9 Reasons Why You Need a Dedicated Tape Backup Server Solution

Have you been relying on tape backups for your critical server data but find the backup process cumbersome? If your backups involve manually swapping tapes or network drives, it's time to consider a dedicated tape backup server. A specialized backup appliance can streamline your backup operations, so your IT staff spends less time managing backups and more time focusing on strategic initiatives. 

A tape backup server is purpose-built for backup and can help ensure your backups are reliable and recoverable when needed. While disk-based backups are convenient, tapes provide unmatched security and longevity for your important business data.

Let’s scroll down and explore nine key reasons to invest in a tape backup server to protect your valuable server data and give your IT team peace of mind.

Your Introduction to Tape Backup

Data is growing at an exponential rate. With more information being created and stored every day, traditional disk-based backup solutions are struggling to keep up. Tape media allows you to store massive amounts of data in a small, offline space. A single tape cartridge can hold up to 10TB of compressed data—that's over 5,000 DVDs worth!

Reason #1: Unlimited Scalability

With tape storage, your capacity is virtually unlimited. You can keep adding more tapes to your backup rotation as your data grows. This gives you incredible scalability over time without having to periodically upgrade your storage solution. A tape library can hold hundreds or even thousands of tapes, which equates to multiple petabytes of storage. This is far more than any single disk array could offer.

Reason #2: Very Low Cost Per Gigabyte

Tape media and libraries provide the lowest cost per gigabyte of any storage technology on the market. A single LTO-9 tape cartridge can hold 9TB of compressed data for a fraction of the price of an equivalent SSD or hard disk drive array. Over time, the savings really add up, especially considering you'll need to regularly purchase new disks as your backup sets increase in size.

Reason #3: Automatic, Set-it-and-Forget-it Backups

Modern tape libraries are designed for "set it and forget it" backups. Configure your backup solutions and schedule them to automatically run backups to your tape library. The server handles changing and cataloging tapes, so you don't have to babysit the process. Tape backups are fire and forget, freeing up your time for other important tasks.

Reason #4: Built-In Data Deduplication

Most tape drive technologies support built-in data deduplication and compression. This allows the same data to be stored once on tape, even if it exists in multiple files or across several machines. Deduplication reduces your overall backup footprint by up to 30x or more. This extends the life of each tape and maximizes your storage capacity.

Reason #5: Offline and Offsite Storage

Once full, tape storage can be removed from the library and stored offline or in an offsite location. This provides an extra layer of security protection should your main site become unavailable or suffer a disaster. No hacker can access data stored on tapes sitting in an Iron Mountain storage vault hundreds of miles away. Tape is the ultimate security blanket for your critical business files.

Reason #6: Long Shelf Life

Tapes written today will still be readable decades from now. The same cannot be said for aging hard disks or cloud storage accounts.

Tape media has an extremely long shelf life when stored properly. The latest LTO tape specification, LTO-9, has an estimated 30-year shelf life for stored tapes. This is significantly longer than any other storage medium currently available. 

• Hard drives are generally reliable for 3-5 years before needing replacement.
• Solid-state drives can last a similar lifespan before deteriorating in performance and reliability.
• Cloud storage accounts and online services cannot guarantee long-term data retention.

Companies can go out of business or change policies that impact your ability to access or download old data files.

1. With tape storage, you have complete control over your backups and can ensure access for decades.
2. Stored in ideal conditions of 15–25 °C and 30–50% relative humidity, tapes remain fully readable.
3. No periodic data refreshes are needed, like rewriting files to new disks or migrating to new cloud providers.
4. Tapes are highly resistant to environmental factors that can destroy other storage media.
5. They can even withstand exposure to x-rays without risk of data loss!
6. This allows safe off-site or off-premises storage in non-climate-controlled locations.
7. You avoid vendor lock-in and proprietary storage formats that could prevent future readability.
8. Tape formats have had backward compatibility for decades, so data is “future-proof” against changing technologies.

Simply put, tape is the most durable and stable storage medium for truly long-term data archiving needs.

Reason #7: Easy Restore Capabilities

Should you ever need to restore files from tape, it's a simple process. Just insert the needed tape back into the library, and your backup software can mount it and find lost files in minutes. Tape restores are generally faster than restoring from disk-based backups as well. You gain quick access to your data when you need it most.

Reason #8: Disk-Based Backup Offloading

A tape backup server allows you to offload the burden of disk-based backups from individual workstations and servers. This consolidation improves reliability, manages storage requirements in a central location, and reduces backup windows. Tape is the perfect tier for long-term retention of monthly or weekly disk backups, freeing up disk space for new incremental backups.

Reason #9: Business Continuity

Let's face it: disk drives will fail. It's not a question of if, but when. Relying solely on disk or cloud for backups leaves you vulnerable if a catastrophic event destroys all your on-premises storage. Tape backups stored off-site provide the ultimate insurance policy. Should disaster strike, you have immediate access to recent backups and can be back up and running in no time.

Key Takeaways

In conclusion, tape backup remains the gold standard for reliable, secure long-term data archiving. A dedicated tape server takes the management overhead out of tape and allows set-it-and-forget-it automation. It provides unlimited scalability, rock-bottom storage costs, and the peace of mind that your most important business data is safeguarded for decades to come. Don't risk everything on a single disk or cloud-based solution. Invest in a tape backup infrastructure for your organization today.