Storage Tiering
Storage tiering is a data storage management technique that organizes data across different types of storage media (tiers) based on performance, cost, and access frequency requirements. It automatically moves data between high-performance tiers (like SSDs) and lower-cost tiers (like HDDs or cloud storage) to optimize resource utilization and reduce costs. This approach is commonly used in enterprise storage systems, cloud platforms, and data centers to balance performance and economics.
Developers should learn storage tiering when building or managing applications with large datasets, such as big data analytics, content delivery networks, or archival systems, to reduce storage costs while maintaining acceptable performance for frequently accessed data. It is particularly useful in cloud environments (e.g., AWS S3 Intelligent-Tiering, Azure Blob Storage tiers) where cost optimization is critical, and in on-premises setups for efficient data lifecycle management. Understanding this concept helps in designing scalable storage architectures that align with business needs.