STORING DATA

Data Storing

Once data has been selected and appraised for curation, it has to undergo processes for storing data. Storing Data is the process of recording data on a medium for retrieval purposes at a later instance (Sriramoju, 2019). Storing data processes involves deciding on types of storage, technical issues, data formats and metadata.

A. TYPES OF STORAGE

Information can be stored on a specific media technology depending on cost, convenience and reliability of a particular technology. According to Blumzon and Panescu (2019), some of the notable media include the following:

1. Magnetic Storage (hard disk drives (HDD), magnetic tapes)

Data is stored using the magnetization patterns of a special surface.

2. Optical Storage (compact disks, Blu-ray)

Data is stored in deformities on a circular surface which can be read when being illuminated by a laser diode.

3. Semiconductor Storage

Data is stored using semiconductor-based integrated circuits. Originally, a volatile storage technology upgraded into a state of art non volatile technology with access speeds surpassing that of magnetic technology.

Centralized Storage vs Distributed Storage

B. TECHNICAL ISSUES

Storing data has to consider the following technical issues:

1. Redundancy

There is always a possibility of the data or medium developing some faults rendering the data inaccessible or useless at a later stage. As such it is wise to have clones of the stored data on multiple storage systems.

2. Persistence and Preservation

Stored data need to be frequently tested for rot detection to ensure timely migration to another medium whenever need arises.

3. Transformation

The stored data is migrated to other medium to avoid rot and being overtaken by technology format innovations which might render the older file formats obsolete.

C. DATA FILE FORMAT

Storing Data has to consider the following data file format issues:

1. Proprietary Versus Open Source File Format

Proprietary file formats require proprietary applications and sometimes proprietary hardware which makes interoperability of the file across systems a nightmare (Denis & Johnson, 2007). On the other hand, open-source file formats are universal as they do not require specific applications and hardware for access (Zeng et al., 2025).

2. Standardization

One has to consider if a particular data file format will be followed to enhance interoperability.

D. METADATA

Metadata is data about data which facilitates the interaction with the stored data for easy interpretation (Tewfik et al., 2025). The following are types of metadata that one has to think about when storing data (Blumzon & Panescu, 2019):

1. Descriptive Metadata

It describes the title, creators of the dataset and description/keywords of the stored data.

2. Licensing and Rights Metadata

It describes the legal ways in which the data can be shared and reused. It includes the copyright statement, rights holder and reuse terms

3. Technical Metadata

It describes data file format and size for transfer purposes.

4. Preservation Metadata

It provides information for checking data integrity by providing such information as checksum or replica replacement events.

5. Structural Metadata

It provides ways in which data files are organised and their formats.

All in all, storing data should be done with a mind of securing perpetual availability and accessibility of the preserved data.

REFERENCES

Blumzon, C.F.I., Pănescu, A. (2019). Data Storage. In: Bespalov, A., Michel, M., Steckler, T. (eds) Good research practice in non-clinical pharmacology and biomedicine: handbook of experimental pharmacology (vol. 257). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/164_2019_288

Denis, T. & Johnson, S. (2007). Cryptography for developers. Syngress. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-159749104-4/50005-4.

Sriramoju, S. (2019). A comprehensive review on data storage. International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology, 6(5), (236-241). https://doi.org/10.32628/IJSRST

Tewfik, G., Chaudhry, F., Rodriguez-Correa, D., Aziz, R. & Naftalovich, R. (2025). Metadata: how data about data affects patient safety in anesthesia. Current Opinion in Anesthesiology, 38 (6), 786-793. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACO.0000000000001575.

Zeng, X., Meng, R., Prammer, M., McKinney, W., Patel, J. M., Pavlo, A. & Zhang, H. (2025). F3: The open-source data file format for the future. Proceedings of the Association Computing Machine on Management of Data, 245, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1145/3749163