subject: Backup Tape Format Delivers Superior Performance And Are More Efficient Than Disk-based System [print this page] Todays business environment has become more collaborative and interconnected. Business enterprises are producing massive volumes of data, which needs robust protection as natural disasters, system failures, hackers, software bugs or viruses can affect the integrity of your valuable data assets. It would be a big disaster if the data is completely erased. So dont worry, you can mitigate the risk by installing a data backup system into your IT environment.
The IT managers often get confused as there are a number of backup technologies available in the market. The most dominant technologies are tape and disk. A comparison between these backup technologies has been made in this article to help data administrators make a quality decision. First we take a look at the option of removability. Backup tapes are portable, robust and can be safely moved offsite. They can tolerate rough handlings and deliver excellent protection against humidity, harsh working conditions and mechanical shocks. On the other hand, disk-based systems are not robust enough and there is a high risk of data loss if they are transported offsite.
Foremost tape technologies are DAT/DDS, Travan, AIT, SLR-MLR, DLT, LTO ultrium, VXA tape and SDLT tape. Popular disk-based systems are SATA RAID-6, RAID-10 and RAID-5. RDX cartridge is a new breakthrough technology that has quickly become a leading disk-based system for medium & small organizations. The major brands of RDX backup technology are Quantum, Imation, IBM and HP.
Now lets take a look at the data transfer speed. The throughput rates offered by LTO tape format far exceed the data rate of fastest disk based systems including RAID-6 and RAID-5. The LTO5 solution provides an unmatched speed of 140 Mbps, whereas the fastest disk formats can only achieve half that rate. Data security is the most vital attribute, because your business simply cannot afford to lose its precious data. In addition, you also have to fulfill the strict mandates of government regulations. Backup tape formats offer time-proven and cost-effective data encryption and WORM mechanisms. Both of these technologies feature in LTO5 and LTO4 media formats. The backup data is protected with highest level of data security against unauthorized access and common operating errors. Data security of backup disk format does not offer perfect balance of affordability and speed.
RAID-5 disk system is economical but fails to provide reliable data protection, whereas the RAID-10 technology offers robust data security but is not cost-efficient.
Backup tape formats maintain superior data integrity by utilizing their read after write and advanced error correction functionalities. For consistent performance, reduced human interference and higher operation efficiency, you can integrate the backup media cartridges in tape library. In addition, it also reduces the risk of tape damage due to rough handlings or unintentional drops. Backup tape formats elevate the storage value and capacity and by compressing the data. 2:1 compression ratio is offered by majority of tape media formats. The AIT tape storage technology has increased the data compressing capability to an impressive 2.6:1.
Therefore, we conclude that backup tape format outperforms disk technology on capacity, durability, archival life and operational reliability.
