Four data center tips for 2022 and beyond

In the IT world, attention is shifting to operations, especially data centers that need to be refocused, especially in changing trends. The amount of data is growing so fast that it is difficult to quantify-some estimates that the world processes 250 gigabytes of data every day. This number will only grow, and with it comes the risk of data stagnation and loss of value.

In fact, the technology industry has only just begun to solve the danger of the "data lake"-storing large amounts of unstructured data "just in case". In many cases, these are becoming expensive data swamps, causing up to 15 billion pounds in losses to certain industries every year. The exponential growth of data volume is not the only problem facing IT professionals. With the continued hype surrounding the advantages of cloud migration, many companies are migrating their existing on-premises systems without considering the advantages of adopting the hybrid cloud model. At best, this means that the deployment is unlikely to meet the purpose and will make IT teams question their return on investment. Worst of all, these deployments may lack the necessary security measures because they were not taken into account from the beginning. For example, some companies make the mistake of not testing their backup systems, which means they cannot know whether their backup systems will work properly when a crisis strikes. As we approach a new and increasingly data-driven decade, what data center techniques should IT professionals consider when seeking to stay ahead? Start to prioritize governance Data governance includes the personnel, processes, and technologies required to manage and protect the company's data assets. Governance is necessary to ensure understandable, trustworthy, and secure corporate data, while filtering out anything worthless. Some people think that more data means more value, but this is not the case. Enterprises will naturally accumulate data they do not need, develop the bad habit of storing data unnecessarily, and complicate the process of deciphering which data is most valuable. This larger amount of data creates a need for larger and more complex governance, because the sensitivity, storage requirements, and actual business value of each individual data point must be evaluated. Handling redundant data also requires careful handling. This problem has been solved to a certain extent, but it is still ignored because it is not high enough in the list of business and IT priorities. The biggest data governance challenges-including the introduction of automation-can be easily addressed through the right processes and ultimately help you regain control of your data.

Consider a hybrid cloud plan With the advent of cloud technology, companies quickly joined the cloud trend without properly evaluating their options. As a result, they are plagued by unforeseen costs. Over time, the technology continues to evolve, and enterprises can now choose to adopt a hybrid cloud model, which may provide the best choice for both local and cloud worlds. This is how cloud computing compares: Public cloud: The resources are hosted between one or more cloud providers. The largest public cloud service providers include Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Private cloud: You use platforms such as OpenStack or VMwarevCloud to create your own private cloud. Hybrid cloud: Your resources are hosted in a mix of local, private cloud, and third-party public cloud services, and connections can be monitored. Although public clouds have made headlines in recent years, many companies are now being drawn back to local software solutions because these solutions are generally more cost-effective. According to IBM, by 2021, 98% of companies will adopt a hybrid cloud model. Hybrid cloud options provide a healthy combination of reliability, security, and reduced operating costs, and are attractive to IT professionals who want to expand their operations and simplify functions, while maintaining control. Test your backup and restore regularly Having a backup system and knowing it works are completely different things. Faced with so many risks, IT professionals should pay more attention to backup and recovery testing in 2020 and beyond. Because it is easy to fix, and because it is in the context of constant threats to data security, IT professionals should test their backup systems-whether they are running in the cloud or on a local system. Too many IT professionals have burned their fingers after realizing that their backup system is malfunctioning, their backup system is out of space, or there is no backup system at all. Testing is essential to highlight the problems of the backup system, which cannot restore data after a failure. It is much better to discover problems during rehearsal than in actual situations. It is invaluable to be confident that your data can be recovered.

Pay close attention to efficiency We don't want to criticize the public cloud; in some cases, this is the ideal solution. However, you should know where all your cloud funds are spent. The main reason why companies migrate to the cloud is to save money. The origin of AWS lies in Amazon's pursuit of great cost savings, a move that surpasses other products in terms of contributing to the company's overall revenue. The lesson here is that if you don’t continue to examine the cost savings in this area, what is the point of all this? Those who migrate their business to the cloud may find unexpected costs continue to increase. If this is ignored and not monitored, your bill may triple without you realizing it. The first thing you should do is to understand how the cloud business model works. Almost all cloud products are sold under the operating expense model, which acts as a monthly subscription service where you pay for the content you use. This is useful if you want to reduce the cost of a large local system with a lot of unused space. However, if you do not fully understand the system, you may end up unexpectedly incurring additional costs. Keep promise Whether on premise or in the cloud, IT professionals need to ensure that they have complete visibility into the data center. If there is any problem, a monitoring system that can identify the problem will allow you to solve the problem directly. Effective data center monitoring can be applied to every element of the data center, including backup and discovery testing, data organization, and effective allocation of data center resources. In the process of achieving full visibility through monitoring, you have begun to solve governance issues by identifying and separating useful and redundant data. In turn, this helps reduce resources wasted by storing unnecessary data, thereby reducing looming cloud bills. Implementing new changes to manage your data center-and sticking to those changes-is a good way to start habitually improving the problem, or you will be swept away. As the data center is constantly changing and facing constant threats, IT professionals must identify areas for improvement and remain committed to achieving their goals. This will mark the beginning of a new era, a new focus for a department, and a new data center.