Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
File Storage
File size has expanded to meet the growing capacity of computing sys-
tems, storage devices, and transmission mechanisms. Individual overhead
presentation files commonly include embedded media content and graph-
ics, while databases swell to massive proportions as data warehousing and
data mining systems attempt to coordinate information and transactional
data compiled from millions of objects. Streaming media and on-demand
entertainment systems can send hours worth of audio and video content
in a single transmission, all of which must be stored for consumption at
merely human rates of review.
With multigigapixel still-image and digital high-definition video cam-
eras embedded in cell phones and watches, image data alone has expanded
enormously—and all of it may be automatically uploaded to file servers
when users synchronize their iPhones with their desktops. The prolifera-
tion of rich content can choke older storage systems unless care is taken
in planning expansion and availability updates to meet requirements that
so far have seen no upper limit in file size and complexity. Nowhere is
this more clearly evident than in research and health care networks, with
radiographic and photographic images extending resolution to micro-
scopic scales in an environment in which loss of resolution is simply not
an option and availability can literally be a matter of life and death.
Logging
Legal mandates such as HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley include requirements
for access logging and log archival for multiple years. At the same time that
such requirements are being implemented, the sheer volume of informa-
tion available for logging is expanding. Always-on, high-bandwidth con-
nections allow for constant connections by both local and remote users,
while service-oriented and distributed processing architectures mandate
process tracking in real time. E-mail and instant messaging traffic may
also require logging and archiving to meet regulatory statutes and reten-
tion mandates—and every item of spam and *LOL* text message can take
up space for years.
Logging and archival storage systems can seriously affect performance
and storage throughput, while extending capacity requirements by an
order of magnitude or more. The architect must always balance regulatory
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