Peering into the Future: Storage in 2016

It’s the start of a new year and time for pundits to predict what we can expect in the storage market going forward. Let’s touch upon some of the more prominent trends.

SSDs Versus HDDs

One of the most prominent trends continues to be the rise of SSDs, both in consumer and enterprise markets. The factors driving this shift are well-known: superior I/O performance, decreasing cost per gigabyte, and lower energy consumption, all of which help offset the capital costs of flash-based drives.

The capacity of SSDs is also on the rise, with 2TB SSDs becoming increasingly popular and 15TB SSDs recently announced. Expect 512GB USB drives that fit into your pocket this year. As flash technologies improve, it’s only a matter of time before SSDs become more capacious than HDDs.

However, this doesn’t mean HDDs are on the brink of extinction. As long as they remain the most cost-effective solution for storing large data volumes, they will continue to be used. In fact, we can expect to see 10TB HDDs in the standard 3.5-inch form factor in 2025, with the possibility of growing to 20TB in the near future. Innovations like Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) will also help increase HDD capacity, although SMR will only be used for specific applications due to its limitations on random reads.

HDDs will continue to be a solid choice for archiving and cold data storage, though SSDs will likely take over even high-capacity HDD applications in the long run.

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Bigger Ethernet Pipes

Ethernet technology is also evolving. 25GB Ethernet is becoming widely available and is backward compatible with 10GB Ethernet. The cost of 25GB Ethernet will soon be competitive with 10GB, positioning it as the go-to option for new deployments. And with 50GB and 100GB Ethernet on the horizon, high-speed networking is set to play a crucial role in future IT infrastructure.

Software-Defined Storage (SDS)

After years of discussions and proof of concepts, 2025 is likely to be the breakout year for Software-Defined Storage (SDS). Decoupling storage functionality from physical devices offers too many advantages to ignore, and widespread adoption in production environments is expected.

Infrastructure Convergence

Another key trend is the increasing convergence of storage with compute, network, and application components. The growing trend of infrastructure convergence simplifies ownership and management, especially when systems are aggregated from a single vendor and its partners. This trend will not only be seen in smaller environments like Remote Office/Branch Offices (ROBOs) but also in data centers.

Cloud Storage

The cost of cloud storage continues to decrease, making it an increasingly viable option for both businesses and consumers. Thanks to continuous data protection (CDP) solutions, cloud storage is becoming an attractive solution for secondary and tertiary backups. Provided that security measures are up to par, more enterprises will begin storing data in the cloud alongside primary and secondary sites.

ARM Servers

ARM processors, already common in consumer electronic devices due to their smaller size, lower complexity, and lower power consumption, are making their way into data centers. Their benefits make them an appealing option for servers in 2025.

Non-Volatile Memory (NVM)

Non-Volatile Memory (NVM), which retains data even when power is lost, is set to gain traction in data centers. Although its cost currently limits its adoption, hybrid systems are expected, where NVM provides ultra-high-speed storage, with NAND flash filling the role once held by spinning disks.

Looking ahead, it’s clear that significant technological advancements are set to shape the storage market. The combination of innovations in SSD technology, network infrastructure, cloud adoption, and emerging memory technologies will lead to a faster, more scalable, and more cost-effective future for data storage.

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