The evolving role of tape storage.This article is the first of a series of articles about tape storage. The author will provide insight into each application area in future articles, as well as indepth analysis of tape storage technology. Tape technology for use as a data storage product was introduced in 1952. A whopping 1MB per cartridge emerged as the highest capacity, removable storage media. In the 1960s, the half-inch tape A magnetic tape format that has been in use since the 1950s. Second-generation computers used 7-track, half-inch tape in open reels that were threaded by hand. Third-generation computers used 9-track open reels. format was introduced which eventually lead to the quarter-inch tape See QIC. format in the '70s. As time passed, 200MB capacities were commonplace in the '80s, and the first 1GB cartridge arrived in the '90s. Today, we have tape cartridge See cartridge. capacity that exceeds 100GB. Technologists are talking about 1TB capacity formats to be available by the middle of this decade while 10TB capacity cartridges will emerge 10 years hence. Such amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. advancements in tape technology during the past 50 years keep IT folks busy and wanting to store even more since they are confident that the stability of tape storage will handle the demand. The major players involved with tape technology are EMTEC EMTEC European Multimedia Technologies (formerly BASF Magnetics; as of 2002) , Fujifilm, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , Imation, Maxell, Quantum, Seagate, Sony, StorageTek and TDK TDK Türk Dil Kurumu (Turkish Language Council) TDK The Dark Knights (gaming clan) TDK Tokyo Denkikagaku Kogyo KK (TDK Electronics Co. Ltd. . These manufacturers are ambitiously investing millions of dollars to improve tape technology and introduce newer products for a variety of applications. The technical leadership of these companies, along with their long-standing commitment to tape storage, continues to fuel tape's importance in the data storage market. Tape storage provides mobility, affordability, security, scalability and reliability for storing content. However, setting aside the technology choices and their benefits, let's take a look at a few applications that are dependent upon tape's technology to provide a storage solution. The applications are generally categorized cat·e·go·rize tr.v. cat·e·go·rized, cat·e·go·riz·ing, cat·e·go·riz·es To put into a category or categories; classify. cat in four ways: Backup/Restore; Disaster Recovery; Archival/Data Preservation; and Content Acquisition/Distribution. Backup/Restore The backup/restore market is where tape has gained the most attention and remains prevalent. Tape systems perform backups that provide the IT center with confidence of storing their data. Whether the tape is used to backup a single computer or an enterprise-wide networking environment, tape can be adapted using direct-connect SCSI SCSI in full Small Computer System Interface Once common standard for connecting peripheral devices (disks, modems, printers, etc.) to small and medium-sized computers. SCSI has given way to faster standards, such as Firewire and USB. , network-dependent NAS (1) See network access server. (2) (Network Attached Storage) A specialized file server that connects to the network. A NAS device contains a slimmed-down operating system and a file system and processes only I/O requests by supporting the popular , or network-independent SAN interfaces. Multiplexing multiplexing, in communication, technique whereby two or more independent messages, or information-bearing signals, are carried by a single common medium, or channel. of data streams can be stored to today's mid-range and enterprise tape products as well as configured to backup multiple terabytes per hour. However, the backup process is only half of the benefit of tape. When you look at why you back up, the restoration of data is an absolute requirement. By having incremental Additional or increased growth, bulk, quantity, number, or value; enlarged. Incremental cost is additional or increased cost of an item or service apart from its actual cost. data strewn strew tr.v. strewed, strewn or strewed, strew·ing, strews 1. To spread here and there; scatter: strewing flowers down the aisle. 2. across multiple tapes with interleaved data from multiple applications, finding and retrieving a lost or damaged file can be a major administrative pain. Full system restorations can be done using automated tape storage solutions to handle multiple tape restoration. In certain cases, a few enterprises are looking at implementing complementary backup systems Noun 1. backup system - a computer system for making backups ADP system, ADPS, automatic data processing system, computer system, computing system - a system of one or more computers and associated software with common storage , such as mirroring and point-in-time copy to hard disks. Of course, mirroring does not provide fool-proof protection. If a computer virus destroys or changes files, the mirrored files will also be immediately corrupted. Having a previously stored copy of the data is important and effective when you need to restore. And it's important to make the distinction between the cost of "enterprise disk storage" and the lower-end RAID and JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks) A group of hard disks in a computer that are not set up as any type of RAID configuration. They are just a bunch of disks. JBOD - Just a Bunch Of Disks systems. Additionally, off-site storage can provide recovery in the event of a system disaster of the working copy. So, what do you look for in a backup solution? Every system will move data from a source, catalogue it, and store it onto a tape media. It is important to understand how they do it and what they 'do with the data once it is read from the source. There are a few areas to consider when building your backup solution. The first is to make sure that the solution meets your IT strategy. For example, is the backup for disaster recovery or for mining raw data? The second one is to ensure that you allocate the appropriate resources to the project which, in the best case, is assigned by top management who have an understanding of the importance and are kept updated on a regular basis. The final issue is to prepare for the worst case and not just the typical case. Disaster Recovery As part of your backup solution, your IT strategy should consist of a disaster recovery plan. If your backup is also mission critical, then your backup solution must be treated as such. Tape products have the one attribute that is required in a disaster recovery scheme: transportability. It is essential that a copy of critical data be stored off-site to be able to recover from a large-scale disruption to a company, such as those caused by fire, flood, earthquake, and terrorism. Tape systems provide an easy way to make a copy of backed-up data, remove it from the automation system, and transport it to a remote site for storage. As part of your investigation of how to create your disaster recovery plan based on your backup plan, take into consideration how the system manages and tracks your backups; does it tell you how to recreate your most recent environment? And how long it would take to establish a new environment? There are a few steps to take to prepare your disaster recovery plan. The first is to make an assessment. Understand the environment that you will back up including the servers, applications, database files, and other user-created data. The second step is sizing, or capacity rationing, not only the amount of data but the physical location(s) and environment(s). Once you gather your requirements, you can design your solution and take into consideration your longer term needs and implement your system. Establish the protocol and policies to select, install, and maintain your system. If you are unable to provide your own resources, then you'll need to retain outside services. After your system is running, you should complete your plan by testing your system with regular audits that are done by third-party companies. Archival/Data Preservation The primary attributes of a successful data archival architecture are long-term data retention, data accessibility and capacity scaling. Tape drive and media manufacturers have made significant improvements in data retention characteristics, over the past decade, to the point that tape can and should be considered as an excellent long-term storage medium for larger capacity storage. The data access requirement is where some tape technologies are more appropriate than others for archival applications. Tapes with dual-reel cartridges eliminate the need for spooling (Simultaneous Peripheral Operations OnLine) The overlapping of low-speed operations with normal processing. Spooling originated with mainframes in order to optimize slow operations such as reading cards and printing. the tape into the drive and cut the time to access data dramatically. Data preservation is the ability to store data for decades. Ten years, 20 years, 30 years, 50 years, or even longer periods must be guaranteed. Unfortunately, other than paper, there hasn't been a technology suitable. Tape's properties have improved to provide backward compatibility See backward compatible. (jargon) backward compatibility - Able to share data or commands with older versions of itself, or sometimes other older systems, particularly systems it intends to supplant. while supporting data migration paths to securing data over long periods of time. The issue with data preservation or 20-plus year media retention is not only hardware availability but also with other storage technologies, the challenge is software compatibility. Tape is suitable for data preservation: however, it is important to understand today's storage limitations. Content Acquisition/Distribution There are many applications that generate large amounts of continually streaming data Data that is structured and processed in a continuous flow, such as digital audio and video. See streaming audio and streaming video. . This data, while important, often does not need to be accessed quickly or frequently. A good example of a content acquisition application is video surveillance. Using either digital cameras or digitizing "Digitizer" redirects here. For the computer device, see Digitizing tablet. For the digitizer in Tablet PC's, see Tablet PC. Digitizing or digitization the signals from analog cameras, video systems installed in stores, casinos, schools and businesses (and now on city streets) provide multiple streams of data that need to be captured, but accessed only if something goes wrong. Another example is satellite telemetry telemetry Highly automated communications process by which data are collected from instruments located at remote or inaccessible points and transmitted to receiving equipment for measurement, monitoring, display, and recording. ; this data is usually accessed in chunks to perform analysis on a project-by-project basis. These applications are best served by the least expensive, highest capacity storage available--which means tape. The newest generation of mid-range tape is even encroaching on the very high-end data recorders from Ampex, Panasonic and Sony that have typically served some of these applications. Using hard disk for anything more than a front-end cache in these applications would serve little benefit. Tape is useful as a way to both keep the data and send it to others. Summary Change in the data storage market is inevitable. There is always some new technology, or improvements in existing technologies, that will disrupt the status quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. . Tape has been the backup/restore medium of choice and continues to be used by smaller businesses to the largest IT centers. New markets are emerging and applications offer greater benefits for tape's use. Many of the advancements in the use of tape storage come from innovations in software. Both hardware and software components can reliably solve the user's requirement to safely store and recover data for daily use to mission critical disaster recovery applications. A non-profit organization A non-profit organization (abbreviated "NPO", also "non-profit" or "not-for-profit") is a legally constituted organization whose primary objective is to support or to actively engage in activities of public or private interest without any commercial or monetary profit purposes. , the Tape Technology Council is the primary industry resource for promoting, integrating and using tape storage devices, and acts as a conduit for information exchange between manufacturers and the industry. Contact Rich Harada, president, at rharada@tapecouncil.org. Current members of the Tape Technology Council are: EMTEC Magnetics, www.emtec-group.com or www.emtec-multimedia.com Fujifilm, www.fujifilmmediasource.com IBM, www.ibm.com Imation, www.imation.com Maxell, www.maxell-data.com Quantum, www.quantum.com Seagate Removable Storage Solutions, http://rss.seagate.com Sony Electronics Sony Electronics Inc., headquartered in San Diego, Calif., is the largest component of Sony Corporation of America, the U.S. holding company for Sony's U.S.-based electronics and entertainment businesses. , www.mediabysony.com StorageTek, www.storagetek.com TDK Electronics, www.tdk.com www.tapecouncil.com |
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