Modernized Legacy Technology Against Today's Threats: Magnetic Tape Shields Your Data From Hackers.

It may come as a surprise that magnetic data storage on tape has not only survived for many decades, but is once again playing an important role in data storage today. In data centers in particular, where the threat of cyber-attacks is ever-present, magnetic tape holds a firm place among storage technologies. Magnetic tape is not only secure and extremely powerful, but also more environmentally friendly than hard drives. The largest vendor in this field is IBM.

  #IBM   #Compute and Storage  
04.06.2024
Marcel Klingbacher
+41 58 510 16 08
marcel.klingbacher@umb.ch

Data storage technology on magnetic tape experienced a renaissance about 25 years ago. In the late 1990s, IBM, HP and Quantum Corporation joined forces to develop LTO tape technology. LTO stands for Linear Tape-Open and was developed as an alternative to the proprietary magnetic tape formats commonly used at the time, specifically for data backup and archiving[i].  LTO, also known as LTO Ultrium format, is a powerful, scalable and adaptable open tape format optimized for high capacity, maximum storage density and performance. It ensures interoperability between drives and media from different licensed vendors.

 

Huge performance boost - with miles of tape

Over the past decade, LTO tape technology has continued to improve. Capacity has increased by 1,400 percent and reliability by nearly 10,000 percent. The latest generation (LTO-9) can store 18TB of data on a single cartridge - 45TB compressed. Cartridges contain 1,035 meters of tape material that is 12.65 mm wide and wound on a single spool. The original version of LTO Ultrium, called LTO-1, was released in the year 2000 and could store 100 GB of data on a single cartridge. The new generations have increased the capacity while maintaining physical size. For the near future, the LTO program has published a roadmap that outlines specifications up to the twelfth generation of LTO tape technology. According to the roadmap, magnetic tape transfer rates will soon be five times faster than hard disk drives.
Magnetic tape is by far the most cost-effective medium for data archiving. This makes it ideal for storing large amounts of data that is not accessed regularly. When stored properly, magnetic tape can be safely archived for up to 30 years.

 

Magnetic tape storage against ransomware attacks

Despite tremendous advances in other storage technologies, magnetic tape technology remains an important part of data center infrastructure due to its cost-effectiveness, longevity and its role as a protective measure against ransomware attacks. It is an effective air-gap medium, providing an additional layer of security for stored data. Magnetic tape storage provides effective protection against ransomware and malware as it is an offline storage technology. In the event of a ransomware attack, tape backups separated by air-gap are out of reach of hackers. This is because ransomware attacks usually attack all connected storage systems in a network. Magnetic tape storage arrays that are manually rotated cannot be attacked as long as they are offline.

An air gap backup and recovery strategy ensures that at least one copy of an organization's data is offsite, offline, and inaccessible . This makes magnetic tape the ideal solution for most data centers.

 

A highly competitive market with IBM in the lead

The data center tape library market is highly competitive, with two major IT vendors leading the way. IBM is the largest tape library vendor with an estimated 30 percent market share, followed by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) in second place. Two other vendors that are not quite as big are Oracle and Quantum. 

IBM's latest product in this sector is called «Diamondback»[i]; It provides ultra-high density tape storage, is easily scalable, and fits into any data center or server room: each frame occupies only the footprint of a standard server rack. Unlike traditional tape libraries that store data in arbitrary order, the Diamondback Library has 10 tiers of data storage arranged from front to back within the library. This tiered approach to data storage can result in improved performance and efficiency. Diamondback supports the use of new LTO generation 9 cartridges with compressed data storage capacity of up to 45TB per cartridge.

 

Competitors - even from within the company

There are several competitors on the tape library market. The Diamondback Tape Library even has in-house competition. For example, the IBM TS4500 Enterprise-Library , which is considered IBM's flagship tape library. However, the Diamondback Tape Library offers higher data density on a smaller footprint. It is designed to maximize the use of LTO-9 drives. The TS4500 also supports older models of LTO drives to ensure compatibility with existing tape libraries. This can be critical for organizations with an existing tape infrastructure.
Similarly, HPE offers tape libraries for enterprises with its StoreEver product line. For example, HPE StoreEver Tape Storage, which can also protect against ransomware attacks and provides scalable and cost-effective storage solutions. Or the HPE StoreEver MSL6480 Tape Library, which provides the density and performance to meet short-term backup and disaster recovery needs as well as long-term retention requirements.
Another prominent competitor in this market is Quantum with its i6H Scalar Library. . This product is designed for web-scale enterprises and hyperscalers and also has a RAIL ( redundant array of independent libraries) architecture.
Finally, Oracle also offers enterprise tape drives. These are proprietary and are used in Oracle's own tape libraries.

 

Tapes for big data, media, weather and entertainment

Tape libraries are designed to meet the growing data demands of modern applications such as big data and cloud storage. For example, in the media and entertainment industry, where they are used for ultra-high-definition content editing and digital video surveillance, they provide a reliable and efficient solution for storing large multimedia files. The Internet of Things (IoT) also deals with large amounts of data, where tape libraries are used in IoT applications for storage and management tasks. In meteorology, huge amounts of weather and climate data are stored in tape libraries. Tape is also used for active file archiving, providing a secure solution for long-term data storage and fast access to linear data.

 

Green, cyber resilient, ultra-high density

The latest magnetic tape technology offers sustainable, cyber-resilient, ultra high-density tape storage solutions that preserve and protect data. Compared to conventional disk-based systems, tape storage systems are clearly more environmentally friendly.  In contrast to hard disks, tape libraries consume significantly less energy when idle. In addition, their long service life means that fewer replacements are necessary and leads to a significant reduction in electronic waste.

 

UMB is IBM Platinum Partner with Elite Speciality Status

IBM is a specialist in modern tape libraries due to its many years of development and innovation in tape technology, including IBM Diamondback. UMB and IBM have been working together successfully for decades. UMB is the strongest IBM partner in Switzerland with over 350 IBM certifications and is the only partner with Elite Speciality Status for IBM Power and Storage. With our above-average expertise in IBM hardware, software and services, we guarantee outstanding cooperation. 
 

Please contact us for further information.

 


Foto: PFC Patricia Barbeau operates an IBM 729 at Camp Smith, Hawaii, in 1969. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Camp_Smith,_Hawaii._PFC_Patricia_Barbeau_operates_a_tape-drive_on_the_IBM_729_at_Camp_Smith._-_NARA_-_532417.jpg?uselang=de

[i]Linear Tape Open 

[iii]AirGap Protection - IBM MediaCenter

[iv]IBM Diamondback Tape Library

[v]  IBM TS4500 Tape Library

[vi] Bandspeicher für Sicherung und Archivierung | HPE Schweiz

[vii]Scalar i6 Tape Library | Quantum