Last fiscal saw the popularization of yet another radical concept in the storage world, and like most others, this one promises to cut storage costs too! Information lifecycle management (ILM) deals with the flow of data in an enterprise. The process it follows is dividing the data into different phases based on its usage and its value to the enterprise, and then treating the segments differently. 

The information lifecycle begins with information in the first phase, which is when it just enters the systems of the enterprise. In a typical business, the data can be information about a sales or purchase order, inventory status, latest quotes and emails etc.

As is obvious, this information is critical as it brings revenues to the organization. 

ILM mandates storing of this information in the most sophisticated, fastest possible, and most reliable storage infrastructure—built with best-of-breed components—so that business doesn’t suffer for lack of its availability. This first phase lasts for about 1-5 days, depending on the business.

Into the second phase, the same information is now slightly less critical for the business. However, a business still needs to refer to it for purposes of data analysis, preparation of reports etc. Therefore, ILM mandates storing of this data in fast and highly reliable storage infrastructure, which of course can and should be cheaper than the same required to store phase one data. Phase two may last between 1-3 weeks depending on the business.

Finally reaching the third phase, information now has no immediate use, and may be archived for regulatory or strictly business purposes, for a time period ranging from a year to a few decades. Since this data is not critical to running of business, enterprises should save costs here by investing in cheap tape archival storage solutions that may take just a few minutes to retrieve data. 

The biggest advantage of following ILM practices comes with regard to a DR solution, a business may implement DR only for Phase I data, or at the most, Phase I and II data. Needless to add, huge savings in costs are possible.