Best practices for using tiered storage in research

Research today generates vast amounts of data, which have to
be analyzed, stored, and, eventually, published. This often ne-
cessitates the use of large storage systems, which consume con-
siderable amounts of energy and natural resources. Therefore, it
is essential to use these storage systems in an efficient manner.
To achieve this goal, it is necessary to use a tiered combination
of different storage media, from fast SSDs for currently used
data to long-lived magnetic tapes for inactive data, and to set
criteria on when data should be kept on a specific medium and
when it should be moved. This work presents an overview of the
different storage tiers, the use cases best suited for each tier, and
recommendations on how to define storage management criteria
that fit your research workflow.