The generally accepted approach to dealing with large quantities of unstructured data from a storage perspective is to deploy some form of a file server that sites on top of network-attached storage.

In recent months we've seen Hewlett-Packard, NetApp and Exanet lead the charge in this space with a raft of offerings that are all capable of dealing with the challenges associated with the uncontrolled growth of data.

But new startup company called Cleversafe has emerged to challenge some of the basic assumptions around managing unstructured data. The Cleversafe approach basically breaks up all the data and distributes it across multiple storage arrays. Rather than storing a file on one server and then replications it across the network as needed, Cleversafe actually slices the file up across multiple storage devices using an approach it calls an Information Dispersal Algorithm.

Previously, Cleversafe had only used the technology to support byte level storage applications, but now the company has expanded support to include file-oriented storage. At present, Cleversafe only has 12 customers so it's hard to say that the company is taking the market by storm.

But one claim that is likely to get a lot of attention going forward is the fact that Cleversafe claims its approach is far more efficient because disaster recovery support is basically built into the system. Because the data is distributed across multiple storage nodes, Cleversafe claims its approach doesn't require the addition of a second file server to provide backup and recovery of multiple copies of files.

With the addition of new storage arrays, Cleversafe says it can now support anywhere from up to 3 to 4 terabytes of raw storage capacity that can be distributed across the WebDAV protocol on the Web.

In these tough economic times any technology model that comes with an embedded approach to disaster recovery is going to be worth a look. When times are tough, the pressure to reduce hardware expenses is particularly acute. And all too often, the approach the most vendors take when it comes to disaster recovery is to ask the customer to buy more hardware.