Distributed Stroage

Distributed storage is coming along. Data centers that mirror each other was the original way. Now things like Amazon's S3 (Simple Storage Service) and Cleversafe are in play. Both of these platforms can enable you to provide secure, cheap, safe backup. With hard drive failure increasing (as reported here and there), these are inexpensive ways to offer your clients data storage.

Cleversafe.org is an open source community creating software for dispersed data storage.

The new Cleversafe Desktop project, allows easier and more intuitive access to a dispersed storage grid, such as the Cleversafe Research Storage Grid -- a freely available, multi-terabyte globally dispersed storage test grid. An XML interface within Cleversafe Desktop allows users to specify what data to retrieve by assigning policies to data sets, such as backup after 30 days or in relation to a certain set of files if there is a change.

Andy Oram calls cleversafe Virtual Iron.

Jungledisk makes it easy for users to access S3. (see here and here). LifeHacker writes about S3 (and so much more). Maluke is offering a service based on S3. A list of tools for use with S3 is here by JeremyZ.

The BizJournal has a great headline: "When catastrophe strikes, local businesses turn to off-site electronic backup systems to store critical data - and avoid bankruptcy." It should have read BEFORE disaster strikes. But the part about BK is right - many businesses never survive a data loss.