Is 1.25 TB of Data Enough?
It is becoming apparent that with the constantly growing amount of digital content that is present in our everyday lives – photos and videos, documents and media files, etc., is 1.25 terabytes enough now and in the future? With improved technological devices and increased file sizes, storage solutions are called for. The following example will help us better understand what can be stored with 1.25 TB of storage space.
1.25 terabytes of storage is quite a lot of space and can accommodate a large amount of data, information, and files of different formats.
For better illustration let’s translate this to gigabytes and it will come to approximately 1,250 GB. That may sound like an abstract number, but think of it as room for:
- The songs include 250,000 songs each of which has a file size of 5 MB.
- A total of 312,500 photos at the size of 4 MB.
- The computer’s program allows for 1,250 hours of standard-definition video.
- 160 hours of high-definition HD 1080p video
- This smartphone supports 425 hours of 4K ultra HD video.
When it comes to storage of basic documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and the like; 1.25TB will be adequate to provide space for millions and millions of pages. Text files are less compressible in terms of size as compared to other formats of files.
In the first instance, one might be overwhelmed with offered capabilities that allow packing more than 300 thousand photos and songs along with several hundred hours of videos. However, how many hours will, for instance, 1.25 TB last the average client?
How Quick You Can Fill It?
Now with phone cameras ranging from 48 megapixels, and home internet speeds of 50 100 Mbps, it is quite easy and fast to produce and transfer gigabytes of data. Sharing on social media and cloud backups also makes one take more photos/videos and also back up in several areas.
Let us assume a simple example of a family of 4 where all members actively participate in social media and have smartphones, tablets, laptops, and a desktop at their home. Their 1.25 TB shared storage is spread across:
- A high-end feature of this device is the 500 GB hard drive incorporated into a desktop computer.
- 256 GB SSD boot drive in laptops.
- 64 GB of flash memory in tablets or phones
- 512 GB NAS appliance for connecting external storage to servers and clients.
- Account to backup 16 terabytes to the cloud
In their daily activities:
Make sure that family events, travels, and other occasions are documented through photos and videos.
Downloading apps, movies, television shows and games
In this regard, we can carry out synchronization of documents and media with the cloud.
It is very possible that they can use up to 1020 GB capacity per week alone. This group can also include the frequently mentioned heavy media users who may use over 50 + GB.
Or, in total, their combined annual use could reach 1 TB to 2 TB, which is a significant amount if everyone heavily uses cloud services and records 4K video material. At such a rate, the 1.25 TB may only be adequate for 612 months at best depending on the activity on the drive.
Managing Your Storage Needs
To maximize your 1.25 TB of storage space:
- Large media files and backups should be stored on the hard drives.
- Reduce documents/spreadsheets to smaller SSD drives only
- The use of cloud offerings is mainly primarily to avail hardware resources for backup and to share.
- Delete documents that serve no purpose in the project anymore
- Integrate the older data not required frequently
Furthermore, note that with new applications and improved Operating Systems, the amount of disk space needed also tends to increase. Hence it is advisable to provide at least 10% for overhead, caches, temporary files, and future expansion. This means it is advisable to keep free space of between 100 – 250 GB.
Potential for Faster Saturation
With 8K displays and cameras being adopted in the next two years, file sizes could be 6X the size of today’s 4K file size. 5G cellular will also further facilitate very fast data upload and download to the cloud. These advances mean something as simple as loading your local storage is 6 times faster!
Now, let us try to picture the same family replacing those aging devices with new 8K ones in the future. Their storage demand over a year may then reach 6 TB to 12 TB, depending on the intensity of their activities. In the aforementioned situation, their initial 1.25 terabytes would reach the maximum limit in less than two months.
Ongoing Storage Demand
All specialists without exception have forecasted that the data growth will further extend its 50% yearly increase in the future. Since the formats of digital information continue to change with the advances in capture technologies and increase in internet speeds, as with storage requirements, it has to as well.
In earlier days, the transition from SD quality to HD resulted in a huge shift in the capacity required. We are now at a similar juncture, albeit with mainstream 4K set adoption. And 8K is just the next step that seems to be on the horizon.
Cloud storage offers some extra space but has regular costs included in them that can sum up significantly. Streaming speed and data caps too can interfere with the long-term use of cloud storage as the sole solution.
Hence the majority of consumers opt to invest in additional local storage that can be accessed at the best time speed and efficiency. Given that the external hard drives and SSDs are gradually becoming cheaper, incorporating extra capacity is cost-effective. But getting this right is very important, especially the forecast of how much you will require.
The 1.25 TB Question
Even at the current usage level, 1.25 TB for the average family that is working with documents and photos along with apps and media is appropriate. But when 8K cameras come into view and 5G speeds dominate the markets, it will be very challenging to contain everything within 1.25 TB.
It would probably be better to ask not “Is 1.25 TB going to be enough”, but to use 1.25 TB as your initial storage pool that can be easily expanded further. Since there is always the option of external storage, you can easily upgrade it as and when required from time to time.
Following a tiered approach is recommended: Following a tiered approach is recommended:
It pertains to SSD for OS, apps, and other important files that users need to access frequently.
For media, backups I recommend an HDD.
Cloud for Redundancy and Portability
Well, go ahead and enjoy it with that new 1.25 TB drive. This is a bit contradictory, but they should also be prepared to expand the capacity once again…and again. Filling up is faster than ever in the world of digital data, what is considered ‘big’ today occupies space much more quickly!
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