Four Ways to Determine the Storage Capacity Needed for the Company
In the digital age, data is a crucial asset for businesses. Securing adequate storage capacity to store data safely and efficiently is essential for business operations. However, effective storage management goes beyond simply acquiring more storage space. Understanding and managing the appropriate storage capacity tailored to the size and type of data in a company can enhance both cost-effectiveness and data management efficiency. Today, I will introduce four ways to determine the storage capacity needed for the company.
Table of Contents
1. Understanding File Sizes for Businesses
Source: Freepik
What are the typical file sizes used in enterprises? The size of data used by businesses varies depending on the nature of their operations. While general document files are relatively small, design and video files occupy significant data storage space. Let's examine specific cases from Rakuten Drive client examples.
- 302 Planet, Animation Specialist
At 302 Planet, handling large files with high-resolution image frames and complex design elements is central to their operations. These 3D files typically range from 1GB to 10GB each. Previously, they faced challenges in sharing and editing multiple files both internally and externally. After securing ample storage capacity with Rakuten Drive, 302 Planet can now conveniently and quickly share high-quality videos and large files. Securely storing files through Team Drive, and centralizing projects that were previously distributed across the clouds into one place has significantly enhanced their operational efficiency.
- SSolSSol, Education Platform
SSolSSol encountered difficulties in managing business operations due to the large data size of their high-definition internet lecture videos, often exceeding 5GB per file. With Rakuten Drive, each user now has access to a 3TB cloud storage unit, enabling easy file sharing and transmission without the inconvenience of carrying external drives. This has drastically improved work efficiency by eliminating the need to split video files or attach them to emails.
For businesses routinely handling large files, accurately assessing the storage capacity needed for file storage is crucial. By planning ahead for data growth in line with business expansion, businesses can operate more efficiently.
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2. Four Ways to Determine Required Storage Capacity
Source: Freepik
As seen in the examples above, to determine the necessary data storage capacity for a company, it's essential to consider various factors simultaneously, including the types of data typically handled in the business, data units, and data sizes. Particularly, a 1TB storage space can accommodate approximately 250,000 high-resolution images, 500 hours of HD video, or 6.5 million pages of MS files. Using these metrics as a reference, businesses can formulate their cloud storage plans accordingly. Now, let's summarize four ways to assess the required data storage capacity for our company.
① File types and Sizes
The first step is to identify the types of files predominantly used in operations and their average sizes. For instance, high-resolution images and video files are significantly large, requiring storage capacities beyond kilobytes (KB) and megabytes (MB), into gigabytes (GB) and terabytes (TB), to effectively manage them in bulk. Therefore, businesses frequently dealing with such files require larger storage capacities.
② Data Backup Frequency
Backup frequency is also a critical factor. Establishing a backup strategy is essential to prevent data loss and ensure secure management. However, higher backup frequencies require more storage capacity. It's crucial to assess the storage space each backup file occupies during regular backup processes to accurately calculate the necessary storage capacity.
③ Number of Users
The number of users utilizing storage is also a crucial consideration. More users accessing cloud storage necessitate greater storage capacity, as file storage and data access frequency increase accordingly. Understanding departmental user counts and data usage patterns is beneficial for assessing storage needs. For example, while the marketing department frequently uses large image and video files, the accounting department primarily handles relatively smaller files like spreadsheets. This allows for predicting approximate storage usage patterns.
④ Tracking Internal Data Growth
Finally, it's essential to track how much internal data grows each year, along with business growth rates and the extent of project expansions. This enables forecasting data growth over the coming years and planning necessary storage capacity in advance. Analyzing data growth trends from previous years allows predicting future growth rates, estimating required data storage capacity based on factors like new product launches and other upcoming projects.
3. Need Custom Business Cloud Storage? Try Rakuten Drive!
To accurately determine the storage capacity required for your business, consider various factors such as file types and sizes, data backup frequency, number of users, and internal data growth. If you're seeking the optimal cloud storage solution tailored to your company's needs, we recommend Rakuten Drive. Rakuten Drive offers plans aligned with your business's data size and user requirements, ensuring cost-efficiency and effectiveness.
Rakuten Drive offers customized pricing plans tailored to the specific needs of each business. We recommend comparing account-based and storage-based pricing plans to select the most suitable option for your business, achieving optimal cost-efficiency and maximum effectiveness.
- Account-Based Pricing Plan provides 3TB of storage per account, allowing uploads of up to 100GB per file. This plan is ideal if you have a small number of users but frequently handle large video or design files.
- Storage-Based Pricing Plan offers options ranging from 500GB, 1TB, 3TB, 5TB to 10TB, depending on your data requirements. The 500GB plan supports up to 100 accounts, while the 1TB to 10TB plans offer unlimited account support. This plan is recommended for businesses with a large number of cloud storage users, significant internal data capacity, and regular backup schedules.
Additionally, Rakuten Drive allows you to purchase additional storage capacity as needed, ensuring business continuity by preventing disruptions due to storage shortages during critical projects or operations.
👉 Apply for a Free Trial of Rakuten Drive for Business
We've explored four ways to determine the optimal storage capacity for our company and examined customer cases to understand why Rakuten Drive is the right choice. Analyzing current data usage and aligning with business requirements when adopting cloud storage allows for safe and efficient data management. By accurately assessing our company's data storage needs and managing capacity efficiently, we can successfully drive data-centric business strategies.