#sme it

[tdwf-articles]

[enchanrenan-blog]

Messy Storage

My first real computer had an 880 MB hard disk, and by real I mean my first Windows computer had an 880 MB hard disk.  On that hard disk I could store all of the files I needed, install several games as well as hold the operating system.

My computer now has a 2 TB RAID array and although it isn't running out yet, it will at some point given the volume of files and applications I'm currently working with.  This being said, am I too lazy to delete files I don't need or am I needlessly sentimental about things that I will - in all likelihood - never use again?

Wearing my administrative hat, one of the messages coming from the IT industry is that storage is cheap and that there is no reason not to continue expanding the space available.  This doesn't just happen in industry though; consider for a moment the (subjectively overly) generous storage capacities of free web-based email services.  At the time of writing this I have 7584 MB worth of storage to use on my Gmail account which seems like entirely too much for a service originally designed with sending messages (and not giant files) in mind.

This of course has effected a significant change in the way people perceive and organise their information online.  With such large volumes of space, there is no requirement to delete old emails from your account so it doesn't start rejecting messages.  There is no need to tidy up the files on your PC and copy them to some type of external storage.

Although storage is cheap, performance is still a major factor for many people who use a computer.  More files mean longer searches, larger recovery times in disaster recovery scenarios or even simply additional cost in backup media.  Processing time and disk I/O being taken up by searching a file server doesn't just cause inconvenience to a user with a particularly large number of large files but to everyone else who is trying to access or find an item.

Even outside of technical performance there is the issue of human performance.  Just how do people work with what is essentially a flat-file system of documents?  As Google prescribes, they work by searching for things, or more specifically letting a computer search for things for them.  But then sometimes - they can't remember something that will allow a search to find a file.  Last modified?  No idea.  File name?  No idea.  Suddenly being organised seems like a good idea.

In the business environment, collaboration is stifled by mismanagement of files and data.  If a project manager doesn't maintain a directory of information in an accessible way, all that happens is that people start emailing files to one another instead of working in shared workspaces.  Before you know it, nobody knows which version of a file is the correct one and changes are highly fragmented across multiple mailboxes.  Nobody wants to put them back together again, but everybody needs the information.  Cue surprise from nobody when all of the files are then emailed to everyone with the expectation that they can work it out on their own.  Somebody then makes a mistake, which probably costs money, and then people blame the computers and wonder why typewriters had to get so clever in the first place.

Given the current pressures facing many business in the current economic climate, it's more important than ever that an IT department provides added value.  I think though, that technical staff must maintain a wider view of the larger issue - sure you can invest in more/faster/newer/just-plain-better technology but you also need to invest in training people to use it effectively.