Why Disk Technology Beats Tape Technology

Faster Restoration

Disk drives feature random access, which allows you to instantly merge backups incrementally. When you use tape, your data is apt to be far from the start of the tape because multiple incremental backups are used, often across multiple tapes.

With disk technology, you can also use quick search to locate a specific file – even a single email – and restore it quickly. Disk technology also uses a redundant configuration, meaning you can backup and restore multiple clients simultaneously. Tape technology does not offer quick search or simultaneous backups.

Shorter Backup Periods

Incremental backups are much shorter because they need to save only a small fraction of data compared to a full backup. Disk media allows you to use more incremental backups per each full backup because of its high reliability and random access technology. That means you can schedule full backups less frequently and easily fit them into operational lulls. You also get higher throughput with disk-based backup because multiple clients can be backed up simultaneously.

Incremental Backups Save You Money

Incremental backups don’t just help with performance. They also keep your costs down. Most IT shops that use tape technology need to keep several copies of full backups because tape restores often fail. Tape backup schedules either use no incremental backups or few incremental backups per full backup, which means multiple copies of the same files. File storage capacity is wasted and the $/TB of the tape media significantly increases. Additional time penalties can also accrue.

Faster Backup and Archiving

Redundant performance technology allows disk-based systems to back up data and restore it much faster than tape.

More Reliable

Nearly 70% of all tape recovery attempts fail. With disk-based backup, the commodity disks used are much more reliable, and the redundant technology protects against disk failures. No need to worry about lost tapes, jams and recalibrations. Disk drives are self-contained, which means they maintain reliability much longer than tape because they are not exposed to the same environmental conditions.

Less Fuss

Even an entry-level IT staffer can manage the interface of disk-based solutions. The user friendly file system, disk and networked attached storage means less time spent on training and fewer mistakes.