Is this article we discuss the different tiers and types of cloud storage and why you might use one over another.
What’s the difference between Hot and Cold?
Hot Storage is optimised for high-demand assets that require immediate accessibility. Examples include live production files, high-resolution edits, or content being actively licensed. These systems prioritise performance with low latency and high throughput.
Cold Storage, in contrast, is designed for assets that are infrequently accessed but still hold value, such as archived content, regulatory records, or materials preserved for long-term retention. This could include raw footage, project backups, or niche content that might not generate immediate revenue but has potential for future monetisation. Here, cost savings outweigh the need for speed, and retrieval times are often measured in hours rather than seconds.
There’s Warm?
Warm Storage bridges the gap, offering a compromise between speed and cost. Assets that are semi-active, such as marketing campaigns awaiting final approvals or content likely to be monetised soon, are often stored here.
So how do I decide when to use which type?
While cold storage offers significant cost savings, retrieving content and moving it back to hot storage can introduce both financial and operational challenges. Retrieval costs often depend on the volume of data, the number of requests, and the speed of access required.
For example, cloud providers like AWS Glacier charge per gigabyte for data retrieval, with expedited access incurring higher fees. In addition, the latency of cold storage retrieval often measured in hours or even days, means organisations must plan to avoid workflow disruptions.
The decision to retrieve cold-stored assets should consider factors such as the value of the content and its urgency. Is the asset tied to a licensing opportunity, regulatory compliance, or creative reuse? Balancing these priorities is crucial to making cost-effective decisions.
Another consideration is redundancy. Some organisations choose to maintain a secondary copy of their cold-stored assets on another cloud provider or in a separate geographical region. This dual-hosting strategy can be invaluable in mitigating risks such as data loss due to unforeseen circumstances like provider outages, cyberattacks, or regional disasters. While maintaining redundant copies increases storage costs, the trade-off is often worth it for high-value or irreplaceable content.
For businesses with highly valuable archives, using multiple cloud providers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud can further reduce risk. Each provider offers unique capabilities, and diversifying storage ensures that organisations are not overly reliant on a single infrastructure. For example, AWS offers Glacier Deep Archive for ultra-low-cost storage, while Google Coldline provides lower latency for quicker retrievals. Combining the strengths of these providers can create a resilient and cost-effective storage strategy.
The Economics of Tiered Storage
One of the primary drivers behind the adoption of tiered storage is cost efficiency. The gap between hot and cold storage costs is significant; cloud providers typically charge up to 20 times less per gigabyte for cold storage than for hot storage.
The savings can be transformative for organisations managing petabytes of data. Consider a media company with 500TB of assets, half of which are inactive. Transitioning 250TB from hot to cold storage could result in annual savings of $50,000 or more. However, these savings are only realised if the costs of retrieval, both financial and operational, are carefully managed.
Cold storage retrieval is not instantaneous. Organisations must weigh the latency of access, which can range from hours to days, against their business needs. Retrieval costs, often charged per gigabyte and per request, add another layer of complexity. Effective planning, coupled with robust asset metadata and lifecycle management, is crucial to avoid costly mistakes.
Tailoring Tiering Strategies to Context
The way organisations approach storage varies widely depending on their focus and scale. Some common scenarios include:
Broadcasters and Streamers:
Broadcasters operate in environments where immediacy is paramount. Content for live productions, such as breaking news or live sports, remains in hot storage. However, once aired or out of licence, programmes are automatically transitioned to nearline or cold storage.
Content Owners and Creators:
Managing content libraries involves not just storing assets but also predicting buyers and audience demand. Emerging themes and newly produced content are retained in hot storage to enable rapid distribution, while longer tail catalogue is moved to cold storage. Emerging AI analytics can help guide these decisions.
Production Studios:
Studios managing a mix of active and legacy projects typically maintain live assets in hot storage for collaborative editing workflows. Once a project is finalised, files are transitioned to cold storage, preserving valuable IP while freeing up premium-tier capacity.
Advertising Agencies:
Campaign-driven workflows in agencies create bursts of storage demand. High-performing campaigns are kept in nearline storage for potential reuse, while older projects, often tied to specific clients or markets, are archived to cold storage as their value diminishes over time.
Each of these scenarios underscores the importance of a nuanced approach to storage, where decisions align not just with cost considerations but also with creative and operational goals.
Challenges in Storage Management
Tiered storage is not without challenges:
Lifecycle Complexity:
Understanding when an asset has outlived its immediate usefulness and should move to a different tier requires robust asset tracking and lifecycle intelligence. Without proper metadata and usage analytics, organisations risk mismanaging transitions.
Metadata Integrity:
Cold-stored assets risk becoming inaccessible or “lost” without accurate metadata. Detailed, searchable metadata must be generated and maintained during the hot or nearline phases, ensuring assets remain discoverable in archival storage.
Balancing Cost and Risk:
Over-reliance on cold storage can lead to delays or disruptions, especially if retrieval is required unexpectedly. The cost savings of cold storage must always be weighed against the operational risks of latency.
Integrating Workflows:
Proper integration of storage tiers into existing workflows, particularly for distributed teams, requires careful planning and the right tools. Storage decisions must align with editorial, licensing, and compliance workflows to maximise efficiency.
Trends Shaping Media Storage As the media landscape evolves, so too does the storage landscape. Some emerging trends include:
Predictive Analytics:
The use of AI and machine learning to anticipate content usage is gaining traction. By analysing warehoused data, licensing patterns, and seasonal demand, organisations can make proactive storage decisions that minimise costs and maximise availability.
Sustainable Storage Solutions:
Environmental concerns are driving the development of low-energy storage technologies. From renewable-powered data centres to innovations in tape storage, the industry is seeking greener solutions to meet its growing data demands.
Collaborative Ecosystems:
As workflows become more distributed, the ability to collaborate across storage tiers, regardless of geographic location, is becoming a competitive advantage. Platforms that integrate storage with real-time collaboration tools are transforming how teams work.
Final Thought: “Half the money I spend on storage is wasted.. I just don’t know which half.”
Like the famous advertising quotation from John Wanamaker at the turn of the last century, studies reveal a troubling trend: most digital assets remain unused or underutilised after their initial creation. The origin of underutilisation often stems from inadequate metadata and associated challenges in locating or retrieving assets. With professional video the problem is amplified with duplicate versions of the same content in multiple resolutions, edits, codecs and languages. To achieve large-scale savings, the solution begins with high-quality metadata and robust data warehousing, alongside CRM, rights management, and catalogue management systems. Once integrated, tiering strategies can then be applied.
