In computing

Computing

Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...

, an enterprise storage is the computer storage

Computer storage

Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, refers to computer components and recording media that retain digital data. Data storage is one of the core functions and fundamental components of computers....

 designed for large-scale, high-technology environments of the modern enterprises

Company

A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...

. When comparing to the consumer storage, it has higher scalability

Scalability

In electronics scalability is the ability of a system, network, or process, to handle growing amount of work in a graceful manner or its ability to be enlarged to accommodate that growth...

, higher reliability

Reliability engineering

Reliability engineering is an engineering field, that deals with the study, evaluation, and life-cycle management of reliability: the ability of a system or component to perform its required functions under stated conditions for a specified period of time. It is often measured as a probability of...

, better fault tolerance, and much higher initial price.

From the salesperson's point of view, the four main enterprise storage market

Market

A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...

s are:

• Online storage
  Computer storage
  Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, refers to computer components and recording media that retain digital data. Data storage is one of the core functions and fundamental components of computers....
  
   - large disk array
  Disk array
  A disk array is a disk storage system which contains multiple disk drives. It is differentiated from a disk enclosure, in that an array has cache memory and advanced functionality, like RAID and virtualization.Components of a typical disk array include:...
  
   solutions, minimizing access time
  Access time
  Access time is the time delay or latency between a request to an electronic system, and the access being completed or the requested data returned....
  
   to the data, and maximizing reliability;
• Backup
  Backup
  In information technology, a backup or the process of backing up is making copies of data which may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form is back up in two words, whereas the noun is backup....
  
   - off-line storage for data protection, with a smaller price per byte than online storage, but at a cost of higher average access time; often uses sequential access
  Sequential access
  In computer science, sequential access means that a group of elements is accessed in a predetermined, ordered sequence. Sequential access is sometimes the only way of accessing the data, for example if it is on a tape...
  
   storage, such as tape libraries
  Tape library
  In computer storage, a tape library, sometimes called a tape silo, tape robot or tape jukebox, is a storage device which contains one or more tape drives, a number of slots to hold tape cartridges, a barcode reader to identify tape cartridges and an automated method for loading tapes...
  
  ;
• Archiving
  Archive
  An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
  
   - technically similar to backup
  Backup
  In information technology, a backup or the process of backing up is making copies of data which may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form is back up in two words, whereas the noun is backup....
  
  , but its purpose is long-term retention, management, and discovery of fixed-content data to meet regulatory compliance, litigation protection, and storage cost optimization objectives;
• Disaster recovery
  Disaster recovery
  Disaster recovery is the process, policies and procedures related to preparing for recovery or continuation of technology infrastructure critical to an organization after a natural or human-induced disaster. Disaster recovery is a subset of business continuity...
  
   solutions, used to protect the data from localized disaster
  Disaster
  A disaster is a natural or man-made hazard that has come to fruition, resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment...
  
  s, usually being a vital part of broader business continuity plan.

The enterprise storage industry includes conferences (Storage Decisions, Storage Networking World, etc.), publications (Storage Magazine, InfoStor, etc.), and companies (3PAR

3PAR

3PAR Inc. is a manufacturer of systems and software for data storage and information management headquartered in Fremont, California, USA. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard. 3PAR produces a range of enterprise storage products, including hardware disk arrays and storage management...

, Atempo

Atempo

Atempo, Inc. was founded in 1992 in Paris, France and is a global provider of data management software products designed for preservation and protection of corporate digital assets...

, Iron Mountain

Iron Mountain Incorporated

Iron Mountain Inc , founded in 1951, is a company whose headquarters are located in Boston, Massachusetts. It offers records management, information destruction and data backup services to more than 120,000 customers throughout North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia...

, Isilon, EMC

EMC Corporation

EMC Corporation , a Financial Times Global 500, Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company, develops, delivers and supports information infrastructure and virtual infrastructure hardware, software, and services. EMC is headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, USA.Former Intel executive Richard Egan and his...

, DELL

Dell

Dell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services. Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest...

, HP, Hitachi Data Systems

Hitachi Data Systems

Hitachi Data Systems is a company providing mid-range and high-end storage systems, software and services. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd. and part of the Hitachi Information Systems & Telecommunications Division....

, IBM

IBM

International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

, Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

, NetApp, Novell

Novell

Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...

, Open-E, Pillar Data Systems

Pillar Data Systems

Pillar Data Systems is a storage company headquartered in San Jose, California. Pillar Data develops midrange and enterprise network storage systems...

, Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...

, Symantec

Symantec

Symantec Corporation is the largest maker of security software for computers. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and is a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500 stock market index.-History:...

/Veritas Software

VERITAS Software

Veritas Software Corp. was an international software company that was founded in 1983 as Tolerant Systems, renamed Veritas Software Corp. in 1989, and merged with Symantec in 2005. It was headquartered in Mountain View, California...

, etc.).