| When comparing different types of data | | | | has a greater rate of failure than another |
| storage devices, you'll certainly read and | | | | doesn't mean it's not the right option for |
| hear about all of the great things that each | | | | your business. After all, a failure every |
| product has to offer. But what about the | | | | 1,000,000 or a failure every 600,000 is still |
| downside to each type of media storage? | | | | a failure. The logical approach is to ensure |
| Optical drives, tape media, and disk storage, | | | | that there is system in place to catch and |
| all have their own set of pros and cons that | | | | repair failures. It's more important to |
| you'll need to evaluate before making a | | | | inquire about a specific product's failure |
| decision about which type data backup | | | | backup strategy than make a decision based on |
| strategy to implement. | | | | failure rate alone. |
| | | | |
| #1 Lifespan of the Data: | | | | #3: Length of Time to Restore Data: |
| | | | |
| In most sales copy, you'll read about how | | | | When data is lost, recovering systems and |
| much storage space a particular type of media | | | | data to their pre-disaster state doesn't just |
| offers, but rarely will you read about how | | | | happen instantly. Optical drives, tape |
| long that data will last. Most people just | | | | media, and disk storage each require |
| assume that once stored, their data will be | | | | different processes and require different |
| safe forever. The data stored on optical | | | | lengths of time to recover data. It's |
| drives, tape media, and disk storage each has | | | | essential to calculate the cost of downtime |
| a shelf life depending on the media type, the | | | | for your business. How much money will you |
| brand of storage device, and how it's cared | | | | lose for each hour you're your systems are |
| for. | | | | down? How much downtime can you afford? |
| | | | |
| Optical disks: Between x and x years | | | | You won't want to choose your data storage |
| | | | device on this factor alone, but it should be |
| Tape media: Between x and x years | | | | a big part of your consideration. While disk |
| | | | storage can have everything back up and |
| Disk storage: Between x and x years | | | | running fairly quickly, it can't store nearly |
| | | | as much data as tape media. You may need to |
| Just because one type of media has a shorter | | | | combine multiple types of data storage |
| lifespan than another doesn't mean you | | | | devices for different types of data. |
| shouldn't choose it. It is, however, | | | | |
| critical to know the life expectancy so that | | | | It's important to seek out an unbiased |
| you can implement a foolproof process for | | | | opinion on these issues when choosing your |
| recopying the data at regular intervals. | | | | data storage solution. When you begin doing |
| It's more important to choose a data storage | | | | your own research on any one of these |
| type that fits with your business processes | | | | subjects, you'll find that each of these |
| than the one that will last the longest. | | | | issues tends to spark heated debates among |
| | | | proponents in different industries. Not |
| #2 Potential for Data Failure: | | | | surprisingly, the data figures vary widely |
| | | | depending on who publishes them. |
| The whole point of backing up data is to have | | | | |
| it available should the unthinkable occur. | | | | In order to obtain the most objective |
| But what if it's not there when you need it? | | | | information about the right type of data |
| Optical drives, tape media, and disk storage | | | | storage solution for your particular |
| all have their own acceptable and expected | | | | business, a value added reseller is a smart |
| rates of failure. According to some | | | | option. These are educated resellers that |
| statistics, disk storage has an approximate | | | | offer a wide variety of media types and |
| Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) rating of | | | | brands along with free one on one |
| 600,000 to 1,000,000 hours while tape media | | | | consultation. This way, you'll not only get |
| has a MTBF of about 400,000 to 500,000 hour. | | | | a logical, unbiased consultation, but a data |
| | | | backup strategy that is completely customized |
| Again, just because one type of data storage | | | | for your business. |