“Why use tape storage today?”

The limitations and benefits of tape

Tape is a key technology for keeping an offline copy. One of the key benefits is that it provides data immutability as data is stored on tapes in a vault in the library that isn’t connected to the network. This data isn’t at risk of being corrupted by ransomware or other malware and is safely beyond the reach of hackers. It’s also the most affordable option for backup and archive. Encryption is a key feature in LTO technology, which helps companies meet the requirements of GDPR Article 32. Magnetic tape on prem can be an ideal storage medium whether it is used for backup or archive and it is ideally used in combination with disk disk that help meet recovery point objectives (RPOs) and recovery time objectives (RTOs).

Limitations include slow retrieval time, a shortage of IT staff with tape technology expertise, and the need for human handling of the tape. However, these limitations are becoming less of an issue because when you use tape to store your offline copy and archive, then the time needed to retrieve data is no longer that relevant. In addition, tape capacities and transfer rates have increased and continue to do so, it decreases the need to handle tapes dramatically. Nonetheless, for those organizations that still use tape to store their secondary copy, these nuances can be eliminated by partitioning the tape library to create a secure storage location within the library that isn’t accessible to applications. That is the reason, Quantum created the Active Vault feature in its Scalar libraries so it can create a vault or partitions that aren’t exposed externally to applications. These partitions don’t contain tape drives - which provides an additional barrier to access – and because the vaulted tapes remain in the library, they’re safe from mishandling, damage, and loss. Tape technology has become a lot simpler and easy to manage with the high capacities and higher transfer rates, and the library technology to handle tapes makes it a great tool to help users store an offline copy to protect data against cyberthreats.

New and emerging tape formats and technology enhancements

One future technology is the use of Flash Plus Tape (FLAPE), a tiered-storage method that combines the use of flash storage and tape. When data is written to flash, a copy is also written to tape. Data that’s accessed frequently remains in flash storage for optimum performance and once the data is no longer being used, it is purged from flash to make room for other data. This benefits users who can optimize the use of their flash storage while using a lower cost form of media (tape) for archiving.

How tape works with other storage media

As companies generate more data, there is an increasing need to retain it, and maintain visibility and access to it. However, the bottom line is cost. For example, storing and archiving large volumes of data on high-performance disk is not a financially savvy choice. But when an organisation copies its data to separate offline or cloud-based archives, this puts valuable data out of reach and can limit the ability to leverage it.

It’s common for organisations to have multiple workflows, each with its own storage requirements. A hybrid strategy offers organisations the advantage of both archiving options – it can leverage the strengths of cloud and on-premise archiving when it comes to performance, accessibility and cost. This is where most organisations are headed as they look to cut costs and maximise their storage archival options. Combining tape, disk and object store can benefit your TCO without having your data leave your four walls with the exception of keeping a copy offsite for data protection.

Key use cases for the various tape technologies currently on the market

One of the main use cases for tape is protection against ransomware. According to a recent report from the UK Government looking into Cyber Security Breaches, the extent of cyber security threats has not

diminished. The survey shows that cyber-attacks have evolved and become more frequent. Almost half of businesses (46%) and a quarter of charities (26%) report having cyber security breaches or attacks in the last 12 months. Like previous years, this is higher among medium businesses (68%), large businesses (75%) and high-income charities (57%). This is too much of a serious threat to ignore and not protect against.

Hyperscale environments are another good example. The increase in the use of raw data in complex workflows and research has led to an increase in the number of petabyte-level environments. Companies such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are now offering cloud computing services on an extremely large scale, in complex environments featuring exabyte-level storage infrastructures, to manage excess data. The automotive industry and the pursuit of self-driving vehicles is a strong point. A self-driving testing vehicle alone can generate up to 10-20 terabytes of data per day to be used for analysis. It’s not uncommon for developers in this field to need hundreds of petabytes of storage to keep the workflow going and magnetic tape is a perfect medium to store it all at a fraction of the cost compared to disk or cloud