Faster, Smoother, Cheaper Backups
In addition to being super-sized, video data is unique in a second way: these files are static. While users may clip pieces of these files to make new files, the original files aren't modified. For this reason, they can create an unnecessary burden in the backup process.
Smart, incremental backup technologies will avoid backing up these files, but when you need to do a full backup, these large static files will get copied – over and over again, using lots of bandwidth and storage. Moreover, unless a file is an exact copy of a prior video, these files can't benefit from data deduplication, but their volume and capacity will consume compute resources as the deduplication process attempts to do its (fruitless) job. Meanwhile, other non-video files will be waiting to be protected.
This challenge is exacerbated by video's long useful life. Video data is often high value, causing it to be saved for years. As a first step, simply identifying this data and segregating it from normal backups will have a strong positive impact on backup schedules and costs. In addition, moving it to specialty storage will provide the greatest benefits.
Video-optimized storage is architected with smart metadata that only stores copies of new versions as files, groupings of files, or directories are added. This model avoids the need for a traditional file walk process and optimizes the capacity of protected storage. As a result, backups of all data will operate more smoothly.
5 Ways to Avoid Video Challenges with Specialty Storage
5 Ways to Avoid Video Challenges with Specialty Storage
Video is everywhere. Mobile, analytics and the Internet of Things are driving exponential growth of video datasets. Business Insider reported that 35 billion video ads were viewed last December, representing year-over-year growth of over 100 percent.
Because video has the highest click-through rate of all digital ad formats, marketing departments are rushing to generate video sales calls to more than a billion smart devices. Video is also increasingly used for public safety, as concerns about security drive major growth in surveillance. In short, virtually every industry is seeing growth in video data to some degree.
This creates a big problem for data managers because video data storage challenges management in four ways:
- Performance requirements of video are not served well by traditional storage architectures
- Rapid video growth can overwhelm storage environments while resource utilization is masked by virtualization
- Use of traditional backup tools make data protection for video expensive and challenging
- The long-term value of video data means that this is not a temporary problem
According to Janae Lee, SVP of strategy at Quantum, high-value video data demands special treatment. Move this data to specialty storage that is architected to meet the unique demands of video, and you'll soon achieve five noticeable benefits.
