We all come across data that we feel is not so significant that we keep but it still has enough worth that merits its safe keeping. What if that accounts for a petabyte of data (most definitely the data size corporations would have to put up with)? Google seems to have a solution for this dilemma; say hello to Google Cloud Storage Nearline.
Cold storage is what most organisations usually resort to; it involves storing lots of data on tape drives and locking them up somewhere safe. It may be cost-effective given the reduced number of servers to be maintained and the electrical use but it requires quite a bit of time to retrieve data to bring back online.
Speaking of cost-effectiveness, Nearline is said to fare better than most alternatives in that regard all the same. Let’s just say that the users are set back by the same price they pay for services such as Google Drive and Dropbox that storage much lesser volume of data. For reference purposes, the regular Cloud Storage service offered by Google sets users back each month by about $0.26 per gigabyte.
It is clear as day that Nearline will come in handy in having backups of extremely important information. However, given the fast pace and cheaper costs it would soon pave way for fresh prospects for mass storage. Google has already joined hands with other storage companies such Iron Mountain, Veritas and NetApp to assist consumers import data to Nearline if they wish to avail the service.
It’s worth noting that Google’s cloud service primarily works for data that doesn’t need displaying in real-time; it’s ideal for patient users who can wait a few seconds for data to be retrieved. Analysts believe that Nearline would put Google up against Amazon that offers a service of its own called Glacier. Costing a cent for every gigabyte stored, Glacier takes up to five hours in data retrieval. It’s not hard to spot how Google could give Amazon a tough time in the competition even if it charges slightly more.
