storagetiering

Storage tiering is a data management approach that automatically places data on storage media of different performance, cost, and capacity characteristics based on data usage patterns and policies. The goal is to optimize performance for frequently accessed data while reducing cost and maximizing capacity for less-active data.

Tiers are commonly categorized by performance and cost. High-performance tiers use solid-state storage (SSD, NVMe) for hot data and metadata; mid-range or nearline tiers use hard disk drives (HDDs) for frequently accessed data; archival tiers rely on low-cost, high-capacity media such as tape or object storage designed for long-term retention. In cloud environments, tiering often maps to hot, cool, and archive or similar tiers, with migration rules guided by access frequency, age, or policy.

Implementation approaches include automatic (policy-based) tiering and manual tiering. Automatic tiering continuously analyzes access patterns or metadata and moves data between tiers, often using caching or background data migration. Manual tiering requires administrators to place data in specific tiers. While automation can improve cost efficiency, it may introduce data movement latency and requires careful policy configuration and monitoring.

Benefits include reduced storage costs, improved performance for active workloads, and simplified data lifecycle management. Use cases include primary file and block storage, backups, archives, and cloud storage optimization.

Considerations include the overhead of data movement, potential performance variability during migration, the need for metadata and indexing, retention and compliance requirements, and integration with existing backup and disaster recovery plans.