6:37 PM Mintrukpare
Tape drive



A tape drive,
also known as a streamer, is a data storage device that reads and writes data stored on a magnetic tape. It is typically used for archival storage of data stored on hard drives. Tape media generally has a favorable unit cost and long archival stability.


Instead of allowing random-access to data
as hard disk drives do, tape drives only allow for sequential-access of data. A hard disk drive can move its read/write heads to any random part of the disk platters in a very short amount of time, but a tape drive must spend a considerable amount of time winding tape between reels to read any one particular piece of data. As a result, tape drives have very slow average seek times. Despite the slow seek time, tapes drives can stream data to tape very quickly. For example, modern LTO drives can reach continuous data transfer rates of up to 80 MB/s, which is as fast as most 10,000 rpm hard disks.
0 ความคิดเห็น | edit post

12:30 PM Mintrukpare
Why Companies Prefer Tape Drives as Data Backup Media?



It has been observed that many companies prefer it even today (about 80% of the digital data even today is stored on tapes.) even when many new devices such as flash drives, portable hard drives or even CDs and DVDs have come up as data backup media. Let us have a look at the reasons for the same by considering the advantages that tape drives offer.


Advantages of Tape Drives
♥ In tape drives, it is not possible to access any data randomly but it can be accessed only sequentially. But even with this apparent disadvantage, high data transfer speeds (up to 80 MB per second) can be achieved on them. The randomness in access of data is also not required generally as most of the data backup is carried out just to comply with the laws of disaster management and these data are rarely accessed in reality except when a disaster strikes.

♥ Another significant advantage of tape drives is the amount of storage space that they offer. It ranges from a few Megabytes to about 800 GB that too without compression. With such a large amount of space available, a single tape drive could prove to be sufficient for all the data that you may need to backup.

♥ To add to the above mentioned capacity, tape drives offer you a high compression ratio, which means that the data that is to be stored on the drive can be compressed to even half its original size.

♥ Also, with the technological advancements in the form of new storage media, the tape drives also have not been left behind. They have shown a vast amount of improvement over the years since 1951 when the tape drive was first introduced.

♥ Cost is always an area of prime importance when data backup is concerned. Tape drives are quite cost efficient as well and are cheaper than most other forms of data storage when the ratio of cost per amount of data that is stored is taken into account. This makes the tape drives affordable especially for small businesses which do need to backup the data but cannot afford to invest a large sum of money for the same purpose.

♥ Another possible advantage of tape drives is the tape library system which helps you keep your data organised and this particular process is automated as well. The software that is used for the same has also shown a lot of development over the years.

♥ The reliability of storage of data on tape drives has been in question many times. But nowadays even that is not a thing to worry about since the tapes keep your data quite safe for a long period of time though not as long a time as offered by hard disks. But this is amply compensated by the cost difference between the two.

♥ Corruption of data that has been backed up is a problem that has been faced by many companies so far and the only solution for the same is making multiple copies of the same data. Practicing the same by using disks proves to be very expensive and hence a backup copy on a tape is generally preferred.

♥ Where security is the concern, tape drives also have not been left behind and the newer versions offer options such as WORM (Write Once Read Many) which allow data to be written on the disks only once and it can be accessed many times. Other features such as encryption are also available. They also limit access to the data to a particular geographical location so that the data cannot be stolen over the internet.


The Last Word
The tape drives are also expected to hold a large share in the market in the years to come as tapes which can store up to 2 TB (Terabytes) of data are expected to be developed within 5 years from now. Given all these advantages, it is no wonder that tape drives remain the preferred backup media even today!
0 ความคิดเห็น | edit post

10:38 PM Mintrukpare
Choosing a Tape Drive




Tape drives remain the leading technology
used by organizations for backup and archiving. However, the plethora of tape drives on the market can make choosing the appropriate tape drive a confusing task. How do you select a tape drive that satisfies your needs without blowing the budget? The following are just some of the main factors to consider.

1. Capacity

Select a tape drive that has sufficient capacity to store your backups. Tape drives are able to compress data so that more data may fit on the tape, which is why manufacturers specify both a native capacity and a compressed capacity, usually with a compression ratio at 2:1. However, highly-compressed files such as those in video and sound formats are hardly compressible at all. For this reason, do not heed the specified compressed capacity when choosing a tape drive.
A good way to determine the size of the backup job after compression is to study logs of past backups. If these are unavailable, it is safe to assume that the data can be compressed at a ratio of 1.4:1, unless the hard drive contains an usually large number of highly-compressed files.

2. Transfer rate

The transfer rate of the tape drive is becomes important when there is limited "window of opportunity" in which backup jobs may run. It is often desirable for backups to take place during the night when network use is at its lowest.

Select a tape drive that is capable of completing a backup job within your window of opportunity. For instance, to back up 400GB per night, you will require a transfer rate of about 30GB/hour.

A little known fact about tape drives is that data must be supplied to them at a sufficient rate in order to keep them streaming, or else the tape suffers from start-stop motion. This motion severely degrades the life of the drive and tapes and the reliability of backups.

There are two usual reasons why tape drive are not be supplied with data at a sufficient rate. Firstly, the rate at which data is read from the hard disk of the server is insufficient. This rate is dependent on the sizes and locations of the files on disk and is generally unpredictable, but can be determined by the use of specialised software.

Secondly, if data is being transferred over a network of computers to a backup server, the network may be incapable of supplying data at a sufficient rate. The maximum throughput of a network is predictable and easy to measure, based on previous network performance.
Consider a network using 10BaseT Ethernet. This transfer rate through this type of network cannot exceed 10MB/s, so it is immediately apparent that a tape drive requiring 20MB/s is inappropriate.

3. Reliability and duty cycle

A simple way to gauge the reliability of a tape drive is to find out the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) as specified by the manufacturer. You should note, however, that the MTBF is usually specified at a certain duty cycle. For example, consider a Travan tape drive with a MTBF of 370,000 hours at 20% duty cycle. The drive will only have an average of 370,000 hours between failures if it is run less than 20% of the time (about 4.8 hours per day), and running the tape drive for any longer will significantly reduce the reliability of the drive.

4. Price

There is no point purchasing the highest-range tape drive if it's simply too expensive. Consider how much value-for-money the tape drive will give you. Are you willing to pay more for extra performance? Or do you need to sacrifice some performance to save on costs?
1 ความคิดเห็น | edit post

11:23 AM Mintrukpare
All You Need to Know About Tape Drives



Tape drives are useful backups to store data. The faster variety can transfer 20MB per second. Other tape drives can accommodate kilobytes and gigabytes in the hundreds. These kinds of media, however, are sequential-access devices, meaning you have to read through previous data before you can get to the latest input. You need to rewind data, and this takes time. The search time may be slow but streaming data into tape drives is real fast. The latest tape drives can transfer data up to 80 MBs as fast as 10,000 rpm hard disks.


Tape drives reads and writes data on a magnetic tape. This is ideal for filing data that are clogging your computer’s hard drive. In cost and efficiency of storage, tape drives are ideal for the purpose. The compact unit does not require much space on your table or shelf, thus making it an ideal partner to your computer.


Tape drives are useful components for office data storage. The pile of data in the computers’ hard disk can pose risks should any mishap occur. Integrated with a secure media technology the cost of installing tape drives will be inexpensive in the long haul. Electronic storage is always the better way to store important data, and tape drives offer the least expensive way to store files.


Small and big businesses can maximize the use of tape drives. The less accessed data are kept safe in storage and these can be catalogued according to type and period. Organized data storage can increase efficiency in the workplace. If the deciding factors are efficiency and safe data storage at a minimal cost, tape drives are the best options even for the hard-nosed businessmen.


There are different external models to choose from: T10000, T9840, T9940, Linear Open Tape Drives, and DLT Tape Drives.
0 ความคิดเห็น | edit post

10:58 AM Mintrukpare
Digital Audio Tape

Digital Audio Tape (DAT or R-DAT) is a signal recording and playback medium developed by Sony in the mid 1980s. In appearance it is similar to a compact audio cassette, using 4 mm magnetic tape enclosed in a protective shell, but is roughly half the size at 73 mm × 54 mm × 10.5 mm. As the name suggests the recording is digital rather than analog, DAT converting and recording at higher, equal or lower sampling rates than a CD (48, 44.1 or 32 kHz sampling rate, and 16 bits quantization). If a digital source is copied then the DAT will produce an exact clone, unlike other digital media such as Digital Compact Cassette or non-Hi-MD MiniDisc, both of which use lossy data compression.
1 ความคิดเห็น | edit post