is expressed in terms of bytes, all greater units are typically referred to by their shortened names. Bytes are used to store a single character whether’s it a letter, number, or punctuation. When 8 bits are combined, you get a byte. These binary digits are known as bits, and are the smallest possible unit for data storage.

Computers work in binary digits, combining 0’s and 1’s in countless patterns. Data Storage Units Chart: From Smallest to Largest Unitīits are the basic building blocks of not only data storage, but all computers.
