The present invention addresses the deficiencies of the related art by providing a tier-based data storage solution. Specifically, the present invention evaluates the data contained in
database tables by analyzing several
metrics for the data, and creating a valuation
score. The valuation
score is used to determine the storage tier that would meet the performance and availability requirements of the
database with the goal of reducing the costs associated with storing that data. The
metrics that are used to evaluate
database tables include (among others): table purpose,
data retention, disk requirements, data criticality, data relevance, and desired performance. As such, the present invention will develop a data (lifecycle) storage plan for each set of data. This storage plan not only identifies an initial storage tier where the data should be stored, but also identifies, if, when and to where the data should be moved thereafter.