Enterprises nowadays deal with large amounts of data that can prove to be extremely difficult to deal with if the right storage solution is not used. This is why scale-out storage solutions were used to efficiently handle large amounts of data.
What is Scale-Out Storage?
Now the question that comes to mind is that what exactly is scale-out storage? What does it mean? And how can it be beneficial for enterprises?
Well, to put it simply, scale-out storage is a NAS (Network-Attached Storage) architecture in which the total amount of disk space can be easily expanded through the addition of devices in connected arrays with their own resources.
Salient Features of Scale-Out Storage
In a scale-out system, new hardware can be added and configured as the need arises, anytime the enterprise wants. When a scale-out system reaches its storage limit, another array can be added to expand the system capacity very easily. Scale-out storage can control the extra storage added across arrays and also at the same time, use added devices to increase network storage capacity, adding performance and also addressing the need for additional storage.
Before scale-out storage solutions. enterprises often purchased whole storage arrays that were much larger than they actually needed in order to ensure that there would be plenty of disk space available for any future expansion. This obviously proved to be a very expensive option and not everyone could afford it nor did they wanted to spend more than they had to.
If scalability never occurred lots of purchased disk space would go to waste. However, with a scale-out storage solution, the initial investment can be easy on the pocket because it's not necessary to purchase each and everything initially. If needed, expansion can be made easily and more features can also be bought in time, when needed.
Scale-Out Storage- Vertical Vs Horizontal
Scalability is an important feature that most enterprises want and need that deal with and generate lots of data on daily basis. Rescaling refers to adapting to respond to a demand for increased capacity. There are two main approaches to achieving that.
One is scale-up. The scale-up approach is also an example of vertical scalability. Vertical scalability refers to increasing the capacity of existing hardware or software by adding resources to a physical system. For instance, adding processing power to a server to make it faster. In the case of storage systems, scaling up means adding more devices. These devices can be disk drives or any other storage device that is added to an existing system when more capacity is required.
Horizontal scalability is similar to virtual scalability, the only difference is that it can connect multiple entities so that they work as a single logical unit. In the case of scale-out storage, there could be many nodes which are separated geographically.
Conclusion
Scale-out storage comes with many perks and benefits. One of the most obvious features is of course unlimited scalability. Enterprises can scale vertically and horizontally; however, it seems fit to them and this can enable them to reduce costs significantly.