What is the best storage option for your data?
by Holly Smith, Senior Cloud Solutions Consultant and DataKind UK Volunteer
In this post, I’m going to offer a quick overview of the pros and cons of storing your work and data on your laptop, in on-premise storage, and in the cloud — particularly with regard to efficiency, cost, and security.
1. Your laptop — the easy option
At first glance, there are many benefits to working on a laptop. It’s easy and cheap to start using — after all, everyone’s got one. But, when everything’s stored on a device it can prove challenging if you’re working in a team. Collaborating can be particularly difficult if you don’t all have the same applications installed, not just the software, but the libraries, packages, and versioning — this becomes a jenga tower of dependencies. Sharing your work is especially tricky when you’re sending files back and forth with ever incrementing file numbers.
The biggest issues, however, are around security and privacy. Your files may be password-protected — you might even have an encrypted laptop — but these measures can be easily cracked. Leave your laptop on a train and you’re looking at a security breach.
When it comes to privacy, there’s no way of monitoring what people are accessing on their laptops, and what they’re using that data for. You face security risks from employees being exploited, or from the behaviour of disgruntled ex-employees. And while the consequences of these risks include financial penalties, you must also remember that this data represents the lives of real people. You owe it to them to make sure their data is being used appropriately and securely.
2. On-premise — greater control
On-premise refers to the storage of work and data on a shared server owned, located, and maintained by your organisation. Database management systems such as SAP HANA and Microsoft SQL Server, for example, are often stored on a server your organisation owns. The benefits of this approach include greater control over implementation, ensuring everything you do conforms with your company’s IT policies.
Its security, though, is only as good as your own IT team. Most security experts that want to work on the cutting edge will typically end up working for big companies, and will rarely focus on a smaller company’s on-premise deployment.
Often, it’s not very cost-effective either. As your data team grows, so too will the demand for compute and storage. Unfortunately, everything on-premise has to be bought in large, fixed-size chunks. If you want to keep up with increasing demand, you’ll have to buy one server, then a second, then a third, and so on. What’s more, compute and storage are linked — anything you don’t use in one or the other is simply wasted.
3. Cloud — flexible and efficient
I’ve often said that the cloud is just someone else’s computer, and that’s not entirely incorrect. There are three main cloud service providers — Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Amazon Web Services, or AWS — and you’re effectively renting their computers.
There are a few fundamental differences between the cloud and the other approaches. Whereas you once had some limits on your data size, there aren’t any with the cloud. There’s specialty hardware, as well. Say for GDPR compliance reasons you want some long-term storage, it’s possible to access it cheaply, while keeping it separate from your shorter-term storage. You can also create infrastructure when you need it — and destroy it when it’s served its purpose. All the software you use in the cloud is upgraded and maintained by experts, too, which means that your team can focus on more meaningful work instead of routine maintenance.
The benefits speak for themselves. If you’re on-premise, it can take up to six weeks to get set up. But with the cloud, it’s just a few clicks away. And instead of security owned by your IT department (however skilled they are), the cloud enjoys the expertise of the best and brightest security professionals in the world.
On-premise infrastructure is inflexible in terms of compute and storage, whereas cloud allows customisation galore. But this can be a gift and a curse. It offers far greater flexibility than a laptop or an on-premise arrangement, but that flexibility can come at the expense of ease of use for those who aren’t used to navigating and managing a changeable cloud system.
There’s also one trick to be aware of with the cloud. In your first year with a provider, you’ll likely be given free credits and discounts. Many people will consider this cheap, and do whatever they want until the credits run out — at which point it can become very expensive. If you don’t stay on top of what you’re spending, you can end up in a bit of a pickle.
In summary, then, a laptop is certainly the easiest of the three options to set up and use. When it comes to security and privacy, though, it’s definitely not the right answer. Both the cloud and on-premise infrastructure are great options here, although the cloud tips the balance in terms of flexibility and — if you use it sensibly — cost-effectiveness.
