14 questions to ask before upgrading your servers

Maximizing Server Potential: Upgrade, Optimize, and Adapt

Servers are the unsung heroes of the digital age, working silently behind the scenes to keep businesses and enterprises running smoothly. As the backbone of IT functionality, servers play a pivotal role in an organization’s daily operations. Yet, as technology advances and business needs evolve, the time eventually comes for server upgrades. It’s a critical step that demands careful planning and consideration. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll delve into the intricacies of server upgrades, helping you make informed decisions that enhance performance, prevent downtime, and ensure the longevity of your IT infrastructure.

The Significance of Server Upgrades

In the world of technology, change is the only constant. Servers, no matter how robust, eventually reach a point where they can no longer keep up with the evolving demands of your organization. When that moment arrives, it’s time to contemplate server upgrades. But why are server upgrades so important, and what should you consider before embarking on this journey?

1. Does It Fit Your Needs?

The first step in any server upgrade is to ensure that the new server aligns with your organization’s IT requirements. Start by determining these requirements, gather the necessary data, and base your decisions on these foundational insights. Your new server should be tailored to your specific needs, offering the performance and capabilities essential for your daily operations.

2. Is Integration Possible?

Don’t be quick to discard your old server. Consider if there are elements of your existing server that can be seamlessly integrated into the new one. This not only promotes cost-efficiency but also ensures consistency in staff knowledge regarding the technology. Upgrading doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning your old equipment; it could mean giving them a second life within the new infrastructure.

3. What Are the Costs?

Once you’ve determined your performance requirements, it’s time to evaluate which servers align most closely with your needs. Keep in mind that technology can be a significant investment, and you should only pay for technology that directly contributes to your organization’s output. Consider the costs carefully and opt for solutions that deliver real value.

4. What Maintenance Is Involved?

Even state-of-the-art technology requires maintenance. Downtime can be costly, so it’s crucial to establish a maintenance plan. While most new servers come with warranties, these warranties have expiration dates. Inquire about extended warranty options to ensure that your server remains well-protected and operational.

5. What About Future Upgrades?

Technology evolves at a rapid pace, and planning for the future is critical when dealing with new technology. Be prepared to adapt and grow your server infrastructure sooner than you might expect. Future-proofing your server upgrades can save you time, resources, and headaches down the road.

Critical Considerations for Server Upgrades

6. Do You Have a Data Backup?

Never undertake any server changes or upgrades, no matter how minor, without a comprehensive data backup. When a server is powered down, there is no guarantee that it will come back online. Protect your data with a backup strategy to mitigate potential risks.

7. Should You Create an Image Backup?

Many server hardware manufacturers offer disk cloning technologies that simplify server recovery in case of a failure. Some even provide universal restore options, allowing you to recover a failed server swiftly. In cases where upgrades don’t go as planned, disk images can help recover not just data but also the intricate configuration of your server.

8. How Many Changes Are You Making?

Avoid making multiple changes all at once. Whether you’re adding disks, upgrading memory, or installing additional cards, these changes should be implemented separately. In case something goes wrong in the days following the upgrades, isolating the source of the problem is much easier when changes are made one at a time.

9. Are You Monitoring Your Logs?

Completion of a server upgrade doesn’t necessarily mean all is well. Never assume your server is functioning perfectly just because it boots up without displaying errors. Vigilantly monitor log files, error reports, backup operations, and other critical events. Utilize internal performance reports to ensure that everything is running smoothly after upgrades or changes.

10. Did You Confirm the OS Compatibility?

An often-overlooked aspect of server upgrades is confirming the compatibility of your operating system (OS). A quick audit of the system to be upgraded can help verify that the OS is compatible and capable of utilizing the additional resources that are being installed.

11. Does the Chassis Support the Upgrade?

Server hardware can be notoriously inconsistent, with manufacturers frequently altering model numbers and product designs. Before investing in upgrades, carefully review the manufacturer’s technical specifications to ensure compatibility with your server’s chassis.

12. Did You Double-Check for Compatibility?

Don’t assume that new server hardware will seamlessly integrate with the server’s operating system. Due to the unique requirements of server environments, it’s essential to confirm that the component you’re upgrading is listed on the OS vendor’s hardware compatibility list. Checking the server manufacturer’s forums can also provide valuable insights.

13. Does the Software Need an Update?

Remember to keep your software up to date to align with the upgraded hardware. This includes adjusting server virtual memory settings following a memory upgrade. Ensuring your software is optimized for the new hardware can significantly impact your server’s performance.

14. Did You Get the Most Value for Your Money?

While less expensive components may be available, it’s important to remember that when it comes to servers, only high-quality components should be installed. Though they may cost slightly more, the benefits in terms of performance and uptime more than compensate for any additional expense.

Conclusion: Elevating Your Server Infrastructure

In the dynamic landscape of technology, server upgrades are a vital part of maintaining the performance and reliability of your IT infrastructure. Careful consideration of your organization’s specific needs, cost efficiency, and future growth is essential when planning server upgrades. Embrace the ever-changing world of technology and ensure that your server infrastructure remains agile, adaptable, and future-ready.

Remember, your servers are the lifeblood of your digital operations, and investing in their enhancement is an investment in your organization’s success.

For those seeking server upgrades, we also provide solutions for selling used servers, ensuring that your old equipment can find new life in other environments. Explore the possibilities and elevate your IT infrastructure today.

In a world of perpetual technological evolution, make certain that your servers remain at the forefront of innovation, delivering peak performance and reliability. Upgrade with foresight, and let your servers drive your organization forward.

For more information on server upgrades, server sales, and the dynamic world of server technology, continue exploring our website.

TapeChat with Pat

At DTC, we value great relationships. Luckily for us, we have some of the best industry contacts out there when it comes to tape media storage & backup. Patrick Mayock, a Partner Development Manager at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is one of those individuals. Pat has been with HPE for the last 7 years and prior to that has been in the data backup / storage industry for the last 30 years. Pat is our go to guy at HPE, a true source of support, and overall great colleague. For our TapeChat series Pat was our top choice. Pat’s resume is an extensive one that would impress anyone who see’s it. Pat started his data / media storage journey back in the early 90’s in the bay area. Fast forward to today Pat can be found in the greater Denver area with the great minds over at HPE. Pat knows his stuff so sit back and enjoy this little Q&A we setup for you guys. We hope you enjoy and without further adieu, we welcome you to our series, TapeChat (with Pat)!

Pat, thank you for taking the time to join us digitally for this online Q&A. We would like to start off by stating how thrilled we are to have you with us. You’re an industry veteran and we’re honored to have you involved in our online content.

Thanks for the invite. I enjoy working with your crew and am always impressed by your innovative strategies to reach out to new prospects and educate existing customers on the growing role of LTO tape from SMB to the Data Center.

Let’s jump right into it! For the sake of starting things out on a fun note, what is the craziest story or experience you have had or know of involving the LTO / Tape industry? Maybe a fun fact that most are unaware of, or something you would typically tell friends and family… Anything that stands out…

I’ve worked with a few tape library companies over the years and before that I sold the original 9 track ½ inch tape drives. Those were monsters, but you would laugh how little data they stored on a reel of tape. One of the most memorable projects I worked on was in the Bay Area, at Oracle headquarters. They had the idea to migrate from reel to reel tape drives with a plan to replace them with compact, rack mounted, ‘robotic’ tape libraries. At the end, they replaced those library type shelves, storing hundreds of reels of tape with 32 tape libraries in their computer cabinets. Each tape library had room for 40 tape slots and four 5 ¼ full high tape drives. The contrast was impressive. To restore data, they went from IT staffers physically moving tape media, in ‘sneaker mode’ to having software locate where the data was stored, grab and load the tape automatically in the tape library and start reading data. Ok, maybe too much of a tape story, but as a young sales rep at the time it was one that I’ll never forget.

With someone like yourself who has been doing this for such a long time, what industry advancements and releases still get you excited to this day? What is Pat looking forward to right now in the LTO Tape world?

I’m lucky. We used to have five or more tape technologies all fighting for their place in the data protection equation, each from a different vendor. Now, Ultrium LTO tape has a majority of the market and is supported by a coalition of multiple technology vendors working together to advance the design. Some work in the physical tape media, some on the read/write heads, and some on the tape drive itself. The business has become more predictable and more reliable. About every two years the consortium releases the next level of LTO tape technology. We will see LTO-9 technology begin public announcements by the end of 2020. And the thirst for higher storage capacity and higher performance in the same physical space, this is what keeps me more than optimistic about the future.

When our sales team is making calls and asks a business if they are still backing up to LTO Tape, that question is always met with such an unappreciated / outdated response, in some cases we receive a response of laughter with something along the lines of “people still use tape” as a response. Why do you think LTO as a backup option is getting this type of response? What is it specifically about the technology that makes businesses feel as if LTO Tape is a way of the past…

As a Tape Guy, I hear that question a lot. The reality in the market is that some industries are generating so much data that they have to increase their dependence on tape based solutions as part of their storage hierarchy. It starts with just the cost comparison of data on a single disk drive versus that same amount of data on a LTO tape cartridge. LTO tape wins. But the real impact is some much bigger than just that. Think about the really large data center facilities. The bigger considerations are for instance, for a given amount of data (a lot) what solution can fit the most data in to a cabinet size solution. Physical floor space in the data center is at a premium. Tape wins. Then consider the cost of having that data accessible. A rack of disk drives consume tons more energy that a tape library. Tape wins again. Then consider the cooling cost that go along with all those disk drives spinning platters. Tape wins, creating a greener solution that is more cost effective. At HPE and available from DTC, we have white papers and presentations on just this topic of cost savings. In summary, if a company is not looking at or using LTO tape, then their data retention, data protection and data archiving needs are just not yet at the breaking point.

There seems to be an emergence of the Disk / Hard Drive backup option being utilized by so many businesses. Do you feel like LTO Tape will ever be looked at with the same level of respect or appreciation by those same businesses?

If you are talking about solid state disk for high access, and dedicated disk drive solutions for backup – sure that works. But at some point you need multiple copies at multiple locations to protect your investment. The downside of most disk only solutions is that all the data is accessible across the network. Now days, Ransomware and CyberSecurity are part of the biggest threats to corporations, government agencies and even mom and pop SMBs. The unique advantage of adding LTO tape based tape libraries is that the data is NOT easily tapped into because the physical media in not in the tape drive. Again, HPE has very detailed white papers and presentations on this Air Gap principle, all available from DTC.

LTO Tape vs Hard Drive seems to be the big two in terms of the data / backup realm, as an insider to this topic, where do you see this battle going in the far future?

It’s less of a battle and more of a plan to ‘divide the work load and let’s work together’. In most environments, tape and disk work side by side with applications selecting where the data is kept. However, there are physical limitations on how much space is available on a spinning platter or set of platters, and this will dramatically slow down the growth of their capacity within a given form factor. With LTO tape technology, the physical areal footprint is so much bigger, because of the thousands of feet of tape within each tape cartridge. At LTO-8 we have 960 meters of tape to write on. Even at a half inch wide, that’s a lot of space for data. Both disk and tape technologies will improve how much data they can fit on their media, (areal density) but LTO tape just has the advantage of so much space to work with. LTO tape will continue to follow the future roadmap which is already spec’d out to LTO-12.

With so many years in this industry, what has been the highlight of your career?

The technology has always impressed me, learning and talking about the details of a particular technical design advantage. Then, being able to work with a wide range of IT specialists and learning about their business and what they actually do with the data. But when I look back, on the biggest highlights, I remember all the great people that I have worked with side by side to solve customer’s storage and data protection problems. Sometimes we won, sometimes we didn’t. I will never forget working to do our best for the deal.

What tech advancements do you hope to see rolled out that would be a game changer for data storage as a whole?

The data storage evolution is driven by the creation of more data, every day. When one technology fails to keep pace with the growth, another one steps up to the challenge. Like I have said, LTO tape has a pretty solid path forward for easily 6 more years of breakthrough advancements. In 6 years, I’m sure there will be some new technology working to knock out LTO, some new technology that today is just an idea.

We see more and more companies getting hit every day with ransomware / data theft due to hackers, what are your thoughts on this and where do you see things going with this. Will we ever reach a point where this will start to level off or become less common?

Ransomware and cyber security are the hot topics keeping IT Directors and business owners up at night. It is a criminal activity that is highly lucrative. Criminals will continue to attempt to steal data, block access and hold companies for ransom wherever they can. But they prefer easy targets. As I mentioned earlier, Tape Solutions offer one key advantage in this battle: if the data isn’t live on the network, the hacker has to work harder. This is a critical step to protect your data.

For more information on Pat, data backup / storage, + more follow Pat on Twitter:

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LTO-9 Tape Technology (Pre-Purchase Program)

LTO-9 Tape Technology (Pre-Purchase Program)

Our LTO-9 Pre-Purchase Program allows anyone to pre-order LTO-9 tape technology before it is available. This is the ninth generation of tape technology that delivers on the promise made by the LTO Consortium to develop LTO tape technology through at least 12 generations. In an endeavor to deliver our customers the latest technology on the market, we are offering pre orders of LTO-9 tape technology. This gives our customers the best opportunity to receive the latest generation of LTO tape as soon as it’s available. LTO-9 is expected to be available in Fall 2020.

How to Buy: CLICK HERE | or call us today @ 1-800-700-7683.

How to Sell: For those looking to sell your old data tapes prior to upgrading to LTO-9, CLICK HERE to submit your inventory and we will contact you back within 24 Hours.

LTO TECHNOLOGY FOR LONG-TERM DATA PROTECTION

LTO tape technology provides organizations with reliable, long-term data protection and preservation. With LTO tape drives, organizations can meet security and compliance requirements, while at the same time, save on storage footprint, power, and cooling costs, which can make a significant difference in operating costs for larger library environments.

LTO-9 FEATURED HIGHLIGHTS

Lowest cost per GB.
Tape offers lower power and cooling costs, plus a lower footprint leads to improved TCO.
Linear Tape File System (LTFS) support.
AES 256-bit Encryption – Military-grade encryption comes standard.
WORM technology – Makes data non-rewriteable and non-erasable, which acts as an immutable vault within your tape library to secure and protect an offline copy from ransomware.

LTO-9 vs. LTO-8

LTO-9 (Linear Tape-Open 9) is the most recently released tape format from the Linear Tape-Open Consortium, following the LTO-8 format which launched in 2017. LTO-9 is expected to double the capacity of LTO-8 to 60 TB compressed. LTO-8 provides 30 TB of compressed storage capacity and 12 TB of uncompressed capacity, doubling what LTO-7 offered.

Although, the LTO Consortium has not announced the data transfer rate for LTO-9 yet, LTO-8 features an uncompressed data transfer rate of up to 360 MBps and a compressed data transfer rate of up to 750 MBps.

LTO-9 has a similar structure to LTO-8 in that tape drives are backward-compatible with one generation. Essentially, the LTO-8 tapes can read and write to LTO-7 tapes. LTO had typically been able to read back two generations and write back one generation. However, in LTO-8 the backward reading compatibility is limited to one generation.

LTO-9 also features the same WORM, LTFS, and 256-bitencryption technology as the prior generation LTO-8.

Uses for LTO-9

LTO features high capacity, durability, and portability for a comparatively low cost. Archived data storage is not normally needed on an immediate basis, making tape a solid backup option. More commonly, backup data is used for restores in the event of an incident or data loss.

LTO-9 tapes housed at an off-site location are a fantastic option for disaster recovery. If an organizations main data hub has an incident, they can use the durable LTO9 tapes to recover their data. According to the LTO consortium, once data becomes less frequently retrieved, it should be migrated to tape.

Tape is particularly useful in industries such as entertainment and healthcare that generate large volumes of data every day and require a long-term data storage option that’s less expensive than disk. As ransomware attacks stay in the headlines, tape provides an offline backup storage option immune to a cyber-attack. Data stored on an LTO-9 tape cartridge does not have to be connected to the network. This creates what is called an Airgap and creates a safety net from a cyberattack.

Pros and Cons of LTO-9 Tape

Tape capacity continues to expand. When LTO-9 launches, it will have enhanced the compressed capacity of the LTO tape products by almost 60 TB in roughly 10 years. As data levels continue to grow rapidly for many groups, capacity is one of the most important aspects of data storage media. Even the cost of tape is low compared to storing 60 TB on other storage media such as disk or flash. Particularly when taking energy and equipment into consideration as a constant energy source is not required to keep data stored on tape.

Other advantages of LTO-9 tape include:

A reliable generational roadmap that allows customers to count on a new product every few years, and a capacity that is not far off from the original estimate.
256-bit encryption that guarantees security during storage and shipment. Its offline nature also serves as protection from ransomware and cyberattacks, creating an airgap.
A reputation of being extremely reliable, with a lifespan of roughly 30 years. The tape format is also portable, making it remarkably easy to transport.

LTO’s open format also allows customers to access multiple, compatible products. The open format offers intellectual property licenses to prospective manufacturers, leading to innovation and improvements. However, LTO products are not compatible with non-LTO products.

Depending on the amount of data you need to store, cloud storage can be less expensive than tape. In some instances, cloud backup providers provide a free option up to a specified volume of data. Cloud also offers random access, unlike tape. But restoration of data files can be slow depending on data volume and bandwidth.

Features of LTO Technology over the Years

Linear Tape Open or better known as (LTO) Ultrium is a high-capacity, single-reel tape storage created and frequently improved by HPE, IBM and Quantum. LTO tape is a powerful yet scalable tape format that helps address the growing demands of data protection.

PROVIDING GROWTH FOR GENERATIONS.

Originally introduced at the turn of the new millennium, LTO technology is currently in its 8^th generation out of a proposed twelve generations. LTO-8 supports storage capacity of up to 30 TB compressed, twice that of the previous generation LTO-7, and data transfer rates of up to 750MB/second. New generations of LTO storage have been launched consistently with higher capacity and transfer rates along with new features to further protect enterprise data. Furthermore, LTO storage is designed for backward compatibility meaning it can write back one generation and read back two generations of tape. Currently, LTO-8 Ultrium drives are able to read and write LTO -7 and LTO-8 media, ensuring the data storage investment.

WORM

LTO technology highlights a write-once, read-many (WORM) ability to make certain that your data isn’t overwritten and supports compliance regulations. The LTO WORM operation is designed to give users a very cost-effective means of storing data in a non-rewriteable format. With the increasing importance of regulatory compliance — including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), and SEC Rule 17-a-4(f) — there is a need for a cost-effective storage solution that can ensure security of corporate data in an permanent format. LTO WORM contains algorithms using the Cartridge Memory (CM), in combination with low level encoding that is mastered on the tape media to prevent tampering.

Encryption

LTO technology features robust encryption capabilities to heighten security and privacy during storage and transport of tape cartridges. Sadly, it seems like a common occurrence now when a company suffers a breach in security and endangers confidential or private information. Fortunately, recent generation LTO tape drives include one of the strongest encryption capabilities available in the industry to help safeguard the most vulnerable data stored on tape cartridges. LTO tape encryption is specific to all LTO generations since generation 4 (LTO-4). It features a 256-symmetric key AES-GCM algorithm that is implemented at the drive level. This facilitates compression before encryption to maximize tape capacities and deliver high performance during backup. With a rising number of laws and regulations and financial penalties, a security breach can be damaging for corporations. Data managers are called upon to develop effective security for sensitive data and are turning to tape encryption.

Partitioning

More modern generations of LTO technology include a partitioning feature, which help to enhance file control and space management with the Linear Tape File System (LTFS).

Beginning with the 5^th generation (LTO-5), LTO technology specifications consist of a partitioning feature that allows for a new standard in ease-of-use and portability.

Partitioning allows for a section of the tape to be set aside for indexing, which tells the drive exactly where in the tape a file is stored. The second partition holds the actual file. With LTFS, the indexing information is first read by the drive and presented in a simple, easy-to-use format that allows for “drag and drop” capabilities, similar to a thumb drive.

Why Your Data Storage Strategy Should Include Tape

As most businesses utilize the latest in flash and cloud storage technologies to keep up with extensive data growth, tape technology continues to thrive. The decades-old storage platform has continued to be remarkably dependable throughout the multiple innovations in storage equipment. In fact, tape still offers numerous benefits when it comes to backup, archival and other mass storage of data.

Tape’s Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

The cost per gigabyte of tape storage is less than a penny compared to about three cents for hard disk storage, according to Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG). In the long run, tape is also less expensive than cloud storage. The hardware, software, and operational costs are all more costly with other forms of data storage technologies. Additionally, tape has a smaller footprint and uses considerably less power than disk. ESG found that in a 10-year total cost of ownership (TCO) study, an LTO tape solution cost just 14% as much as an all-disk infrastructure, and 17% as much as a hybrid disk/cloud storage solution.

The Density of LTO Tape Technology

One of tape’s key value propositions is its density. The most recent release of Linear Tape Open (LTO) Ultrium 8 technology provides capacity of up to 30TB of compressed storage.

The Lifespan of Data Stored on Tape

Yet another major benefit of tape is its longevity of data storage. LTO tape media has a lifespan of 30 years or more, with the average tape drive lasting nearly 10 years. In contrast, the average disk storage lasts roughly four years. ESG conducted a lab audit of LTO-8 drives and found them to be more reliable than disk.

The Ever-Increasing Speed of LTO Tape

There are still several people that hold to the belief that tape is much too slow to be useful in today’s rapidly evolving IT environment. However, the increases in storage speeds over the 8 generations of LTO tape hasn’t been seen by any other storage solutions. For instance, LTO-7 provides compressed data transfer rates of up to 750MB per second, that’s more than 2.7TB per hour, compared to the 80MB per second of LTO-3 which was released only ten years prior.

Data Tape Software

Not only had tape increased in density and speed over the years, tape has also gotten smarter. Linear Tape File System (LTFS) allows tape data to be read as just another drive on a network. Users can drag and drop files to tape and can see a list of saved files using an operating system directory. LTFS is an open standard supported by LTO drives from any manufacturer. By making it possible to maneuver files on tape just as you would with disk, LTFS allows organizations to use tape for more than backup and archival. Tape becomes part of an “active” archival infrastructure in which data can be moved to the most cost-effective storage tier at any time. As a result, tape is increasingly used for audio/video and surveillance data, and in big data and regulatory compliance use cases.

The Future of LTO

LTO technology continues to improve. The LTO Consortium recently finalized the LTO-9 specification and announced plans for the development through 12 generations of the storage technology. LTO-9 is slated for release in Fall 2020. IBM introduced a tape drive based upon the most advanced LTO-8, which offers compressed capacity of up to 30TB (12TB native) and compressed data transfer rates of up to 900MB per second (360MB per second native). The drive comes with AME and AES-256 encryption and write-one-read-many (WORM) capabilities for data protection and is compatible with LTO-7 media.

Tape as a lower cost, portable, and simple to use storage solution has always made it a fantastic choice for long-term archival backup. LTO innovations over the past decade have produced unparalleled increases in capacity and greatly superior economics compared to other storage technologies on the market.

Announcing the Release of LTO-9 Tape Media

LTO tape sellers reveal the expansion of the LTO roadmap to include generations 9 and 10.

A recent announcement by HP, IBM and Quantum, provided insight in the foreseeable extension of the LTO tape product roadmap. The new LTO generation 9 and LTO generation 10 will be a welcome surprise to data hoarder alike. According to the giant tape vendors, LTO-9 will offer up to 25 TB of native capacity and LTO-10 will offer 48 TB native capacity.

Previous reports have shown that transfer rates are expected to increase at a much larger rate than previous LTO generations. LTO-9 and LTO-10 will have transfer rates of 708 Mbps and 1,100 Mbps. In comparison, the earlier generation LTO-6, offers a native transfer rate of 160 Mbps, with LTO-7 at 315.2 Mbps and LTO-8 at 472 Mbps.

Even more so, both new generation LTO tapes will include read-and-write backwards compatibility with tapes from the previous generation and read compatibility from the previous two generations. The new generations will also continue to support LTFS, WORM functionality and encryption.

What are experts saying about this announcement?

Back in 2010 when LTO6 was introduced to the market (wow time flies) some had remarked they were in favor of transfer rates not increasing at such a rapid rate like they did with generations before LTO6. Others mention that the LTO tape transfer rate increases in the new road map are in direct correlation to higher densities on the tape itself.

Another added that although disk storage is where most IT organizations currently base their data protection efforts, the continuation of the LTO roadmap should stimulate confidence among users of tape media and for the future of tape technology.

The roadmap adds certainty as much as capacity, which is essential to people investing in long-term data storage and retention.

It goes without saying that tape media in general has uses even outside long-term data storage, data mobility, and data recovery. As the longevity of the LTO roadmap continues and tape’s new uses gain recognition, backup storage vendors and storage management retailers will need to take notice that modern tape could be the answer to additional tiers of storage beyond what disk can offer.

Tape Media