RAID Storage--Exploring All Channels

For on-line storage that needs to be accessed quickly or often, one strategy is to continually upgrade your RAID server with more capacity as your needs grow. The problem with this approach is this can be expensive given that good RAID systems range from $100 to $150 per gigabyte. Another approach is to try and squeeze more space from existing storage using a variety of file and image compression utilities and technologies. The most widely used compression technologies today include LZW and JPEG for grayscale and color continuous-tone images, and TIFF Group 4 for one bit image data and applications like StuffIt Deluxe for application files. What's attractive about these technologies is that they offer a lossless form of compression that allows images and documents to be recalled to their original state. LZW and JPEG image compression technologies are supported by many applications, print servers and RIPs, so using these file formats can be seamless to the users.