Save 70% on Server Licensing Costs with Scalable Cloud Data Architecture

As per a report by Statista, nearly 79 zettabytes of data were consumed by internet users globally in 2021 and this number is expected to reach 180 zettabytes by 2025. This has resulted in soaring demand for secure data storage systems. While some businesses decide to store data on-premise through a network of servers, other companies opt for a more cloud-based solution.

Both the methods have their own benefits and provide their own set of features to a customer. However, on-premise data storage solutions can be too expensive and their lack of flexibility in providing quick solutions during data volume growth can be a deal-breaker. This leads to the question:

How to Manage Data Volume Growth?

Suppose your mobile app got mentioned on a popular website or just received substantial funding and there is a sudden uptick in visitors. You hadn’t expected this sort of growth and hence don’t have the necessary infrastructure. Your only option is to scale data storage to handle the increase in data volume. This can be done in two ways:

Vertical Scaling

In vertical scaling, more hardware is added to an existing system to increase its capability. This can include adding new RAM, SSDs, CPUs, and more. Vertical scaling requires no code alteration but needs the hardware and installation which can be a bit costly and time-consuming.

Horizontal Scaling

Horizontal scaling adds servers along with the original infrastructure to spread the load across multiple machines. These machines are then synced with each other to work as a single system and improve their performance and efficiency.

While horizontal scaling adds a level of complexity to the system, it is generally preferred over vertical scaling due to its long-term advantage. There are only so many hardware components you can keep on adding in a vertical scaling scenario until you reach a limit or the expense to buy and manage the hardware. In horizontal scaling, however, companies can grow infinitely without any limitations.

Why Non-Scalable On-Premise Servers are Not Ideal?

On-premise servers don’t follow the ideal scalable data architecture needed to meet the requirements of modern companies. Buying new hardware or equipment is a capital expenditure (Capex) that a company would have to do frequently in this data-powered market. This could be very expensive as buying a new piece of hardware is just the tip of the iceberg.

Companies would need to spend on the data center to house these servers, pay electricity bills to keep the servers running and cool, create backup copies, redundant systems, hire IT staff to operate the servers, install firewalls, antivirus, encryption, and other features can rack up the overall cost of installing an on-premise server. Not to mention the annual support and maintenance.

Introducing Scalable Cloud Architecture

Scalable cloud architecture, as the name suggests, is the ability to scale the IT resources as per the need and requirements of a business. The ability to scale on-demand is one of the biggest reasons why cloud technologies are becoming so popular.

Data storage capacity, networking, processing power, and more can be instantly scaled in a cloud infrastructure. Third-party cloud providers keep everything ready on-site so that you can opt for additional storage or computing power with a click of a button. Since the cloud architecture is based on the principle of virtualization and uses virtual machines instead of physical machines, cloud storage is highly flexible and can be scaled up or down easily.

Further, third-party cloud providers have a large resource of hardware and software already in place ready to support rapid scaling. Something that individual businesses or SMEs can’t achieve on their own and cost-effectively.

How Scalable Cloud Data Architecture Can Help you Save Cost?

The cost of maintaining and processing data in the cloud is far less as compared to maintaining an on-premise data centre. In a cloud-based data storage model, companies have to pay a single bill at the end of the month to use the services provided by their third-party cloud storage provider. Cloud storage works on the pay-as-you-go model where you can buy more storage or enhanced performance as and when you require.

The cloud based data architecture can improve and speed up data workflows that can help businesses save time and money. Processes are finished faster, data is analyzed quicker, testing becomes easier and inexpensive, and the overall business agility is improved as well. A scalable cloud data architecture is better suited for data streaming as well compared to an on-premise setup. Streaming requires quick data processing and analysis that cloud infrastructure is better equipped to handle. As more and more companies are adopting streaming technologies, a scalable cloud data architecture can help them adapt to business needs dynamically.

Another advantage of cloud-based storage solutions is their reliability. Since cloud providers tend to serve several different customers, they keep their native systems updated and free from any downtime. On-premise systems can experience downtime for several reasons and without a

backup in place, this can lead to a loss of millions of dollars. In May 2017, the power system of a data centre of British Airways failed which resulted in nearly $68 million being refunded to the passengers and a 2.8% drop in stock prices.

Apart from the cloud scalable data architecture, there is cloud elasticity as well. An elastic cloud system can adapt automatically to fulfil storage demands in real-time. It is a short-term solution but is great for companies experiencing highly variable workloads that grow or shrink rapidly.

Easy to Switch from On-Premise to Cloud

Companies can save up to 70% on server licensing costs by switching from a ‘server-farm’ based data architecture to a cloud-based scalable data architecture. Successful migration to the cloud increases the agility of a business, makes it more secured, and prepared for a sudden growth in data volume. This migration can happen at any stage of the business, granted the company has the necessary resources and has partnered with a trusted scalable cloud data architecture partner like Agilisium. We are AWS advanced data and analytics consulting partner and have helped several globally recognized companies implement cloud and data analytics solutions and save on server licensing costs.

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