• Home
• Articles Archive
• Features List

• Media Pack
• Contact Us
• Subscribe

NOTHING BUT THE BEST

From STORAGE Magazine Vol 9, Issue 6- September 2009

MAJOR, OFTEN CRIPPLING, INCIDENTS ARE NOT SOMETHING ANYONE WANTS TO CONTEMPLATE. BUT THE PROSPECTS OF FULL RECOVERY HAVE MUCH TO DO WITH THE MEDIA USED FOR BACKUP

Data storage media is used to record and store large-scale data. Examples include optical disks and magnetic tapes. Magnetic tape consists of a magnet oxide coating on a thin plastic strip that is commonly used for backup and archiving, while an optical disc is a type of data storage media that is made of polycarbonate, which allows data to be read by a laser light that shines through the polycarbonate, hitting the data layer. Storage on digital optical media has the advantage of large capacity.

Optical media is used for storing digital sounds, images and data, and comes in three 'flavours': CD-ROM; Write Once, Read Many (WORM); and rewritable media. CD-ROM, CD-R, and WORM technologies provide long-term storage of digital information, because they cannot be erased or revised.

So far, so good - but which of these might be right for you? And how can they improve your overall efficiency and productivity? Most of all, how critical are they likely to be to your overall effectiveness to function of your business, especially when disaster strikes?

Of course, the occurrences of major incidents may seem all too rare, but it is only necessary to think of the disastrous New Orleans floods and Buncefield explosions to recognise the need for safe, secure and ideally flexible backup.

While stating the obvious, it is important to remember why we back up and should maintain a disaster recovery programme. So, when carrying out a needs analysis

for any back-up, archive and disaster recovery solution, businesses are inevitably left juggling business continuity provision, versus risk, versus cost.

Ultimately, any decision will be strongly influenced by cost, but the risk to business continuity, if a disaster occurs, by cutting corners cannot be underestimated. In the 21st Century, tape is still the preferred, most reliable and efficient method for backup, archive and provision for business continuity. Any networked organisation operating a reasonable- sized server or running a number of applications with high memory demands should back up to a modern tape format, such as LTO. Smaller users may well consider 4mm DAT; but, across education, government, SME and corporate sectors, high capacity mid-range or enterprise tapes are now the norm.

ROBUST SOLUTION

Tape specialists would argue that tape is more robust than other options, especially for backup and archival applications. Specialist professional tape vendors will provide a range of complimentary services to minimise the risk of loss of data. In the event of a tape being partially damaged, it is far easier to retrieve the remaining data, compared to retrieving the data from other sources, including optical disc. Also, the cost of storage per GB using tape formats such as LTO or SDLT is reducing dramatically year by year, while capacity and speed of retrieval is nearly doubling every two years. In fact, price per gigabyte for tapes is currently in the region of 40% lower than optical media alternatives.

Fujifilm, for example, a leader in this field, typically guarantees its tapes for the lifetime of the product under broad environmental conditions, further testimony to the durability of modern data tapes. Add this to the convenience, profitability, cost and compatibility issues, and the arguments for back-up tape are indeed persuasive. Tape is also accepted as the greenest option, using far less power and producing a lower heat output. Moreover, the major drive manufacturers such as HP, IBM and Quantum are continuing to invest in further development of successful tape technologies, such as LTO.

The first tape drives were introduced almost 60 years ago - now storing up to 1.6TB of compressed data, the latest LTO-G4 Ultrium tape drives hold eight times the capacity of the first LTO tape drive launched in 2000. In addition, long before it was offered on disk, tape technology provided Write Once Read Many (WORM) capability, as well as hardware-based encryption. WORM functionality provides a cost-effective means for storing data in a non-rewritable format to help address compliance requirements, increasingly important in today's litigation culture. LTO G4 also features Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256-bit encryption to keep data secure, offering a higher level of security during storage and transportation of

sensitive information. Undoubtedly, tape technology continues to offer an optimum balance of price and performance for storing data. Additionally, companies looking to store vast amounts of streaming data can also benefit from tape's high performance back-up speeds. With native transfer rates of up to 120MB/s, the LTO G4 tape drives stream up to 864GB of 2:1 compressed data per hour, easily equalling or surpassing the backup speed of the majority of today's disk drives in data streaming applications.

NO OPTICAL ILLUSION

So, where does this leave optical disc? Probably not as a high capacity daily backup medium, with volumes of data increasing and demands constantly changing. However, this does not mean that optical disc does not have a role to play in an organisation's storage programme, especially for transfer and distribution of data, video and sound files. Throughout commerce, industry, government and broadcast, optical discs have a multiplicity of uses.

In addition to broadcast applications, DVD & Blu-ray are now being used for a wide range of applications, including: bespoke discs for government purposes, police evidence suites, CCTV, military and medical applications in addition to back up for small to medium sized businesses.

WORM optical media, including CD-R, DVD+/-R and BD-R, is ideal for creating master discs, etc, for security purposes.

Optical media is gaining more credence with the constant advancements in coating technology and increased storage capacities. This has opened up opportunities for small to medium sized companies to back-up on optical media. Fujifilm engineers have perfected the craft of applying layers of material down to nano-scale level. The significant increase in storage capacities of optical discs with the introduction of Blu-ray has opened up opportunities for small to medium sized companies to back-up on optical media.

Blu-ray was developed for recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), plus storing large amounts of data. For example, a two-hour programme in HD creates a digital file roughly 15-25 gigabytes in size, the equivalent of 13 hours of standard-definition TV. Optical media is able to record information through a combination of dyes, coatings and binder components. Indeed, in 2003, Fujifilm unveiled its OXOLIFE dye coating, perfecting the craft of applying layers of material down to nano-scale level.

Recorded media has much to offer. Once users decide what best matches their needs, the solutions will undoubtedly follow.