- HDDs Still the Mainstay Media
- Total Data Storage Rising to Zettabyte Scales in 2012
- Greater Awareness of Disaster Recovery Needs
- Even Skinnier Hard Drives on the Way
- More Storage Tiering Coming to Data Centers
- Solid-State Drives Getting More Play in 2012
- More Devices for More Storage Needs
- Self-Encryption Becomes More Widespread
- Cloud IT Focuses on Scalability, Flexibility
- Shared Storage to Play Increasing Role for SMBs
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.