Nearline storage is a medium between online and offline storage, requiring human intervention but mostly done by the computer. It’s not as fast as online storage but has a short delay. Magnetic tapes, disks, and CDs are the three main types. Enterprises use it to optimize performance, while consumers use smaller storage media.
Nearline storage, a contraction of the words “near” and “online,” is computer storage medium that falls between online and offline storage but is closer to online. In this sense, online and offline do not refer to internet usage but how the storage medium is used. Online support is on your computer; Offline requires human intervention and editing, while nearline archiving requires human intervention but is mostly done by computer. Nearline is not as fast as online storage, but there is only a few seconds delay before the data is accessible. The three main types of nearline media are magnetic tapes, magnetic disks, and compact discs (CDs).
The two main types of storage are online and offline. Online refers to localized storage systems on the computer, such as the hard drive, that do not require human intervention. Offline storage is removable media that needs to be connected and calibrated to your computer; it is very slow but is capable of holding huge amounts of memory for archival purposes.
Nearline storage sits in between these two. It is like offline storage, because the user has to place the storage medium in the computer. In the online sense, the computer is doing most of the work, as it knows how to locate the data and also how to retrieve it. As far as speed is concerned, the neighboring line is also in between the two. It’s not as slow as offline storage, nor is it as fast as online storage, but it only has a short delay before the user can manipulate the files in the medium.
Enterprises and large data centers are major proponents of nearline storage because it helps their databases optimize performance. When a nearline medium is used to store data, it means that the database can stop using energy on that data and work on other functions. At the same time, if the admin reloads the data from the nearline into the database, it will take much longer and can lead to detrimental performance. Consumers also use nearline, but smaller storage media are usually offered than what businesses use.
There are three different forms of nearline storage. Magnetic tape is very similar to archival tape, but it’s optimized for nearline use, so it doesn’t require as much preparation to use. The magnetic disk, like the floppy disk, improves the speed and amount of memory. The last of the nearline media is CD, which is used for data storage in many industries.
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