What is data storage?

Every piece of information you gather in your business is potentially important. Whether it’s a database of customer accounts and their purchase histories, human resources records for every employee, financial information such as payroll or accounts receivable, or intellectual property such as specifications for your products, that information needs to be stored somewhere so you can access it as needed to operate your business.

Forms of data storage

File storage Also referred to as file-level or file-based storage, this type is presented as files that are stored in folders and subfolders in a directory. If you’ve used a PC and saved a document to the hard drive, for instance, you have experienced file storage. Files are accessible through a path that users must know. File storage is the most common type of storage on computer hard drives and network-attached storage (NAS) devices. Block storage Rather than storing data in a complete file, block storage breaks apart data and stores it in blocks that can hold 256 KB up to 4 MB. The blocks are then placed randomly on the storage device – which doesn’t hinder access speeds because each block is tagged with a unique identifier. When a user or application needs a file, the computer queries the block storage system, which rapidly identifies and collects all the needed blocks and reassembles them into a complete file. Block storage is ultra-efficient because it doesn’t use metadata, which takes up room on the storage device. Because it’s so fast, businesses tend to use block storage when they want to scale up quickly and when read/write performance is a critical priority. Object storage This type of data storage separates information into distinct objects with unique identifiers and metadata. It doesn’t form a hierarchy like file storage and is considered “flat.” Metadata is a critical component of object storage and each object can have quite a bit of metadata, such as information about the creator of the data and keywords, as well as policies for security, privacy, and access. Object storage works well with APIs so it’s simple to use with existing software and systems. It also scales very well. It could be spread across hundreds or thousands of devices and locations and still be super speedy because all the data is stored in one namespace. It’s the storage type of choice for public cloud providers, such as AWS, and organizations that deal with a lot of unstructured data such as video files, emails, IoT sensor data, social media content, and more.

Types of data storage solutions

Direct-attached storage (DAS)Network-based storage: NAS and SAN

The importance of data storage

Long-lasting preservation of data – Digital data storage makes it easy to pool large volumes of information for long periods of time. Easier accessibility – Everyone can get the information they need, right from their desktop computers instead of having to physically go to a room full of file cabinets.More efficient data recovery – Stored data is easily backed up by making copies, so recovery is faster and simpler if a file gets lost or corrupted. Smaller physical footprint and easier scalability – There’s no need for physical file cabinets, which take up lots of room over time, and adding more digital capacity is simple.Potentially increased security – For very sensitive data, there are many more ways to secure and protect that information digitally using today’s advanced security tools and features.Easier collaboration across teams – Centrally stored data is accessible to every authorized user and can be accessed and shared among teams as they work together. More efficient document management – It’s easier to categorize and organize data digitally, and it can be done from a computer desktop or other connected device. Enhanced productivity and workflows – Saving data digitally takes less time than printing out physical pages and creating files, which must be stored in file cabinets.

How does data storage work?

When you store data on a computer, the digital information is saved to a device, where it remains until deleted. Storage differs from computer memory in a major way: While you can access information quickly from your computer’s RAM, that data is only available in RAM until your computer is turned off. Data storage, however, retains data whether the computer is powered on or off. That’s how it can store data long-term.Saving data on a computer storage device lets you access that information when you need it. For example, the accounting department can retrieve stored data about employee work hours and use it to carry out bimonthly payroll tasks. A sales rep can pull up information about a customer before a sales call to see recent orders and go over the last visit to remind them of the issues they discussed.

Types of data storage devices

Cloud storageHybrid cloud storageSSD and flash storageBackup storage

What is the best for storing data?

DAS can be a good choice for:Small businesses, branch offices, and home offices that want a cost-efficient solution and don’t need networkingHosting just one application and its dataSecuring and isolating data for compliance purposesSAN can be a good choice for: Large data centers or business-critical applications that need centralized storage resourcesLarge numbers of employees and an IT staff with skills to manage and maintain the solutionApplications that require very high performance, such as transactional databases Hosting large relational databases that need high performanceLarge enterprises that need a high degree of storage scalabilityA fault-tolerant environment for critical applicationsNAS can be a good choice for:Reliable, cost-effective storage for many users that doesn’t compromise performanceLarge volumes of unstructured data that need to be shared among usersApplications that aren’t performance-sensitiveArchiving or backing up dataServers hosting virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and virtual machines (VMs)Cloud storage can be a good choice for: Archiving or backing up data for disaster recoveryData lakes and data analytics platformsApplication development and testing Storing workloads during a data migrationStorage for cloud-native applications and their dataStorage for industry and regulatory complianceIoT and machine learning data

What is the safest form of data storage?

DAS can be considered secure in the sense that a hacker cannot infiltrate a network and carry out an attack. Many removable storage devices such as SSDs, USBs, and so on are considered “air gapped” if they aren’t on a networked system. However, if the device is damaged or lost, the data could be irretrievable. NAS is a fairly common target for hackers. The storage system is only as secure as your network and router, so it’s important for NAS users to take proven security measures such as regular updates, two-factor authentication, single sign-on processes, encryption, and so on. SAN is inherently more secure than NAS because its data protection algorithms stay consistent and because if your LAN is attacked, having your data stored on a separate network keeps it protected. Cloud storage is typically considered the most secure type of data storage because major cloud service providers, such as AWS, Google, and Microsoft have put billions of dollars into making it secure. It’s also secure because providers make multiple copies of your data to create a high degree of redundancy – so if a cloud server goes down, you can still access your data because it’s stored in various servers and locations.

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Beyond Ransom & Recovery: Defend Your Data Proactively with Nutanix Data Lens

By Sneha Chaturvedula, Tuhina Goel

October 4, 2023 | min

Unstructured Data Under Siege

In today’s digital age, data is the lifeline of businesses. It drives decision-making, influences strategies, and unveils market insights that can propel any organization ahead of its competitors. However, much of this data is unstructured, creating challenges with data visibility, and making it more vulnerable to cyber attacks and insider threats.

The complexity of defending unstructured data from ransomware is a key obstacle hampering an organization's security posture. Protecting only the endpoints and employing network-centric tools, and device authentication is no longer sufficient. For organizations, it's imperative to deploy a holistic approach to data security, ensuring that the very essence of their business—its data—is safeguarded from these evolving threats.

Starting with Storage: Laying The Foundation for Robust Data Security

To protect against ransomware and other malicious threats, IT and Security leaders should look beyond endpoints. To achieve true ransomware resiliency, an organization needs to be able to detect attacks from within the data layer, block the activity, determine the scope of the affected systems, and recover quickly.

The Nutanix Data Lens™ SaaS-based data security solution helps proactively assess and mitigate unstructured data security risks by identifying anomalous activity, auditing user behavior, and adhering to monitoring requirements - all at the primary storage layer, where your data is stored. Additionally, global data visibility across clouds helps with intelligent decision-making and lifecycle management of unstructured data stored on the Nutanix Unified Storage™ (NUS) platform

The latest release packs powerful features for cyber resilience, permissions visualization, risk scoring, and support for the Nutanix Objects Storage™ product

What’s New Today?

Threat Containment Window: Proactively detect and block a threat, defend from further damage and get alerted to begin a One-Click Recovery process within 20 minutes of exposure. Don’t just take our word for it, read this report to see how Data Lens delivers on the promise.
One-Click Recovery: Seamlessly recover from the last good snapshot available and restore your data and operations swiftly.
Permissions and Risk Visualization: Identify the root cause of access control risks and monitor the risk score to track vulnerabilities within your data and user groups.
Objects support: Nutanix Data Lens has increased its coverage to include Nutanix Objects Storage, enabling customers to effortlessly access S3-available data, providing an intelligent understanding and forensic capabilities similar to those available for the Nutanix Files Storage™ product today.

1. Preemptively Detect and Block Attacks

Strengthening your ransomware resilience posture extends far beyond backup and recovery solutions. Data Lens enables you to focus on protecting data against malicious attacks and building inherent cyber resilience. Active defense ensures a more robust protection against potential threats. Nutanix Data Lens uses signature-based detection techniques paired with behavioral pattern detection, such as client IP, user account details, file activity, and other behavioral detection markers, to provide security and visibility against sophisticated threats. Real-time detection and alerts can help to minimize the exposure window for active threats and reduce time back to normal business operations.

2. One-Click Recovery

Native immutability protects backups in case of a ransomware event or other malicious attack. Once an attack has been neutralized and contained, Nutanix Data Lens aids with easy and guided recovery. With this latest release, users will be prompted to recover from the last good snapshot to avoid corrupt data and minimize disruption to maintain business continuity.

Here's what one of our top data protection partners has to say:

As leaders in the data protection space, HYCU is focused on protecting our customer’s data and returning them to normal operations as soon as possible in the event of a worst case scenario. We are excited to collaborate with partners like Nutanix that have a shared goal in protecting our customer’s data and minimizing the impact from insidious attacks like Ransomware to simple human error. A layered data protection approach that utilizes the ransomware resiliency built into the Nutanix Cloud Platform helps to identify threats quickly and respond by blocking further damage. This translates to a powerful way to recover impacted data in minimal time and confidently. As part of a Nutanix Validated Design, we provide an important line of defense against data loss, and provide our customers with a modern data architecture to host their most important workloads and data.

Subbaiah Sundaram
Senior VP of Products, HYCU

3. Permissions and Risk Visualization

Nutanix Data Lens eliminates uncertainty surrounding weak links within your unstructured data with its intuitive permissions visualization and risk-scoring capabilities. By granting access to the complete history of permission change events, Nutanix Data Lens simplifies the comprehension of complex permission structures, enabling users to monitor and analyze permissions-related activities with high granularity. Administrators have the flexibility to conduct in-depth analyses on current access control settings, whether it's at the share and directory levels or delving deeper into user and group permissions.

This latest release of Nutanix Data Lens introduces a highly configurable risk score that allows organizations to define and categorize specific risk factors that align with their risk profiles. Administrators can monitor the risk score between shares and folders to identify risk trends over time, compare risk scores between shares and folders, and identify the root cause of vulnerabilities in their unstructured data. Overall, the ability to quantitatively visualize sources of risk helps to proactively mitigate data vulnerabilities by reevaluating user permissions and strengthening data security.

4. Support for NUS Objects Storage

Customers with modern applications using object storage will now have the same intelligence and forensics available across both the Files Storage and Objects Storage of the NUS platform. With this release, Nutanix Data Lens extends the auditing and forensics capabilities to Nutanix Objects Storage for sensitive or regulated data. This further simplifies customers’ path to integrated data management across clouds.

Nutanix Data Lens now provides a range of essential features, including data lifecycle management, auditing, and reporting features for Nutanix Objects Storage. These capabilities empower users to assess utilization data to foster informed decisions for primary storage optimization through effective tiering strategies. The extension of visibility and automated reporting to encompass all unstructured data stored on NUS allows administrators to proactively mitigate risks, safeguarding critical data assets across both files and object stores.

Take the first step in less than 5 minutes!

Get started today for free! Experience the robust ransomware resilience and data analytics of Nutanix Data Lens through our limited-time free trial or take it for a Nutanix Test Drive.

Visit www.nutanix.com/data-lens-promo to learn more about this limited time offer.

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_{This blog is for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes a warranty or other binding commitment by Nutanix.}