Why data tiering is a sustainability tool

Data centres manage this with a strategy called tiering: keeping frequently-accessed files close to hand, on fast storage, while historic data you need only occasionally sits somewhere far less energy-hungry. Treat every file with the same urgency and you end up overpaying for both energy and hardware.

Hot, warm and cold

Hot storage is what your team needs right now — active files, live databases — usually on fast SSDs. It's also the most power-hungry: these drives stay spinning and generating heat around the clock, demanding constant cooling. If your hot storage is cluttered with old or duplicate files, you're paying a premium to keep things at arm's reach that nobody's actually reaching for.

Warm storage is the middle ground — data needed weekly or monthly, usually on slower, higher-capacity hard disks. Less power, less cooling, without the full cost of the hot tier.

Cold storage is the deep archive: records you're legally required to keep but rarely open. Tape is making a genuine comeback here, because a cartridge on a shelf consumes zero power, and modern cold storage can stay offline until a file is actually requested.

What it changes beyond the electricity bill

Moving the bulk of your data out of the hot tier means your most expensive drives aren't working as hard, so they last longer and get replaced less often — one less contribution to the e-waste pile. Properly tiered data is also easier to secure: if your cold data is offline, it's a much harder target during a live breach of your active systems.

And when hardware finally reaches the end of even the cold tier, that's where we come in — refurbished and given a second life rather than shredded by default.

See how we handle equipment at the end of its working life.