The volume of data we must manage is rising steadily. But what is our management strategy? Nothing is deleted, and hardly anyone takes the time to go through and purge obsolete files, so we end up stockpiling everything… just in case (and often in multiple copies!) Should these hundreds of gigabytes or terabytes be saved on disk or on tape? Your data must be safeguarded to protect against computer failure, theft and manipulation errors (approximately 40% of data loss is the result of human error).
It all comes down to knowing which type of backup media to use.
Below is a table that compares the key points of a disk-based system with a tape-based system:
- Disk-based systems are gaining a solid foothold in the market.
- Tape-based systems, whether DAT, LTO, DLT or SDLT, are an old habit to break.