Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

05 Tape Storage Council Report Highlights by John Sharpe

15/01/2016

In late December, the Tape Storage Council issued a memo on current and upcoming trends within the tape storage industry, including the release of new tape formats. The Council includes representatives from several significant storage and technology companies, including Iron Mountain.

The TSC's assessment notes that backup tape is the most secure, reliable and cost effective backup method available on the market according to current storage trends. This is helpful for companies required to store terabytes of data for several years for regulation and compliance reasons.

Continued Tape Technology Investment

One of the key factors driving tape innovation is exponential data growth. It's increasingly expensive to keep new data and older data on spinning disk or in the Cloud. The recently released LTO-7 tape format can hold up to 6 TBs of data, making it possible for some companies to back up their entire dataset to a single tape. This is helpful when a company is making a technology shift, such as moving to the Cloud. In this case, existing data can be stored on tape until its needed, fewer tapes are required to be managed, or the tape can be used to seed data into the cloud.

Tape storage also continues to be extremely durable, with a possible lifespan of up to 30 years. This makes it a cost effective way to store data that needs to be kept for at least 7 to 10 years. It also gives companies peace of mind that their data will not become corrupted.

The TSC is also keeping an eye on Active Archive solutions that offer a hybrid approach to storage tape, disk and cloud data. With an Active Archive, companies can add to their storage tier whatever solution they want to. For example, new and nearline data goes to the Cloud or spinning disk, and archive data sits on tape. This approach helps to keep storage costs down while still maintaining access Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

Another emerging trend is the Tape as NAS (Network Attached Storage) solution. This solution integrates with an LTO library and provides direct file access to tape data on a NAS with either CIFS/NFS mounts. Data is written to NAS until the cache is full, and the NAS writes the data to tape; however, a user can still see all the data as if it were on a file system and retrieve it easily based on pre-set SLAs. This saves effort in trying to locate tapes in inventory offsite and then sort the data.

Tape is Backing Up the Cloud

The Cloud moves IT infrastructure from your company to your cloud provider and whether you realize it or not, that provider is probably using tape as a secondary backup method.

Your organization probably creates data in the Cloud, but as that data ages, it makes economic sense for your cloud provider to move inactive data to tape and make it available to you when you need it. Your active data is likely on spinning disk, so it can be accessed quickly in a disaster recovery situation.

Tape is also an effective way to seed data to the Cloud, especially large data sets, especially when you consider the time it would take to push terabytes of data over a WAN.

With all this in mind, Iron Mountain has several solutions to help you manage your data.

Offsite Tape Vaulting - We've been protecting our clients' tapes for years and will continue to do so. Rely on our climate controlled vaults to protect your tapes for as many years as your retention policies require.

Restoration Services - If you're transitioning from tape to a disk or cloud solution, let Iron Mountain keep your legacy backup tapes in storage and create a restoration program for you to retrieve archive data when you need it most.

Cloud Services - Our cloud services can help you backup your systems to the cloud or a disk solution as well as maintain business continuity during planned and unplanned service disruptions.

For more information about how tape has evolved over the years, download our infographic: The History of Tape.
LINK: http://blogs.ironmountain.com/2016/service-lines/data-backup-and-recov...
See more stories from ironmountain

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

28/04/2026

Sound for the NFL Draft Show Balances Often Conflicting Goals

The audio team for the entertainment event must blend speech intelligibility with full-range music reproduction while considering the broadcast Last week's...

28/04/2026

Pac-12 Releases New Primary Mark Ahead of 2026-27 Season

The Pac-12 Conference has released an updated primary mark and logo as the starting point of the new league's brand identity. The mark was soft-launched acr...

28/04/2026

DP World Tour to Become First Professional Sports Organization to Use Amazon Leo Satellite Connectivity

The DP World Tour and Amazon Leo have signed an agreement making Amazon's lo...

28/04/2026

Pixellot and HELIOS Announce Automated Hockey Shift Video Integration

Pixellot and HELIOS have announced an integration that automatically converts full-game hockey video into individualized shift videos for each athlete, without ...

28/04/2026

Daktronics Installs New LED Video Display at Asheville Tourists Ballpark

Daktronics has partnered with the Asheville Tourists to manufacture and install a new LED video display. The installation was completed in late 2025 and is now ...

28/04/2026

Eutelsat and PCTV Renew Long-Term Video Distribution Partnership in Mexico

Eutelsat has announced the renewal of its partnership with PCTV, a content aggregation and distribution company in Mexico and part of Megacable Holdings, for co...

28/04/2026

Gary SouthShore RailCats Install New Daktronics LED Display at U.S. Steel Yard

Daktronics has partnered with the Gary SouthShore RailCats to install a new LED video display at U.S. Steel Yard, replacing the previous Daktronics display inst...

28/04/2026

Telos Alliance and College Radio Foundation Award Omnia.11 Processor to Wright State Universitys WWSU-FM

Telos Alliance and the College Radio Foundation have announced that WWSU-FM of W...

28/04/2026

Inside the Mix: A1s Florian Brown and James Deason on Golfs Biggest Broadcasts

Golf viewership is growing. The 2025 Ryder Cup drew five million viewers in the UK, a 45% increase over the 2023 event. The US Open was the most streamed golf e...

28/04/2026

The CW Network Acquires Exclusive Broadcast Rights to WWE NXT Premium Live Events

The CW Network and WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), have announced t...

28/04/2026

NAB 2026: AIMS Wins NAB Show 2026 Product of the Year Award for IPMX

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced that the Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) suite of standards and specifications has been named...

28/04/2026

NAB 2026 SportsTechBuzz in Review: A Look Back at the Big News From 150+ Companies in Vegas

The 2026 NAB Show is in the books and the show once again served up a cavalcade ...

28/04/2026

Gray Media, RAJ Sports Launch New Womens Sports RSN in Portland - Rose City SportsNet

Gray Media and RAJ Sports have announced Rose City SportsNet (RCSN), a new netwo...

28/04/2026

Spotify Reports First Quarter 2026 Earnings

Today, we announced our First Quarter 2026 earnings, starting the Year of Raising Ambition with strong momentum across the business and continued innovation acr...

28/04/2026

Spotify rapporterar resultat fr frsta kvartalet 2026

I dag presenterade vi v rt resultat f r det f rsta kvartalet 2026. Vi inleder ret med starkt momentum i hela verksamheten och fortsatt innovation p plattforme...

28/04/2026

Mojave introduce the MA-C vocal mic

New handheld promises studio performance for the stage Mojave have just introduced a new live-focused handheld vocal mic created by award-winning designer D...

28/04/2026

VSTOPIA announce Dynamic Split Module for Ableton

Max for Live device offers AI-powered stem separation Dynamic Split Module (DSM) is a new Max for Live device created by Ostin Solo, a developer and musican...

28/04/2026

Focusrite unveil the ISA C8X

First interface equipped with ISA preamps Focusrite have just announced the launch of a new high-end audio interface that features a pair of their legendary...

28/04/2026

Nielsen and Triton Digital Collaborate to Bring Greater Visibility to Podcast Audiences in Nielsen's Media Impact Tool

Triton Digital's Podcast Metrics Demos+ Data Integration Enables Comprehensi...

28/04/2026

Paramount Skydance Will be 49.5% Foreign Owned After WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/04/2026

KEET PBS Deploys PMVG TechBundle Services To Modernize Operations

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/04/2026

TAG Video Systems Lens Wins Industry Awards for Cutting T...

TAG Video Systems, the leading IP-native Realtime Media Platform, today announced that Lens, its visual service health interface for broadcast operations, recei...

28/04/2026

AIMS Wins NAB Show 2026 Product of the Year Award for IPM...

Open AV-over-IP Standard Recognized in IT Networking/Infrastructure and Security Category The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) today announced that the ...

28/04/2026

VFX History: Slit Scan

VFX History: Slit Scan Graham Quince April 28, 2026 0 Comments How did 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, Doctor Who and Star Trek: The Next Generation...

28/04/2026

These DaVinci Resolve Effects Will Make You a More Creative Colorist

These DaVinci Resolve Effects Will Make You a More Creative Colorist Kasia Jarco April 28, 2026 0 Comments Creativity in color grading is not about ha...

28/04/2026

A Simple Introduction to Cavalry: Indexed Circle

A Simple Introduction to Cavalry: Indexed Circle Simon Ubsdell April 28, 2026 0 Comments In this new introductory tutorial for Cavalry we're going...

28/04/2026

Rise Upskill - Applications Now Open for Free Global Trai...

Rise, the award-winning advocacy group for gender diversity in the broadcast and media technology sector, is pleased to announce a new global training programme...

28/04/2026

Clear Com Announces New Roles for Brian Grahn and Ben Tur...

Clear-Com has appointed Brian Grahn as Market Outreach Manager of the Americas and Ben Turnwell as Business Development Manager for EMEA live, expanding their ...

28/04/2026

LiveU Steps into the Future at MPTS 2026 with the Introdu...

LiveU is inviting MPTS visitors to step into the companys new Q Era on Stand D32, at The Grand Hall, Olympia, London (May 13-14). The company will showcase its ...

28/04/2026

IBC launches 2026 Innovation Awards to spotlight real-wor...

IBC today announces the launch of the IBC2026 Innovation Awards, with nominations now open for projects, programmes and initiatives that exemplify breakthrough ...

28/04/2026

WNBA to Stream All Preseason Games for Free

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/04/2026

Nexstar Media Charitable Foundation Sets 30 Days of Giving'

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/04/2026

Sinclair's Chief Compliance Officer Jeff Lewis to Retire

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/04/2026

Nielsen Introduces Predictive Sales Lift' Tool

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/04/2026

Sencore's VB440 Monitoring, Analysis Tool Debuts at NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/04/2026

Pinterest Makes a Major Push into CTV Advertising

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/04/2026

Introducing Nx 3-Strip v2 - A Physics-Based Technicolor Reconstruction for DaVinci Resolve

Introducing Nx 3-Strip v2 - A Physics-Based Technicolor Reconstruction for DaVin...

28/04/2026

Tribeca Festival Marks 25 Years With Star-Studded Talks, Reunions & Retrospectives

April 28th, 2026 Press Materials Available Here TRIBECA FESTIVAL MARKS 25 YEAR...

28/04/2026

Sky Documentaries announces Savage Mountain, the controversial true story behind Kristin Harilas record-breaking 14 Peaks climb

In 2023, Norwegian climber Kristin Harila set out to break a mountaineering reco...

28/04/2026

LinkedIn Top Companies 2026: Where Career Growth Is...

LinkedIn Top Companies 2026: Where Career Growth Is Happening Now Published on Apr 28, 2026 Categories: Data and insights LinkedIn Corporate Communication...

28/04/2026

Into the Omniverse: Manufacturing's Simulation-First Era Has Arrived

Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on how developers, 3D practitioners, and enterprises can transform their workflows ...

28/04/2026

NVIDIA Launches Nemotron 3 Nano Omni Model, Unifying Vision, Audio and Language for up to 9x More Efficient AI Agents

AI agent systems today juggle separate models for vision, speech and language - ...

28/04/2026

RT NEWS ANNOUNCES SEAN WHELAN AS NEW LONDON CORRESPONDENT

RT News is pleased to announce the appointment of Sean Whelan as its new London Correspondent. Sean has held the role of Washington Correspondent for the last...

28/04/2026

Six well-known figures delve into the 1926 Census archive

Joseph O'Connor, Eileen Walsh, Louise Duffy, Mick Lynch, Gormfhlaith N Thuairisg and Dermot Bannon take a personal look at life 100yrs ago in new TV docume...