What's On Tape? The InStock Blog

Tape Backup Still Trumps VTL

Tape libraries and tape drives - for data storage, archiving and backup - have been around for almost half a century now.  Like all other technologies, tape continues to evolve and remains a strong viable solution for storage and archiving needs.  But with other storage alternatives that are now available like cloud, VTL and disk, is tape still the best choice for businesses?

The emergence of VTL (virtual tape libraries) has been a growing alternative for tape.  When hard disk space costs declined, some businesses turned toward hard disk storage alternatives for their backup and archive plans.  There are on site storage options as well as cloud storage alternatives now available.  Some of the selling points that were used were the expenses aren’t as bad as they used to be with disks and the faster time to write files to the hard disks.

Nonetheless, businesses should take a serious look at tape before jumping on the hard disk bandwagon.  When comparing your options, evaluate these points:

• Tape continues to provide an economical solution with the lowest cost per gigabyte for storage when compared to all other storage options.  Even when compared to the lower hard disk storage costs, tape is still the more economical choice.
• Tape provides reliable security features such as WORM and sophisticated encryption services.  The integrity checks are proven and consistently dependable so that the risk of data loss is virtually eliminated.
• Tape life extends for up to 30 years, providing more than adequate storage for most auditing and compliance purposes in both the public and private sectors.
• Tape has a proven long term record for reliability and easy recovery.  For decades, businesses have utilized tape recoveries and retrievals for their auditing and data restoration.
• While disk is fast, tape storage technology is more than adequately efficient and expedient for data repositories and archives.  With newer tape technologies, speed is not an issue and businesses can be assured that backup schedules will stay on track.
• Tape requires lower energy use, making tape storage options more environmentally friendly for businesses who wish to consider energy costs regarding their IT systems.
• Tape operating equipment is highly reliable and consistently proven to be efficient and dependable.  This means the equipment requires fewer service and replacement cycles when compared to disk storage devices.

There are tape libraries to suit every need. From the compact, desktop ADIC Scalar 24 for small businesses, the Dell PowerVault ML6010 for mid-size businesses to the StorageTek SL500 for large enterprise environments, tape libraries are still used by the vast majority of businesses.  In a recent 2010 study, Enterprise Strategy Group found that 62% of businesses continue to use tape storage systems for their archiving tasks.  Before going with the latest fashion trends for storage, look at the proven technology of tape libraries and tape drives for storage and archiving.