Access "What's better for backup: tape or disk?"
This article is part of the Vol. 2 No. 1 March 2003 issue of Comparing the top data backup packages
Recently, an increasing number of clients have been asking me about replacing tape with disk in some--or all--of their backup infrastructure. Until recently, the cost of tape was far less per unit of storage than any other media. It is easily transportable, making off-site storage possible. In addition, newer tape technologies have increased both speed and capacity dramatically. So why do people want to replace it? Typical complaints about tape focus on four areas: Performance. Because it's serial, tape is perceived--rightly or wrongly--to be slower than disk. Reliability. Everyone who has dealt with backups has experienced tape failure: they wear out, get mishandled or just go bad. Handling. Removing cloned tapes from a library, adding scratch tapes and cataloging bar codes--tape handling can be a nightmare, especially given the ever-increasing number of tapes. Cost. Tape media costs and tape off-site storage costs are budget line items that continue to soar. However, upon closer analysis, one finds that these really aren't tape problems per se. They are ... Access >>>
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What's Inside
Features
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Tap the SAN for File Storage
Used to be, if you wanted to give users a central place to store files, you had two options: put them on a generic file server, or on a NAS device.
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Symmetrix DMX: Is it Hot or Not?
The year is still young, but EMC's Symmetrix DMX announcement is arguably 2003's biggest storage story.
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Make HSM work for open systems
by Ed Palmer
Translating this time-honored mainframe concept to open systems requires a completely different approach.
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Cheap DR with Wireless MAN
Synchronous replication between remote EMC Symmetrix arrays isn't cheap.
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Tight Integration Seals Database Archiving Sale
The size of corporate databases has been swelling for years
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Ease backup pain
OK, maybe there's no cure, but a variety of bandages and pills can help. We look at the major backup packages and analyze what each does best.
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Moving backup off the mainframe
by Daniel Sitler
Hobart Corp. migrated their backup environment to open systems, dramatically reducing media and management costs.
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Is it lights out for optical?
by Eric Knorr
Blue lasers and other technical advances are pushing optical disks to 30GB soon, with more than 100GB in site.
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Tap the SAN for File Storage
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Sony Joins Super Drive Game
The market for super drives is alive and kicking, according to a recent report from Freeman Reports, with unit shipments more than doubling from 2001 to 2002.
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Firm Sees the Storage Automation Light
Many IT people are on the fence about automated storage management, but at Allegra Systems in Piscataway, NJ, there's no doubt that automatic file migration software has cut down on the IT staff's workload.
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Backup exec gets big boost
by Tom Henderson
Version 9.0 has a surprising number of features that enable it to work with newer storage technologies.
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Pushing storage to the edge
by Susan J. Marks
If you're delivering large content files to widely distributed users, consider moving data storage closer to the user.
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Surveillance Gradually Going Digital
Security-conscious companies who started out using analog videotapes, are gradually making the switch to digital, offloading to digital tape and occasionally, cheap ATA disk.
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Bring DBAs into the SAN era
by Jim Booth
You may not want DBAs poking around inside your fabric, but the more they understand about SANs, the better they'll be.
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How to do hybrid backup
by Mark Teter
Disk-based backup is an attractive idea, but you'll want to get a handle on how to optimize it.
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Sony Joins Super Drive Game
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Columns
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How to block the four paths to your data
by Darryl Brooks
Hackers can't get into your SAN? Baloney! Here's how to block the four paths to your data.
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Data storage consolidation guidelines
Consolidation sounds good, but here are some guidelines to determine if it will work for you. Plus, seven steps to getting it done.
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Annual awards for the best and brightest in the storage industry
Storage Bin: Steve Duplessie gives out his first annual awards for the best and brightest in the storage industry.
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What's better for backup: tape or disk?
by James Damoulakis
What's better for backup: tape or disk? Both, actually, and here's why. The answers may surprise you.
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Here we go again
by Mark Schlack
Here we go again
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How to block the four paths to your data
by Darryl Brooks
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