Much like the age-old conundrum of which came first, the chicken or the egg, IT managers are daily faced with a similar problem when considering storage needs: Which is more important, speed or cost?
A strong case can be made for both. Up front, in this speed-obsessed world we inhabit - where everyone wants everything yesterday if possible, speed has its proponents. If someone can get to the data they need immediately, they’re all for it. Yet such speed comes with a price.
On the the other hand, if a user has some patience, a storage option that delivers what’s needed at a much lower cost but not quite as quickly, can also be an enticing alternative.
Those were the two points of view put forth in a recent blog post by Jeff Hudgins, VP of Marketing for UNICOM (News - Alert) Engineering, a leading provider of purpose-built application platforms, appliances and lifecycle deployment services for software developers and OEMs serving storage, security and communications markets worldwide.
“When you think about your computer system, the chances are good that you aren’t thinking in terms of storage technologies like 12Gb/s SAS or 16Gb/s Fiber Channel (FC); you’re probably thinking about your operating system, or your software solution,” Hudgins wrote. “It has become a trend to rely on cloud-based data solutions, which leads to a lack of attention given to the system’s hardware.”
Still, it was pointed out that understanding your storage solutions is vital if you want to keep your hardware and software running at its peak potential. “Both of these new storage protocols will allow a much better match to solid-state drives and together can bring amazing performance for IO intensive solutions such as big data, data analysis, and high transactional solutions,” Hudgins noted.
While SAS (News - Alert) storage has been around for some time, new 12 GB/s SAS drives can improve performance and create new performance capabilities for your solution. For those unaware, 12Gb/s SAS is the third-generation of the SAS protocol, doubling its speed from the previous generation’s 6GB/s and carrying over the ability to support SATA drives as well.
Still some have that ‘need for speed.’ As such, “16GB/s FC storage may be the best solution to maximize productivity, but 12GB/S SAS could be a viable alternative where a little less performance for a significant cost reduction could make it easier to implement,” Hudgins said.
Is there one right choice? Of course not; it all depends on your specific needs. But rather than just trying to muddle through, it’s smart to join forces with a partner that can help you find the best hardware for your solution and integrate directly into your system. If you’re looking for such a partner to keep your business ahead of the crowd, no matter what your hardware requirements may be, contact UNICOM Engineering at [email protected]. It’s a good bet that your competition already has.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi