Data Storage: 10 Storage Technology Predictions From Toshiba for 2012

HDDs Still the Mainstay Media

Spinning-disk hard drives will continue to be the mainstay of the storage industry for the foreseeable future, based on the growth of data and the petabytes of capacity only HDDs can provide.

Total Data Storage Rising to Zettabyte Scales in 2012

The amount of content created and replicated in 2012 will exceed 2 zettabytes (2 trillion gigabytes).

Greater Awareness of Disaster Recovery Needs

Recent natural disasters in Southeast Asia-namely, flooding in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam-will drive increased awareness of the need for backup and disaster recovery for businesses and consumers.

Even Skinnier Hard Drives on the Way

Laptop manufacturers will incorporate more 7mm z-height HDDs to support thin and light notebook PCs.

More Storage Tiering Coming to Data Centers

Enterprise data centers will expand their use of storage tiers to accommodate big data growth, control operating costs, and build more flexible and resilient IT infrastructures.

Solid-State Drives Getting More Play in 2012

Consumer SSD adoption will continue to expand and earn a place in the highest-performance segments of consumer PCs.

More Devices for More Storage Needs

External storage demand will continue to expand to provide backup solutions for many devices and as "off-board" storage for the plethora of limited-storage devices, such as media tablets.

Self-Encryption Becomes More Widespread

Protecting private data remains a major concern and the use of self-encrypting storage will expand to enable a more seamless approach to safeguarding privacy throughout the data's lifecycle.

Cloud IT Focuses on Scalability, Flexibility

The still-emerging uses for cloud computing in IT will continue to focus on flexibility and scalability with virtualized shared storage at the core of cloud architecture and value delivery.

Shared Storage to Play Increasing Role for SMBs

SMBs will implement shared storage to help access data faster and keep their businesses running more efficiently.