I have asked many IT mangers this question: “What is the rate of change of your companies data” Most cannot answer this question. Surprisingly, some big companies with larger IT shops don’t even know this, but it isn’t really on the minds of the small business with limited IT staff.

Why is this number so important? First off, if you are considering implementing any kind of ILM (Information Lifecycle Management) program, you will need to know this. Mainly, the rate of change of your data tells you how much storage you are currently using and how and where it is growing. If you are considering using a remote backup strategy for your remote offices, and want to replicate the data back to a central spot, your rate of change of data is critical. If you have a lot of data, and the data changes too frequently you might not have the CPU cycles to process or the network bandwidth to transfer all of that data. Even with a replication program that transfers ONLY differential byte-level data. More on this in another blog I am working on…

So, what will this column be about, from my perspective? We were anointed, “Storage Advisors, because it is about giving Advice, hopefully useful advice. We “Advisors” find it hard enough to wade through the Morass of Storage terms, technologies, and solutions on a daily basis. I truly feel for the average small to medium business that have been left to fend for themselves trying to figure out their storage needs and what would be best for them. This is where we might be able to help.

Storage technology has been around since the conception of computers. Some IT managers have even referred to Storage as a “necessary evil-” sometimes mis-understood, difficult, and expensive. SCSI and FibreChannel have definitely earned this reputation…