When the clouds are small: High-performance storage

/ photo Pete Birkinshaw CC

Not so long ago we asked representatives of Russian IT companies what data they consider possible to entrust to cloud services . As a result, some of them went a little further and talked about devices for data backup (for example, Time Capsule ). We decided to continue the topic and talk about interesting high-performance and capacious storage devices.

ZDNet columnist Adrian Kingsley-Hughes cites VisionTek USB Pocket SSD as one of the most interesting examples of such devices, which looks exactly like any other high-capacity flash drive with a USB 3.0 connector, but in fact it is a portable SSD-drive with a high-performance SandForce controller. Read speeds up to 455 MB / s, write speeds up to 440 MB / s.

The solution to the problem of storing a significant amount of data with minimal space costs began to be combined with the provision of additional features for Smart TV, tablets and car audio systems. The cost of such a disk with 64 gigabytes of data is only 800 rubles (on Yandex.Market).

Patrick Moorehead, an analyst in this area, commented on Wired that high-performance and compact storage devices can be used to work with almost any localized smart home solution that does not have to transfer large amounts of data to the cloud. An example is Samsung's 16 TB SSD using 256 Gbps NAND flash .

If we talk about amateur RAID-storage, it is worth noting the external storage ThunderBay 4, which is equipped with two high-speed Thunderbolt 2 ports. Using it, it is possible to create RAID 0, 1, 4, 5, 1 + 0 arrays with a capacity of 4 to 24 terabytes. Special software will help you feel control over the situation, with the help of which you can monitor performance and receive email alerts.

A more modest counterpart from Western Digital, the My Passport Pro comes with Thunderbolt and a cable. It includes two drives that can be configured in RAID 0 or RAID 1 (depending on which is more important - speed or data duplication). Another interesting option for a home hub is the portable Lexar Professional Workflow storage drive. It will provide flexible options for storing and backing up data.

Participants in topical conferences such as Storage Visions say they prefer to keep their local storage “under control,” which entails corresponding requirements. Today it is not quite easy to satisfy them, and industrial-grade disks with increased capacity and performance are used. Of course, it cannot be otherwise - the requirements for local, corporate or cloud storages around the world continue to develop.

One of the main problems with data storage devices is the possibility of their loss. Often it is not even the fact of loss that worries, but the realization that the information is stored without any encryption, and getting access to it will not be difficult. Specialized software can solve such a problem only in those cases when they do not forget to use it.

In this situation, “built-in” encryption capabilities are much preferable. The IronKey device not only uses 256-bit AES hardware encryption, but is designed to cope with powerful attacks, and the waterproof and extremely rugged case will help reduce the risks of adverse physical impact.

PS We try to share not only our own experience in working on the service for providing 1cloud virtual infrastructure , but also to talk about various studies and innovations in related fields of knowledge.

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