The ever increasing demand for storage space has correspondingly driven up the demand for backup.  A variety of backup approaches are available and many people decide on the approach based on their immediate circumstances and individual perception of what is the best.  With backup volume on the rise, a good choice of the approach could be a strategic business advantage.  We would like to offer some food for thought.

1. The advent of SAS has given us one new option.  We are now able to mix SAS and SATA hard disks in the same server using the same RAID controller card. We are able to deploy SAS for transactional data and SATA for reference data for day to day activities. 
    
   
2. In a backup context, we are now able to deploy SATA hard disks for the short term archiving of live content from SAS hard disks.  As of this date, 1TB SATA hard disks are available and not expensive.  We are able to deploy multiple sets of SATA for archiving data of various vintage.  This is one way of realising multiple-stage Disk to Disk backup.
   
   
3. Eventually, we may want to have permanent archives on tape media because tapes are still the cheapest compared to hard disks.  As archives, tapes are also easier to manage compared to other media. 
   
   
4. One may argue that tape drive technology is not as consistent as hard disk interface technologies.   For example, SCSI has lived for 20 years although there are iterations of interface schemes such as Ultra Wide, U160 and U320 over time.  On the other hand, tape technologies such as DDS, AIT and SLR etc are not inter-related or compatible.  Then comes LTO for Linear Tape Open.  LTO is open for licensing.  Many vendors produce LTO tape drives and this has helped to bring down cost and inter-brand compatibility.
   
   
5. LTO has guaranteed 2 generations of READ compatibility.  For example, LTO4 tape drives can read LTO2 and LTO3 tape media.  This continuity has ensured that most data produced up to 7 years ago can be read with tape drives currently installed.
   
   
6. An LTO Auto Loader eliminates manual involvement in changing tape cartridges.  Auto Loaders in 1U rack has 8 cartridges and will suffice for one week of backups.  2U or 4U racks provide even more cartridges.
   
   
7. Hard disks have their own flexibility as a backup medium.  Tandberg has produced RDX drives to tap the demand with a clever approach.  RDX consists of a docking station and the hard disk.  The docking station ensures that the backup device has a stable or fixed drive letter.  The hard disk comes with a shell for protection and is therefore removable and portable.  An RDX hard disk does not spin when not connected, and can be shelved conveniently.
   

Supermicro New Zealand distributes Tandberg LTO and RDX products to channel members with the best pricing and technical support in New Zealand.  Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for information.