Preparing For the Great Backup Migration
Media management is a dynamic profession, and IT administrators that are reluctant to embrace new technology may quickly find themselves looking for another job. Such is the case with backup tape management. Instead of staying locked in to an outmoded system, companies should be aware that migrating to an updated setup can bring powerful operational and financial benefits.
Staying ahead of the curve. Whereas state-of-the-art technologies can provide the competitive advantage to catapult you to the top of your industry, clinging to the tools of yesteryear can significantly inhibit your potential. With IT departments tasked with handling larger and larger data workloads and companies increasing their emphasis on analytics, efficient and effective storage strategies will be more important than ever. To take advantage of high-level media management capabilities, fundamental processes such as data backup must be faultless. With that in mind, are you still sure that the system you installed 10 years ago will be relevant years or even months from now?
Plotting the move. The first step on the road to progress is acceptance, and now that you’ve acknowledged the need to migrate to a new backup system you’ll need a plan to get you there. Not long ago, companies were relegated to using the proprietary tape management software that came with the original storage media when restoring and transferring data. This essentially rendered legacy tapes inaccessible to future solutions, reinforcing the resistance to change. However, a new fleet of tools has arrived to rapidly transfer existing backup catalogs in a vendor-neutral manner. These advanced solutions are often times automated as well, enabling quick and painless migration procedures.
Making the jump. To retain comprehensive, on-demand access to historical information for either operational and legal needs, data from legacy tapes must be extracted and loaded into the newly deployed backup system. By selecting a qualified migration solution, data can be copied to a centralized platform and incorporated into the consolidated architecture with minimal operational disruption.
Cutting ties. Once data migration processes are complete, one of the key benefits is the ability to abandon the legacy systems that once housed that information. Consolidating or eliminating tape libraries and disk arrays can help free up much needed space in both tight quarters and tight budgets. After testing and verifying the success of the migration, companies can begin to strip away obsolete components anxiety-free.