Tape is cheapest medium to store data long term, is environmentally very friendly, is easily transportable, has the lowest RPO and the highest bandwidth (when physically transported on the highway). The tape of the future will require the integration of disk and network technologies to enhance the platform.
When that future will be is uncertain, as tape manufacturers are struggling to re-gain their marketing moxie. While the tape market sorts itself out, it would be tempting for users to try and implement their own solutions integrating tape and other solutions. This temptation should be resisted in large data centers, as should any attempt to phase out tape. Rather, good practice from the mainframe world should be implemented in the open world.
Action Item: Storage executives should resist attempts to integrate tape and disk technologies, and wait for vendors to provide solutions. In a time of flux, it will be unclear what solutions will survive in the marketplace. Storage executives should not be afraid to implement different solutions for each storage pool.
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