Tiered storage

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Tiered storage is a data storage environment consisting of two or more kinds of storage delineated by differences in at least one of these four attributes: Price, Performance, Capacity and Function.

Any significant difference in one or more of the four defining attributes can be sufficient to justify a separate storage tier.

Examples:

  • Disk and Tape: Two separate storage tiers identified by differences in all four defining attributes..
  • Old technology disk and new technology disk: Two separate storage tiers identified by differences in one or more of the attributes..
  • High performing disk storage and less expensive, slower disk of the same capacity and function: Two separate tiers..
  • Identical Enterprise class disk configured to utilize different functions such as RAID level or replication: A separate storage tier for each set of unique functions.

Note: Storage Tiers are NOT delineated by differences in vendor, architecture, or geometry except where those differences result in clear changes to Price, Performance, Capacity and Function.