While many organizations are focused on extracting actionable analytics from their big data initiatives, they must still meet the fundamental requirement of creating modern cloud storage systems capable of accommodating large volumes of information. However, storage vendors have sometimes struggled to get the attention of enterprises running siloed big data projects outside the data center, although things may be changing as new solutions such as Seagate Kinetic Open Storage enter the market.
Some enterprises are ambivalent about big data projects. Writing for TechTarget, 451 Research’s Steve Robinson cited a survey of enterprise storage professionals, finding that 40 percent did not plan to invest in big data solutions and 25 percent had already done so. Many respondents planned to rely on their existing SANs to handle big data storage, which for the past several years has constituted a small percentage of all storage needs.
Part of this lukewarm interest in investing in new storage equipment may be attributable to how enterprises are utilizing Hadoop. Major vendors such as IBM have integrated some services with Hadoop, and many of these Hadoop-based big data initiatives are being run ad-hoc by siloed departments within the organization. Accordingly, some IT departments may not have direct control over the cloud hardware being used to support big data.
However, solutions such as Seagate Kinetic Open Storage may be changing the conversation by providing an answer to both surging amounts of data and ongoing storage fragmentation.. Robinson noted that 14 percent of respondents cited advanced analytics as a key driver of rising data volumes. Moreover, the growth of big data has the potential to exacerbate information siloing at many organizations, in which storage appliances are not well connected.
By leveraging Ethernet-connected hard drives, Seagate Kinetic Open Storage enables enterprises to efficiently scale cloud infrastructure while staying within budget. Its usage of open source platforms and industry-standard hardware creates a cost-effective solution that can address the particular data center and big data needs of organizations.
