Trends in Storage for AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being considered for use in many segments of the storage marketplace. A new report is available that discusses in detail AI in data storage. What does the AI storage landscape look like? What are the opportunities for AI in storage? How will AI usage affect data security and costs? Read on to see highlights from a massive AI storage study.

AI Storage Report Reveals Key Stats

Allied Market Research has published a comprehensive report that examines AI in the marketplace for key disk storage technologies. As noted in the introduction, “The study provides an in-depth analysis of the AI-powered storage market along with the current trends and future estimations to elucidate the imminent investment pockets.” The report examines worldwide AI markets and suppliers. One of the key takeaways from the report is that “The global AI-powered storage market was valued at $15.58 billion in 2021, and is projected to reach $162.48 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 26.7% from 2021 to 2031.

The following chart from the report shows the software and hardware components of this projection.

AI Powered Storage Market by Component, 2021 - 2031 ($ Millions)

AI technology usage is expected to generate huge amounts of mission critical data putting pressure on the storage infrastructure to secure the data and control costs. The report states, “[A] Key factor impacting [the] growth of AI-powered storage market includes [the] evolution of cyber threats. With new technological advancements, new threats are also evolving, which is a concerning factor for various enterprises.” LTO technology can provide data security and control costs. Read on.

Cyber Threats Top of Mind

Cyber threats and attacks continue to occur and are a concern for all forms of storage including AI-powered storage. Ransomware attacks have targeted a variety of organizations from government services to educational institutions, hospitals, small businesses and large enterprises worldwide. As reported in a recent Washington Post article, “A slow-motion mass ransomware attack has been unfolding over nearly two months, with new victims like Procter & Gamble and a U.K. pension fund acknowledging … that they were hit.” These attacks can cause extraordinary hardships in repair costs, loss of revenue, downtime, ransom payments and damage to reputation. Even AI powered storage will be vulnerable to the evolving devious methods that cyber-attackers use to penetrate an organization. As the old adage goes, it is not a matter of if, but when an organization will be hit.

Offline Storage is a Must

Protecting company data assets from sabotage, natural disasters, accidental deletion and of course, cyber-warfare is a critical task for storage managers while controlling costs. One of the essential responsibilities is to make data inaccessible to attack and destruction. Therefore, you should store a copy of critical information offline and keep a copy offsite in case of a main site disaster. LTO tape technology is famous for providing offline secure storage. When a tape data cartridge is removed from the drive, thereby, removed from the system, it becomes inaccessible to cyberattack or accidental deletion. An LTO tape is also easily transportable to offsite locations for the ultimate in data protection against main site disasters. An LTO user in a case study explains that “… the tapes provide offline backup security against hackers, malware and accidental deletions.”

Regarding cost control, LTO tape has been rated far more effective at controlling costs than disk or cloud storage. As noted in a recent report by John Monroe, “There will be an increasingly immense hunger for the least expensive ASPs/GB combined with the greatest available capacities and lowest long-term costs, and successive generations of tape should play an increasingly crucial role here.”

As the Allied Research report indicates, AI-powered storage is on the rise. So are cyber threats! Make sure you are using LTO technology to control costs and protect your organization from data disasters!

Contact your BackupWorks Account Rep today at 866 801 2944 and ask about LTO Tape.