(SP33) Q: What is NLS?

Nearline storage ("near-online") is used to describe an intermediate type of data storage that represents a compromise between online storage (supporting frequent, very rapid access to data) and offline storage/archiving (used for backups or long-term storage, with infrequent access to data). Both archiving and Nearline allow a reduction of a database size that results in improved speed of performance for the online system. However, accessing archived data is more complex and/or slower than is the case with Nearline storage, and can also negatively affect the performance of the main database, particularly when the archive data must be reloaded into that database.