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by Chris James
The rise of disk at the expense of tape for data archiving has been predicted for some time now with no avail. Yet the same critics continue to bang their drums, pitching the two technologies against each other. It is time to silence them once and for all.
Tape is going to be around for a long time, and there is no denying it. Though the demise has been predicted for years, tape remains the most cost-effective, flexible and scalable medium for high-capacity, long-term and backup data storage, whilst the power consumption and volumetric issues related to disk can be onerous. Thus, disk-based systems for daily backup needs and tape remaining the long-term retention medium of choice is the perfect marriage.
Using recent research conducted by The Taneja Group of technology analysts into the top challenges faced by IT Professionals when protecting data, we can examine how a disk to disk to tape strategy solves these issues.
The Taneja Group asked participants to rank, in order, their perception of the key challenges faced by data protection professionals. The following challenges were highlighted:
- Backup and restore reliability
- Hitting backup windows
- Meeting recovery time objectives
- Managing capacity growth
- Reducing operational and management costs
- Supporting application specific tasks
- Making multiple back up copies
Backup and restore reliability
Backup looks, and indeed is, simple. However, it should still be treated seriously. If left to a junior member of staff or old equipment is used a problem may arise, more than likely, when restoring. Restore is not so easy, and is very important. You need a process, and the confidence that it works. This probably includes investment in backup automation software if you don’t have it already, plus keeping your technology current and having the best component items of equipment for the job — something which is quite likely to keep your ongoing costs down, not raise them. Deal only with reputable suppliers who you can trust; when something goes badly wrong, no-one will recall that you saved the company some money by buying the very cheapest equipment. And if a compliance question arises, with need to examine the audit trail going back over several years, auditors will be unimpressed by obsolete equipment playing up in the back room.
An important aspect of a successful restore or recovery is the time that it takes to achieve it. The need for a fast recovery is a very pro-disk factor, especially where huge databases and email applications are concerned. If you backup initially to disk, restore can be very fast indeed.
Hitting backup windows
It takes time for tape libraries to sort themselves out after taking in data. By backing up initially to disk, it is possible to make an enormous difference to the back up window. A number of servers can stream their data to the disk backup appliance simultaneously, the speed of writing to disk is higher, the speed of sorting is higher, and then when the data is written on to a tape library for the next stage, the data is already sensibly compressed, so that the tape unit has less work to do.
Meeting recovery time objectives
Setting the correct objectives for your situation will have major implications for how you address the recovery questions and which equipment you use to help. For an online trader, acceptable recovery time may be measured in seconds rather than hours or days. Using advanced disk solutions it’s possible to take a ‘snapshot’ of the entire data at frequent intervals. For many businesses, simply introducing appropriate use of reliable and environment-compatible disk-based appliances will make possible the considerable reduction of recovery times.
Managing capacity growth
Data for most organisations is growing at between 50 percent and 100 percent per annum. There are several ways in which you can fight back once you have a good handle on exactly what is causing the growth within your particular set-up. One is to take advantage of the fact that storage capacity is cheaper than ever before. Another is to set internal management policies, because without these, data builds up and up. A department can be asked to restrict itself to a certain level of gigabytes, with automatic file deletion facilities to help. Or departments can simply be charged for usage, so that some of the departmental budget will come to the IT department to help pay for the extra storage.
Reducing operational and management costs
Straightforward automation is often the answer to reducing operational and management costs. Instead of having a management team working on problems, set up the policies, install an appropriate and reliable disk based appliance, and set it to work as per the policies. Taneja Group encourages organisations to evaluate any potential technology acquisition in terms of ROI (Return on Investment) calculations that consider three general parameters – process, technology and people:
Supporting application specific tasks
Where some applications are ‘sensible’, others write huge amounts of information. Use of a different approach — deploying a disk-based appliance for its speed — to assist with the recovery of one or more of these ‘known suspects’ may ease difficulties all round, especially if it is an application that is mission-critical to your business.
Making multiple back up copies
Backups are kept for a number of different reasons, and it’s important to be very clear about what these are; each reason may help to dictate the best means of achieving that particular task, and hence the best medium. Making the move to add disk to your armoury doesn’t mean there is no place for tape; rather, it means planning to use both to optimal effect. Backing up primary data currently in use implies the need for fast recovery of that data if something goes wrong, which in turn points to disk. If you get a virus locally, it’s useful to have fast local recovery — but if locally means an office remote from head office, sending another copy of the data to central or head office will be necessary for audit trail reasons. Meanwhile archiving has completely different place and time requirements, and the traditional tape copy remains extremely useful for this purpose, and for taking offsite for disaster recovery purposes.
The bottom line is that tape is here to stay and end users are taking advantage of the options tape offers to them. Although the role of tape may be changing, we will all have to accept that it is still playing a vital role in our data retention solutions.
Author: Chris James, marketing director, EMEA, Overland Storage
Overland Storage is exhibiting at Storage Expo 2006 the UK event dedicated to data storage. Now in its 6th year, the show features a comprehensive free education programme and over 90 exhibitors in the National Hall, Olympia, London from 18 - 19 October 2006 www.storage-expo.com
•Date: 17th August 2006 • Region: World • Type: Article •Topic: IT continuity
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