Downloading Increases Need For Secondary Storage, Report Says

As people download from the Internet, they provide growth opportunities for data storage products, says a new study from International Data Corp. (IDC), a technology research firm. And secondary storage media will play an increasingly important role. Downloading and Storing Files from the Internet: An IDC End-User Survey shows 56% of commercial respondents and 49% of consumers download data from the Internet at least a few times a week. Some download multiple times daily. About 91% of businesses and 81% of consumers say they use hard drives for primary storage. For secondary storage, businesses prefer Zip, LAN, and floppy drives -- while consumers prefer floppy and hard drives. The typical downloaded file is smaller than two megabytes. "However, the high frequency and the long duration that files stay on the primary storage medium make this storage opportunity significant," says Wolfgang Schlichting, research manager of optical and removable storage for IDC's Storage Mechanisms research program. To purchase the report contact Sue Beauregard at 800-343-4952, ext. 4774, or [email protected].