Tape

Tape libraries offer one of the most economical forms of archiving for medium to large capacities (50TB to Petabytes). Large tape libraries consume the smallest amount of electricity per TB of any archive  technology. LTO offers an industry standard, backward compatible technology  that is both robust and offers excellent streaming performance. With compressed  capacities reaching 3TB per LTO5 cartridge, creating a Petabyte archive can be  achieved today with a 350 slot library.

LTO tape media is now more reliable than hard disk.  New error correction technology has significantly increased the reliability of  LTO media over DLT (the previous industry tape standard). Tape libraries are also monitoring the health of media, advising when media should be replaced.  LTO has a 30 year shelf life and so offers an easy and low-cost method of  creating an offsite store, by copying and storing media at a second location. For increased data security for offsite media, encryption is an option that many organizations now benefit from.

A drawback of using tape in an archive is the relatively slow load speed. For archives that have little retrieval, tape only archives can work well. However, typical library media loads can take 90 to 120  seconds, which for certain applications can be too long. If hundreds of retrievals are made at the same time then a tape library can quickly become unusable.

As part of a 3-2-1 Archive, LTO can play a very important role, particularly for medium to large archives. It is fast to write, has a low total cost of ownership and a long usable life. LTO is excellent for larger size files, where the slow load speed can be compensated by the fast retrieval speed. Using QStar HSM Archive Replicator software tape libraries can be paired with a RAID system to create a fast and resilient archive. The removability of LTO also allows a simple Disaster Recovery (DR) strategy to be created, by copying media which can then be stored offsite.

We welcome the opportunity to speak with you about your archiving needs and encourage you to contact us.