What is Data Transfer?
Data transfer is the process of moving data between systems as part of a system reconfiguration or to enhance data utilization and security. It typically involves copying data from a source to a destination over a network.
If both the source and destination copies are retained, it is called data replication or data backup and requires ongoing effort to synchronize any changes between the two copies. If the source copy is deleted or decommissioned, the process is referred to as data migration.
Data transfer may also involve physically transporting data storage devices from one location to another
Why is data transfer performed?
There are several reasons that businesses may transfer data from one location or system to another.
Cloud data migration
Cloud data migration is one of the most common forms of data transfer, as it allows businesses to relocate their local, on-premise data to a cloud-based infrastructure. The movement to the cloud offers enterprises unlimited scalability in storage and computing, as well as scalability in their data usage, and the ability to enhance access to data across their organization. Movement to the cloud is a standard part of data modernization.
Data backups
Data backups are crucial for disaster recovery, providing businesses with numerous point-in-time copies of their data, ensuring operational continuity. Businesses can develop backups and distribute them to several locations to enhance their security posture, helping to prevent the worst consequences of disaster events. Often, creating backups by transferring copies of data to a remote location is a standard part of data management.
Data archiving
Data archiving involves transmitting data that is infrequently used to long-term storage facilities. By using these alternative data warehouses, businesses can free up space in their active operations for more essential datasets. Transferring files to a data archive also ensures that the data is accessible if needed, without occupying too much space in current workloads.
Hybrid workflows
Hybrid cloud workflows, also known as cloud bursting, occur when a business temporarily transfers data to the cloud to handle additional demand during peak moments. This form of sharing data requires fast data transfer speeds, reliable transmission, and a large network bandwidth to manage the mass movement to and from the cloud.
How is data transfer performed?
There are two primary workflow strategies that businesses can use for data transmission.
Manual data transmission
A manual data transfer strategy involves cloud service providers sending a physical device to your business, which you can then load with your data and return to them. This ensures that all your data is uploaded securely to your cloud account, alleviating any concerns a company may have about compromising data integrity during the transfer process. A physical device approach also removes concerns about moving large datasets, such as limited bandwidth or low data transfer rates, which impact other communication channels.
Automatic data transmission
Automatic data transfer utilizes network-based tools and services to transfer data between different systems without requiring human intervention. An automatic approach is especially useful for businesses that need to frequently or continuously move their data, such as enterprise businesses that rely on external backup sites. Some businesses may automate file transfer protocol systems to streamline the movement of files from one server to another. Organizations can either continuously transfer data or process data in batches, which reduces the burden but takes more time.
What are the key considerations for data transfer?
There are several key considerations that businesses should take into account when engaging in data transmission.
Availability
Availability in the context of data transfer means that the service is operational whenever a company may need it, without any disruptions that prevent access. Planning for high availability in the data transfer process involves using resilient services, ensuring the data source remains accessible, and using data centers with fault tolerance.
Reliability
Reliability is the ability to ensure that any data sent from the source will arrive at the target without data corruption, duplication, or loss. Reliability involves implementing end-to-end validation, which enhances visibility over every step of the data pipeline. With full visibility, data engineers can identify any issues in the data transfer process and remedy them before they cause any of the aforementioned problems.
Efficiency
Efficiency in data transfer is ensuring that the data transfer process is streamlined while also consuming as few resources as possible. An efficient data transfer system uses strategies such as asynchronous and synchronous transfers to minimize potential disruptions and maximize transfer speed.
Improvements in data compression technologies, the use of parallel transmission in place of serial transmission, and the utilization of wired connections where available have helped enhance efficiency.
Latency
Latency is variance in data transfer speeds, often related to factors like computer network conditions or total bandwidth usage at any given moment. A high degree of latency reduces the efficiency of digital communication across platforms and can create unexpected interruptions.
Redundancy
Redundancy is the unnecessary duplication of data, which occupies time and resources without providing any tangible benefit to the company. In certain scenarios, duplicating data is necessary and may even be the primary reason for data transfer, such as when creating data backups. If there is no reason to create a second copy of data, then a data transfer that results in two versions of the same data creates redundancies in your systems.
Security
Organizations should consistently adhere to secure data transfer practices to minimize the likelihood of security incidents. Network and data protection ensure sensitive information remains private. The vast majority of data transmission systems and inter-system communication protocols employ rigorous security defenses to keep data in motion as secure as possible throughout its journey.
How can AWS cloud services support your data transfer requirements?
AWS provides an extensive range of solutions to help you transfer data to and within the AWS cloud. For example, you can use
- AWS DataSync to securely discover data and migrate to AWS with end-to-end security, simplified planning, and data movement management.
- AWS Direct Connect to create a dedicated network connection to AWS. This way, you can secure your data as it moves between your network and AWS with multiple encryption options.
- Amazon Data Firehose to stream data. You can reliably load real-time streams into data lakes, warehouses, and analytics services.
- AWS Snowcone to access secure, rugged devices, that bring AWS computing and storage capabilities to your edge environments, and transfer data into and out of AWS.
- AWS Transfer Family to easily manage file data transfers to and from AWS.
Get started with data transfer on AWS by creating a free account today.