Data storage compliance is having a tremendous impact on the storage organization, as well as the management practices employed to retain, search, certify and destroy data. It's not just regulations like SOX or HIPAA that influence storage -- there are well over 10,000 regulations that affect data storage, backup and protection across a range of industries. But companies are often left alone in their quest to identify the regulations that relate to them, identify what data should be saved and implement storage to meet those regulations. This article covers the essential goals of data storage compliance, examines implementation considerations and obstacles and reviews the impact of compliance on storage.