Data Tapes are a Long-Term Solution
Data, by its nature, is transient. Information is constantly flowing, changing and updating. What is true today may not be the case tomorrow. Consider the rate at which new technologies and platforms enter the fray and it becomes clear that data is always on the move.
But that doesn’t mean that digital information is useless. In fact, the opposite is true – changes in data help organizations identify trends and make important decisions based on those forecasts. Additionally, companies must have a viable way of storing, accessing and backing up that data both for their own uses and for the sake of data and compliancy audits. To these ends, data tape backup coupled with tape management software is the best bet.
A stable solution
One thing is certain – data growth is not slowing down anytime soon. Organizations that work with digital information – which is essentially all organizations – accumulate and compile more data every day. These companies need a storage method that won’t fail if the network is down or if some disaster occurs. For that reason, Peter Faulhaber, President of Fujifilm Recording Media, says that the demand for storage is as high as its ever been, reported Enterprise Storage Forum.
“The role tape serves in today’s modern data center is expanding beyond its historical role in data backup to one that includes long-term archiving of enormous quantities of stored data,” Faulhaber explained.
An organization’s best chance at lasting data backup is to store its backup tapes in a remote vault that it can access via offsite tape management software.
Data in physical form
Many businesses use the cloud to backup their data. But what the cloud provides in terms of convenience it lacks in terms of security – which, when violated, becomes a massive inconvenience. Companies can still use the cloud, but should also utilize data tapes as the primary backup format across the board. After all, it never hurts to have more than one backup, Mike Karp, an analyst with Ptak Associates, explained to Enterprise Storage Forum.
Karp recommended keeping backups available in case of an emergency. A media management platform can help managers know exactly where all their necessary backups are at moment’s notice.
“Having the most recent backup to hand means that recoveries of recent data are much faster as they will be recovering over their LANs rather than from the cloud,” Karp maintained.