Tape backup remains a practical, reasonably priced, and dependable data backup method in today’s era of data storage. In addition to offering a safe and secure buffer to safeguard data against cybercrime and catastrophic events, tape backup helps lower the costs associated with holding data for compliance. For this reason, the tape backup market is expected to keep rising significantly.
Businesses of all sizes can benefit from tape media backup systems and expertly managed off-site data storage.
In this article, we will review the relevance and value of magnetic tape systems and why repurposing magnetic tapes is a great choice for your sustainability.
Why Magnetic Tape Storage is Valuable
Data backup tapes can be highly beneficial for businesses managing enormous volumes of data, and help them adhere to data storage standards.
Tape storage doesn’t require a plug and is less expensive. Backup tapes can also offer superior protection for data against cybercrime and damage from natural disasters or fire when stored off-site in a secure storage facility. The company can employ this taped data to quickly recover from a disaster and resume business as usual.
Here are some of the reasons why magnetic tape storage is valuable for your business.
Unmatched Durability
Tape remains the best option if you need huge amounts of data to survive for many years. When maintained dry, clean, and protected, magnetic tape can endure for at least thirty years.
Modern tape storage now also comes with added protection to withstand adverse environmental conditions like humidity and temperature changes.
Cost-Effective Storage
Magnetic tape storage is significantly less expensive than cloud storage. Considering the cost of electricity, air conditioning, and equipment at a power facility, magnetic tape requires low cost as it does not require power when it is stored.
High Storage Capacity
Magnetic tapes continue to increase in recording density and exhibit next-generation innovations. More capacity increases are likely to come since the tape’s recording area can be extended by making it longer and thinner.
The future roadmap has already included LTO12, the greatest tape capacity per tape cartridge of any magnetic tape product currently on the market.
Safe and Secure
With the increase in cybersecurity threats, cloud storage has a higher risk of getting compromised with ransomware. Magnetic tape is the best data storage medium for BCP since it saves data offline and has a lower chance of these mishaps.
Due to its portability and offline storage media capacity, it is also appropriate for distant data storage to safeguard sensitive information from natural disasters and offers a completely secure way to store data.
Additionally, modern tape storage comes with encryption features to block unauthorized access.
Repurposing Magnetic Tape: A Sustainable Choice
There is growing concern about the environmental impact that modern storage technology is causing as digital data storage grows at an unstoppable rate. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors have gained significant attention from organizations that must ensure that data centers are more sustainable without sacrificing critical performance and availability.
The environmental and sustainability features of repurposing magnetic tape storage make it a more environmentally friendly option than other archival storage options.
Environmental Impact
Magnetic taps last significantly longer than most SSDs and HDDs and have lower environmental effects than disk-based storage systems in trash generation. Using magnetic tape drives instead of disk drives can help organizations reduce their disposal needs by up to two-thirds.
Moving less active data from disk drives to tape drives could result in up to 85% decrease in CO2 emissions after operating about 500 terabytes of less active data on tape as opposed to HDD over 12 months. Additionally, tape storage minimizes electronic trash (e-waste).
While most hard drives last for up to 3-5 years, magnetic tapes can survive anywhere from 10 to 20 years if stored in an environment with consistent humidity and temperature.
Financial Advantages
With almost no need for cooling or heat dissipation, tape libraries use little to no energy when data is not being read or written. It can result in significant reductions in the electricity consumed for data center operation and help reduce electricity costs.
There is potential to save huge amounts of money on energy usage and lower CO2 emissions and disposal expenses by introducing tape as a storage layer and switching out spinning hard disk drives with tape medium for the less active data.
Employee Satisfaction
Repurposing can improve morale and employee satisfaction in addition to helping reduce costs. Being green is growing in popularity as people become more aware of sustainability. Being employed by an environmentally conscientious company can instill pride and pleasure in workers and foster a positive work environment.
Practical Considerations for Repurposing Magnetic Tape
Repurposing magnetic tapes is a cost-effective and ecologically beneficial method to run a business, but there are a few practical considerations to make first.
Compatibility
Compatibility and interoperability issues can arise when VLSI systems and tape drives employ different or incompatible interface standards or when their requirements or features conflict.
To avoid losing data and reduce error rates, check if you require a DLT (digital linear tape) or LTO (linear tape-open) tape format and if it is compatible with the VLSI system.
If you’re using LTO-8, you may want to consider upgrading to LTO-9 with barium ferrite for enhanced performance and storage capabilities.
Data Migration
After deciding on the preferred data format and how to execute the migration, you can start with the migration process. The complete migration process includes different stages, such as the information phase, preparation phase, migration phase, data validation, and post-migration phase which involves disposing of unwanted hardware.
Maintenance and Storage
You can ensure that your data is safe and easily secured by following certain practices, including checking tape backup logs to spot any mistakes or issues, ensuring that backup tapes in the tape libraries are appropriately labeled, and establishing a tape rotation policy.
Real-World Success Stories
Fujifilm
With its internal recycling initiatives and its attempts to procure recycled materials, Fujifilm is dedicated to sustainability.
The business employs clever vendor alliances and product-sourcing strategies to implement recycling initiatives. One of the company’s vendors provides the plastic called DPET to package the multi-cartridge Library Packs.
DPET is made using 65% less energy than standard plastics used in packaging. I was looking for a producer of this material who shared their environmental commitments. This company employs 100% recycled wastewater to further reduce its environmental impact.
IBM
In 2022, IBM expanded its comprehensive range of data resilience solutions with the launch of the IBM Diamondback Tape Library, a high-density archive storage solution with a physical air gap to help guard against ransomware and other cyber threats in hybrid cloud scenarios.
This tape technology is designed for organizations that need to safely store petabytes of data. It offers long-term data retention and is designed to have a substantially reduced carbon footprint than flash or disk storage.
Partner with We Buy Used IT Equipment for a Seamless Transition
Magnetic tape data storage can be one of the greatest options for long-term data storage with the right upkeep and care, providing you with low cost, high speed and capacity, and a secure data storage solution. Reusing magnetic tapes is an economical and environmentally friendly way to operate a business.
But when it comes to off-site data storage, it’s ideal to delegate the task to a trustworthy storage provider who can assist you with experience and knowledge.
When purchasing recycled magnetic tapes, you must make sure that you get the best value.
We Buy Used IT Equipment is dedicated to providing knowledgeable advice and excellent reused tape storage solutions so that you can safely store your data while maintaining environmental consciousness.
We sell both new and used magnetic tapes, and if you want to upgrade, we’ll buy your used tapes.
Order superior repurposed magnetic tapes from us today!
