Top 8 Tips for Optimizing Cloud Storage in Education

Education institutions are relying on cloud storage more and more. With the announcements from both Google and Microsoft that education organizations will no longer receive unlimited storage benefits, it is crucial to adopt the right strategies to help optimize and minimize costs.

Drawing insights from the Spin.AI blog on cloud storage changes in education, we’ve created a comprehensive checklist to help educators streamline cloud storage requirements. This checklist allows admins with education institutions to follow the essential steps needed to optimize current and future storage needs. Also, you can download a detailed PDF version of the checklist for convenience.

The Ultimate Checklist for Educational Institutions

Note the following key steps to help optimize cloud storage requirements in education environments.

1. Analyze current storage usage

• Audit current cloud storage usage: One of the first steps in auditing the environment is to identify all cloud storage services used by the organization. This audit and inventory should include storage services used by the institution as well as by faculty, staff, and students.
• Identify duplicated and unused data: Using tools from your cloud provider, you can identify files that haven’t been accessed or used in a long time. After these have been identified, they can often be archived or removed to free up space.
• Determine file types and the frequency of access: Determine which types of files are in storage, including documents, videos, images, etc. Find out which files take up the most space and how often end users or applications access them. Doing this allows for prioritizing what data needs to be stored in high-access areas versus long-term storage.

2. Implement Storage Policies

• File retention policies: Organizations must define how long certain types of data need to be kept. For example, administrative documents might be kept indefinitely. However, student data might be archived after a year.
• Data categorization and access permissions: An important step in the overall data lifecycle is categorizing data. It is important to understand which data is sensitive or non-sensitive. Once this classification happens, ensure sensitive data has stricter access controls.
• Limit personal storage spaces: Using policies, define what data can be stored and shared in personal versus shared spaces. It helps to avoid clutter, duplicated data, and unauthorized data sharing.

3. Make use of storage tiers

• Use different storage tiers: Most cloud providers offer different tiers of storage. These include high-speed, frequently accessed, and high-cost options as well as slower, more affordable ones. Using the right type of storage for your data can realize tremendous cost savings.
• Store frequently accessed data in high-performance tiers: Current or frequently accessed data can be stored in faster, more expensive storage. This type of storage provides the best performance and user experience.
• Move infrequently accessed data to cheaper, long-term storage options: It provides significant cost savings to archive older data that is rarely accessed to lower-cost storage options. 

4. Enable Automated Data Lifecycle Management

• Use automated policies to move data between storage tiers: Data lifecycle management is best automated. For example, data can be moved to a cheaper storage tier after a certain period of inactivity. This automation helps to make sure infrequently accessed data is not continually stored on expensive “hot-tier” storage.
• Automatically delete or archive old files: Determine when data should be archived or deleted. It reduces manual operations and uses automation to make sure data is managed consistently.

5. Backup and Recovery

• Use regular backups for critical data: Make sure critical data is backed up regularly to avoid loss due to hardware failures or accidental deletions.
• Use incremental backups: Instead of full backups each time, use incremental backups that save only the changes since the last backup and limit API calls to the environment.
• Test recovery processes: Test recovery processes regularly to make sure that data can be restored in case of an emergency.

6. Leverage Built-In Security Features

• Utilize cloud provider security tools: Use tools like encryption, advanced firewalls, and other security features offered by the cloud provider.
• Implement encryption both at rest and in transit: Make sure any sensitive data is encrypted when it’s stored on disk and transferred across the network.
• Review access controls and permissions and update as needed: Monitor and adjust access controls when these need to change based on who has access to what data. This process helps make sure that permissions are always up-to-date and appropriate.

7. Monitor and Analyze Storage

• Monitor storage usage and costs: Use built-in cloud provider tools or third-party services to closely monitor how storage is used and how much it costs.
• Analyze and identify ways to optimize: Continually look for storage patterns that may affect future storage decisions, such as peak usage times.
• Adjust strategies based on analyzing storage: Make decisions about storage management based on the insights gained from the regular monitoring of storage use and patterns.

8. Education and training

• Train employees on efficient cloud storage usage: Make sure all staff members understand how to use cloud storage effectively and efficiently.
• Promote best practices: Users benefit by sharing tips and guidelines on managing files, such as naming conventions and folder structures.
• Encourage users to review their personal storage: Help encourage staff to regularly clean out their storage spaces to keep the system running smoothly.

Additional Tips

• Cloud Storage Alternatives: Consider hybrid solutions that use on-premises and cloud storage for cost efficiency. This architecture can help provide the best of both worlds. It allows institutions to use the speed and convenience of cloud storage while having control over on-premises storage solutions.
• Contract review: Regularly review contracts with cloud storage providers. Organizations may be able to negotiate better terms based on usage patterns and future needs.
• Third-Party Tools: Use third-party tools and services for added optimization and management capabilities. These tools can offer advanced features that might not be available through your cloud provider

By using this checklist, educational institutions can reduce cloud storage costs and improve data efficiency and security. Take advantage of our exclusive discount for educational institutions to reduce Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 storage costs. SpinOne Archive provides affordable archiving solutions, enabling institutions to manage data effectively while ensuring secure and accessible data with a 99.9% SLA.

Download Checklist