Multi-Tier Storage
Multi-tier storage is a data storage architecture that organizes storage media into multiple tiers based on performance, cost, and capacity characteristics, such as using SSDs for fast access and HDDs or tape for archival. It automatically moves data between tiers using policies to optimize resource usage and reduce costs while meeting performance requirements. This approach is commonly implemented in enterprise storage systems, cloud platforms, and data centers to balance speed, capacity, and expense.
Developers should learn multi-tier storage when building applications that handle large datasets with varying access patterns, such as e-commerce platforms with hot product data and cold historical logs, or analytics systems requiring fast queries on recent data and cheap storage for archives. It is essential for optimizing cloud costs in services like AWS S3 with storage classes (e.g., Standard, Glacier) and for on-premises solutions to improve performance without overspending on high-end storage.