{"id":1176,"date":"2010-05-12T07:27:26","date_gmt":"2010-05-12T15:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.formtek.com\/blog\/?p=1176"},"modified":"2010-05-12T07:27:26","modified_gmt":"2010-05-12T15:27:26","slug":"cloud-computing-a-storage-dilema-for-federal-agencies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/cloud-computing-a-storage-dilema-for-federal-agencies\/","title":{"rendered":"Cloud Computing: A Storage Dilema for Federal Agencies"},"content":{"rendered":"
Enterprises of all size are being hit hard by the huge growth in the amount of data they they need to manage. \u00a0And federal agencies are no exception. \u00a0Federal agencies are managing 14 times the amount of data that was under their\u00a0control just eight years ago. \u00a0And over the last ten years the number of federal data centers has nearly tripled\u00a0from 432 to 1100.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
One problem is the continual investment needed to secure the storage media and hardware needed to hold all that data. \u00a0But another serious problem is the cost of operating those data devices. \u00a0By the end of 2011, federal servers and data\u00a0centers will be consuming 12 billion kilowatt-hours which is more than twice the amount used in 2006. \u00a0Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra has asked agencies to start consolidating the data centers and to begin\u00a0considering cheaper options such as cloud computing. \u00a0While the cloud offers the advantages of cost and efficiency,\u00a0security is still the main reason that is holding up any migration plans.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But security may not be a total show-stopper. \u00a0Despite security concerns, there is still a whole body of data which is not sensitive and is data already\u00a0made public via existing government internet sites. \u00a0That type of data is a prime candidate for migration outside of\u00a0the agency. \u00a0And moving it out would actually free up agencies to focus more on proper managing of data which\u00a0is considered sensitive.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But besides security, there are other concerns too. \u00a0Agencies are also concerned about the ability to retrieve the data in a timely way. \u00a0Performance is a key concern. \u00a0The cloud tends to lag the speeds that are available within the agency networks. \u00a0Because of that, primary data that requires\u00a0quick access may not be the best candidate for the cloud. \u00a0Federal agencies are also bound to rigorous records management requirements. \u00a0The National Archives and Records\u00a0Administration (NARA) mandates how records are to be stored, managed and transferred. \u00a0Most, if not all, storage cloud\u00a0vendors are not yet able to meet NARA requirements.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Security. \u00a0Performance. \u00a0Records Management. \u00a0These are all big concerns. \u00a0Storage vendors are aware of the kinds\u00a0of changes they need to make in order to meet federal agency requirements. \u00a0The demand is there, it’s just a matter of time.<\/div>\n
\"Digg<\/a><\/div>
\"Reddit<\/a><\/div>
\"Stumble<\/a><\/div>
\"Buzz<\/a><\/div>
\"Vote<\/a><\/div>
\"Share<\/a><\/div>
\"Bookmark<\/a><\/div>
\"Kick<\/a><\/div>
\"Shout<\/a><\/div>
\"Share<\/a><\/div>
\"Bookmark<\/a><\/div>
\"Post<\/a><\/div>
\"Google<\/a><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enterprises of all size are being hit hard by the huge growth in the amount of data they they need to manage. \u00a0And federal agencies are no exception. \u00a0Federal agencies are managing 14 times the amount of data that was…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cloud-computing","category-records-management"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}