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Tier 2 storage is a middle or secondary level in a storage hierarchy—for data that does not need the fastest or most expensive storage, but still needs an appropriate level of access, protection and recovery. The label is not a universal hardware class or performance standard: each provider or organization can define its tiers differently.
What does Tier 2 storage mean?
Storage tiering groups storage options by characteristics such as performance, capacity, availability and cost, then places data on an option that meets its service needs. Tier 2 generally describes a less performance-intensive, often lower-cost position than a system’s top tier. It may be used for warm data—information accessed less frequently than active data—or as secondary storage for backups and business-continuity recovery.
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“Tier 2” identifies a place in a particular system’s hierarchy, not a specific drive type, speed or industry-wide specification. A provider’s Tier 2 might be described as medium priority, while another’s is explicitly a low-performing disk option. NetApp also uses Tier 2 as a configurable storage-quality annotation rather than a fixed hardware definition. See the Dell storage-profile documentation and NetApp’s annotation rules for examples of product-specific usage.
Does Tier 2 always mean the same hardware or performance?
No. The number alone does not establish a particular technology, latency, throughput or IOPS level. It must be read in the context of the product, service or policy that defines the hierarchy.
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- Dell storage profiles: Dell describes its Tier 2 profile as “Medium Priority,” balancing performance and cost efficiency. Its documentation says written data is stored on Tier 2 RAID 10, while snapshot data is stored on Tier 2 RAID 5 or RAID 6.
- UK G-Cloud 14 shared storage: The 2024 service definition calls Tier 2 a low-performing disk option and sets a fair-use policy of 100 IOPS per provisioned TB. That figure applies to the listed service, not to Tier 2 storage in general. Read the G-Cloud 14 service definition.
- NetApp OnCommand Insight: Tier 2 appears as a storage-quality annotation associated by default with certain storage families; the annotation rules can be changed or removed.
These definitions are local to their respective products and services, not competing universal standards.
What kind of data and media might belong on Tier 2?
Tier 2 may suit older email, historical business records or other information that needs dependable access but not the lowest possible latency. Depending on the system, it can also hold backup copies or data used for recovery. Possible implementations include capacity-oriented hard disk drives, SATA-based drives, tape, backup appliances and cloud storage. None of these media is required by the Tier 2 label.
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A research-computing service at the University of Arizona illustrates a cloud implementation. Its Tier 2 Storage page describes an AWS S3 Intelligent-Tiering option for research data not undergoing active analysis and for backups. The page says this data is not mounted directly on the high-performance computing system and is moved back to Tier 1 using Globus when needed. Its stated transitions and charges describe that university service; they should not be treated as a general promise about AWS storage.
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Start with the workload and service requirements, rather than assuming that the tier number guarantees a certain level of service. Check the provider’s documentation for the specific limits, protections and retrieval process.
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- This USB drive provides plug and play simplicity with the included 18 inch USB 3.0 cable
- The available storage capacity may vary.
- Access: Determine the required latency and throughput, plus how often the data will be accessed.
- Availability and protection: Check resilience, redundancy, backup and security requirements. A secondary copy is not automatically a complete recovery plan.
- Recovery: Confirm how data is restored or retrieved and whether the process meets your acceptable recovery time.
- Retention: Establish how long data must remain available and whether it can move to an archive after a period of inactivity.
- Capacity and cost: Consider storage charges as well as any costs or delays associated with moving or retrieving data.
For a named service, use its current documentation and version. A vendor-specific performance figure or Tier 2 label should not be used as a general benchmark for another system.
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- This USB drive provides plug and play simplicity with the included 18 inch USB 3.0 cable
- The available storage capacity may vary.
Sources and examples
- Enterprise Storage Forum: Guide to Tiered Storage
- TechTarget: What is tiered storage and how it is good for business?
- UK Government Digital Marketplace: G-Cloud 14 Shared disk storage service definition
- Dell: Storage profiles for standard storage types
- University of Arizona: Tier 2 Storage
- NetApp: Default storage annotation rules
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