When users access data sets through their storage devices it is important to present them with an easy to understand view of the most important characteristics. This is especially important for storage media with distinctive features, such as molecular storage media and new media currently in development. The ideal user interface permits users to see the properties of the media using a variety of visual methods boardroom software and present them in the order of importance to the user.
For example the capacity property is typically one of the most important factors for users when using an old-fashioned hard disk drive. The first systems had tools that gave detailed details about the user’s storage device. However, they focused mostly on displaying its complete capacity by using bar graphs stacked and their variants (e.g. doughnut charts).
With more modern systems however the capacity of a particular file is only one of many properties that are presented to the user. Some systems, for example display the life-time of the file by using graphs, or a pie chart, that also displays the number of segments accessed in the storage device. Additional information, such as the likelihood of life, is displayed when a user hovers over the stacks.
IT teams are now required to work with departments and users to provide cost-effective data storage and quicker access to secure and proper data sets needed for new ideas and projects. This change in IT requires IT departments to concentrate less on the acquisition of technology, configuration and budget management and more on empowering users to meet their needs.