Data Management Glossary
Primary Storage
Primary Storage is the main area where data is stored for quick access. It’s faster and more expensive as compared to secondary storage, so it shouldn’t hold cold data.
Primary storage is typically the main data storage system in an enterprise that supports critical business operations, applications, and workloads. It is designed for high performance, low latency, and immediate access to data, making it essential for databases, virtual machines, and real-time analytics.
Key Features of Primary Storage in the Enterprise
- High Performance – Optimized for fast read/write speeds, ensuring smooth application and system performance.
- Low Latency – Reduces data retrieval time, which is crucial for transactional systems and real-time processing.
- Reliability & Availability – Often includes redundancy features like RAID, snapshots, and replication to ensure data integrity and uptime.
- Scalability – Allows businesses to expand storage as data grows without affecting performance.
- Integration with Cloud & Secondary Storage – Often works with secondary storage (for backup and archiving) and cloud solutions to optimize cost and efficiency.
Types of Primary Storage in the Enterprises
- Flash & SSD Storage – Used for high-speed applications like databases and AI/ML workloads.
- Storage Area Network (SAN) – High-performance block storage used for mission-critical applications.
- Network Attached Storage (NAS) – File-based storage ideal for shared access across multiple users.
- Hybrid Storage – A mix of SSDs and HDDs, balancing performance and cost.
- Cloud-Based Primary Storage – Primary data storage solutions hosted on cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.
Primary Storage Strategy for Enterprises
- Data Tiering – Storing frequently accessed data on SSDs while moving less-used data to lower-cost storage.
- Backup & Disaster Recovery Integration – Ensuring primary storage works with secondary solutions for failover.
- Data Deduplication & Compression – Optimizing storage efficiency and reducing redundancy.
- Security & Compliance – Implementing encryption, access controls, and compliance measures for data protection.
- Automation & AI-Driven Management – Using intelligent storage solutions to optimize performance and detect potential failures.
Primary Storage Magic Quadrant
In the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Primary Storage Platforms, the Leaders were:
- Pure Storage: Recognized for the fifth consecutive year as the highest and furthest positioned leader.
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE): Achieved leadership status for the 15th consecutive time.
- NetApp: Maintained its position as a leader for the 12th consecutive year.
Other vendors in the Leaders quadrant include IBM and Dell.
A Blocks & Files overview noted that in 2024, Gartner redefined the criteria for primary storage platforms, emphasizing the need for platform-native services and hybrid cloud capabilities. This shift led to some vendors, such as Hitachi Vantara, Huawei, and Infinidat, moving from the Leaders quadrant to the Challengers quadrant. These changes highlight the evolving landscape of primary storage solutions, with a focus on integrated services and cloud adaptability.
Gartner’s Magic Quadrant evaluates vendors based on their Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision, providing insights into each vendor’s performance and strategic direction. Download the report here (Gartner subscription required.)
Storage Newsletter described the changes to the Gartner Magic Quadrant Bizarre: Gartner Magic Quadrant 2024 for Primary Storage Platforms Bizarre.The analyst notes:
Year after year, Gartner MQ lost their ability to present a real snapshot of the market and continues to provide a wrong product and technology definition. Again a primary storage is not (only) a block storage but very often a block storage is used as primary. IT is just a storage used to support the business then having the primary role and this is independent of the media technology (HDD, SSD…), connectivity (FC, IB, Ethernet), access methods (block, file, S3, HDFS…), residence (on-premises, cloud, etc), subscription model and data nature (structured or non structured data). So Gartner should rename this MQ primary block storage.