Half-height LTO2 tape drives: the key element in SMB storage strategies

Computer Technology Review, June-July, 2005 by Ken Cruden

Three factors are driving the need for more sophisticated backup solutions within the SMB (small to medium-size business) market: the rapid growth of mission-critical digital content throughout all segments of business; the focus on disaster recovery strategies; and the increased burden of government regulated data retention. To address these factors, enterprise-level companies are incorporating LTO (Linear Tape Open) tape drives into their storage frameworks. This popular backup solution helps them access advanced features, higher capacities and better performance. Unfortunately, these drives were too expensive for most SMBs.

With the introduction of affordable half-height LTO2 tape drives, however, SMBs can for the first time incorporate LTO tape drives into their back-up plans. When compared with the alternatives available today, half-height LTO2 tape technology clearly stands out by offering SMBs great value, high performance and a lower total cost of ownership (TCO).

When Disaster Strikes

SMB requirements have evolved rapidly over the past few years. The Internet has created the need for digital data access, server uptime, data protection and, when required, data recovery. The spread of viruses and worms as well as stricter data retention regulations have increased the sensitivity to data loss. The most common protection against data loss and resulting downtime is backing up servers and their data.

Compact, half-height LTO2 tape drives were developed as a direct response to the growing SMB need for faster, better, affordable data backup and recovery. The drive's lower power consumption saves energy costs. Its open format ensures compatibility. And its full interoperability, as designated by LTO Consortium specifications, protects SMB's technology investments by delineating an upgrade path for those who have already invested in LTO1 technology and by guaranteeing compatibility with LTO3 and future LTO generations.

The LTO Open Specifications

The LTO open specifications, announced in November 1997 by Seagate, Hewlett-Packard and IBM, addresses a set of common tape storage needs demanded in the marketplace. Recently, Tandberg Data became the fourth manufacturer offering LTO tape drives.

Prior to LTO, the market was dominated by single-source, proprietary technologies that posed serious concerns for the large system and server OEMs selling them. The foremost concerns were product allocation and competitive pricing because each vendor could control product distribution.

The LTO open specification, with multi-vendor support and products, eliminates these concerns. It is formulated to foster competition among suppliers for pricing, availability, quality, service and even development. The open specification also includes interchange capabilities between all LTO-licensed manufacturers, thereby ensuring that OEMs and end-users have a choice of tape drive and cartridge suppliers from which to buy. No manufacturer is allowed to use the LTO symbol or advertise LTO compliance without meeting the test and interchange specifications put forth by the consortium and tested by a consortium-specified third party testing facility.

Furthermore, the LTO roadmap includes six generations that extend many years into the future to guarantee investment protection and a long life for the LTO products that companies purchase.

The Benefits of Half-Height LTO2 Drives

In the face of exploding data growth and increasingly complex data management issues, some SMBs look to NAS (network attach storage) and SAN (storage area network) products to consolidate their data storage. Consolidating information, while very cost effective, opens the potential for disaster if this centralized repository of business-critical information is compromised by mechanical/electrical failure, viruses or even human error.

Fortunately, data consolidation also lends itself extremely well to centralized backup (e.g., a high performance tape drive or even an autoloader or small tape library. Furthermore, such backup typically includes removable media that can be safely stored offsite. This not only adds another layer of data protection, it also helps SMBs conform to government and industry regulations mandating data protection.

Half-height LTO2 tape drives deliver these capabilities at an affordable price, enabling SMBs to implement a true data protection strategy. They also outperform many larger tape drives by offering greater capacity, faster transfer rates and superior performance.

Half-height LTO2 data cartridges provide 20 percent more capacity than more expensive SDLT data cartridges and 250 percent more capacity than many DLT tape drives. This higher capacity delivers a clear cost benefit, especially for SMBs who archive large amounts of data. In addition, half-height LTO2 tape drives are a full 50 percent faster than SDLT drives and 300 percent faster than DLT VS drives--a critical performance advantage for SMBs engaged in 24/7 business environments with extremely limited backup windows.