Too much is not enough
Ah, the "good old days"  - when 64K of memory and a 5¼" floppy disk were all you needed.  Those days are long gone.  Today, gigabytes of RAM and terabytes of storage are often necessary to handle the amount of data a modern computer network generates.  From database files to image storage to email archives, the storage demands of most businesses continue to increase.  Add in various regulatory requirements and new rules for stockpiling and producing electronic documentation for the courts, and pretty soon you need some serious space.

Storage is more than just disk capacity
Sure, you could just add bigger hard drives to your server for additional storage.  And for some businesses, that may be a viable solution.  But adding a Storage Area Network or Network Attached Storage (which, counter-intuitively, do not mean the same thing) allows you to optimize your storage investment in the manner that best suits your particular needs.  And with industry-leading fault-tolerant designs from StoreVault and NetApp, you know your data is not only accessible -  its safe.

When you need your data, you need it FAST
While tape remains the medium of choice for providing off-site backup of vital data in the event of catastrophic loss, restoring from tape is often a slow and frustrating experience.  Dedicated storage appliances can make restoration of needed data much faster and simpler -- whether you need a single file or an entire database.

 

Continuous and off-site 
Continuous data protection is the newest way to ensure your data remains intact.  A dedicated appliance takes "snapshots" of your entire network at pre-determined intervals.  So the most data you can lose is what was added since the last snapshot.  And you can even have your data encrypted and automatically sent to an off-site data storage center each day!  

Upgrade the server, but leave the data alone
One of the biggest headaches in upgrading or replacing a server is migrating data from the old unit to the new one.  With dedicated storage, that headache is a thing of the past.  Your data stays on the storage appliance, and only your server operating system and applications need to be migrated. Your data stays intact, in order and exactly the same as it was before.  That saves hours of installation time, which translates to money savings for upgrades.  And that's always welcome news. 

Storage is not an option.  And affordable, reliable storage systems are the best way to ensure you have the data you need to serve your clients.