The Value of LTO Tape and
LTFS for Archive
Archiving is a key use case for tape. But how does archive
actually differ from backup? And how can tape archive solutions help you reduce
costs, save time and reduce risk?
Archive is NOT backup!
It’s important to understand
that archive and backup are distinct processes with different objectives—each
one imposing different requirements on the storage systems that they utilize.
A backup is a secondary copy of
production data used for restore or disaster recovery in the case of data loss.
By contrast, an archive is a primary copy of less frequently accessed
information that has been moved off primary production disk to lower cost
storage. Typically this is performed for data management, compliance and
information re-use purposes. A backup is also ultimately overwritten, whereas
archived information is often a permanent record, stored without deletion for an
extended period of time.
Understanding backup versus
archive: what’s the difference?
The best archive
platforms should blend scalability, high reliability and long-term durability,
with easy access and simple integration—all at the lowest possible cost.
| |
Backup |
Archive |
|
| Method |
Copy of Production Data |
Original removed from production |
|
| Purpose |
to recover data in the event of data loss,
Destruction, corruption etc. |
To retain data for regulatory compliance
e-Discovery support helps shorten backup and
recovery windows, reduce total costs of storage |
|
| Data Policies |
Recovery Time Objectives (RTO)
Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) |
Retention periods
Access Controls |
|
| Data Handling |
Duplicate copies are periodically overwritten |
Data cannot be altered or deleted before retention
expires |
|
| Retention Period |
Short term |
Long term |
|
The value of tape for archive
Tape’s unique blend of cost-effective, scalable,
dependable, and removable storage has always delivered proven benefits when it
comes to protecting and retaining your data. And with the introduction of LTFS,
tape archives are now as easy to access, manage and share as disk! LTFS makes
tape self-describing, file-based, and easy-to-use. It provides you with the
ability to use standard file operations on tape media for accessing, managing,
and sharing files with an interface that looks just like a hard disk.
In addition, LTFS provides the ability to share data across
platforms, as you would with a USB drive or memory stick. Simply load a tape
into the drive, mount it into the file system, and it becomes visible as a disk.
LTFS makes tape as easy to use and share as disk
The open format nature of
LTFS also makes tape much easier to integrate into existing products and
workflows. As a result, LTFS is being deployed at accelerated rates in a
growing ecosystem of archive solutions. This includes simple drag and drop
applications such as HP StoreOpen, as well as “Tape
as NAS” active archive applications such as the HP
StoreEver/QStar solution that combine the cost
benefits of tape with the access times of NAS.
These LTFS archive solutions deliver particular value for
industries such as media and entertainment, healthcare, video surveillance, oil
and gas—where ever-increasing volumes of images, audio and video need to be
protected, retained and distributed.