The Ideal User Data Storage Interface
When users access data sets through their storage devices it is important to present them with an easy-to-understand overview of the most crucial characteristics. This is particularly true for storage devices with unique features such as molecular storage media as well as novel media that are still in development. The ideal user interface permits users to see the properties by a variety of ways and then present them in order of importance for the user.
For example, the capacity property is one of the most important for users when using the traditional hard disk drive. Early systems provided built-in tools that reported precise information about a user’s storage device, but they primarily focused on displaying the capacity of the device with bar charts stacked and their variants (e.g. doughnut charts).
Modern systems present users with a range of characteristics, including the file’s capacity. For example some systems display the file’s lifespan with a graph or a pie chart that also displays the number of segments accessed in the storage device and supplemental information such as lifetime prediction is displayed when the user hovers over stacks.
The challenge is that IT teams are now required to collaborate with departments and end-users in order to provide cost-effective storage and faster and more secure access to the right data sets to support new initiatives and ideas. This shift demands IT departments to focus less on the acquisition of technology in the context of configuration and budget management and more on empowering users to serve their needs.