Monday, August 02, 2010

Why is data compression so important?

Why is data copression so important?

Many people feel that storage is cheap and one should not worry about data compression.  I beg to differ.  Let's review exactly what is meant by data compression:  Data Compression is the Process of reducing the amount of data needed for storage or transmission of a given piece of information (text, graphics, video, sound, etc.), typically by use of encoding techniques.

Simply stated, "You can save time and money by automatically compressing your data.".  Imagine whatever you spend for storage being cut in half or in some cases reduced by 90%!  Those saving are further compounded when you transmit the information over the Internet.  In this situation the savings is time as well as money.

Web sites utilize compression all of the time.  I am sure you have experienced  s l o w  sites.  They typically have very large image files, flash and do not perform any type of compression like GZIP.  By the way, compressing your site will probably improve your SEO as well.  The top sites are compressed!

VAULT400 automatically compresses your data for you.  When it comes to the IBM iSeires (AS/400), I have seen compressions as high as 10:1.

If you would like to see the impact on data transmission time for your data, click here and connect to the Calculate link.