Can we make data management more eco-friendly?

Software eliminates duplication and frees up storage space for more efficient data processing

Spotted: Between 80 and 90 per cent of the world’s data is unstructured, and 90 per cent of all the data online is duplicated. Managing such volumes of information can easily overwhelm anyone, from individuals and teams to organisations and governments, with 95 per cent of businesses viewing unstructured data as a problem for their company. And, alongside the growth in data itself is an increase in the carbon emissions created by transferring and storing it.  

San Francisco-based startup UltiHash has created high-performance data storage software that maximises the efficiency and capacity of existing storage units. The company deduplicates material at the byte level, removing everything that is not unique. The software works with both on-site and cloud storage facilities and can reduce a company’s data storage needs by up to 50 per cent. With less data to store, servers do not need as much cooling power, meaning that a sizeable reduction in storage needs decreases costs as well as emissions. 

For organisations working with big data, the savings can be even more powerful. Network space that is freed up makes it faster and less costly to run project engineering programmes, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, machine learning models, and more. And when businesses need to migrate essential documentation and data to new platforms, they can do so without moving unnecessary copies.  

UltiHash recently secured $2.5 million (around €2.3 million) of pre-seed funding from a range of investors and plans to use the new funds to accelerate and scale the development and deployment of its software.  

International supply chains rely on vast amounts of data across myriad systems. Springwise’s library includes a variety of machine learning innovations, such as using computer vision and a coordination system that maximises the efficiency of human robot interactions, to streamline operations in warehouses and beyond.

Written By: Keely Khoury