As you grow your data storage infrastructure you may quickly find yourself coming up to a critical mass and asking yourself how to decipher between important data and less critical data. This is a common discussion we have with our clients as they decide how to continue to make sense of the data they’ve collected.

You begin to discover that there is some data that you want to keep readily available at all times on disk or the cloud, while other pieces of data can be stored on tape offline. Keeping your data organized is much like keeping your closet clean and functional. It’s value is only is as good as you allow it to be.

In order to help you classify your data and best maintain your data library, there are a handful of things you should consider:

1. Data Type
It is important that you create a classification system by which you indicate a piece of data’s value. One way to do this is to distinguish between file extensions/types. By assigning a context to a file based on its extension, you can easily tell the difference between the value of data.

2. Age
The age of data is often the most useful indicator because most data’s value tends to decline over time. Consider classifying data in relation to its age and setting policies that will help you determine when to pull data offline versus keeping it online indefinitely. Archiving old data to LTO tape can save a considerable amount of money over the long-term.

3. Location
Think carefully as to where exactly each piece or type of data should be stored. The path of a file can truly help indicate its value and make the management of data much easier. Be smart about where you house your data, rather than lumping it all together.

4. Name
There’s a lot of importance in a name. If you label your files with care, you can take a lot of guesswork out of the equation. A file’s name can provide indication of its contents, purpose, and relationship to other files. You can then search for data based on a specific keyword and sort accordingly.

When building out your data library, it’s very important to plan and institute policies that will make data management meaningful and valuable.

Have questions as to which technologies you should use? We’d be happy to help. Drop us an e-mail or call our offices, and we’ll get you pointed in the right direction!

Info@BigDataSupplyInc.com | Toll Free 800-905-7329 | Local 949-679-6633

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