Seven Tips for Moving From Tape to Online Data Storage

As Internet and storage costs continue to decline, the cost of online data storage is falling dramatically. Many CIOs and IT Managers are reassessing the use of traditional tape backup methods and moving to online data storage and online data backup.

Online Tech, Michigan’s largest managed data center operator, recently launched OTVault, a cost effective, multi-Terabyte online storage solution. OTVault was designed as an easy first step for disaster recovery. By mapping the online storage as a drive to in-house servers, it becomes very simple to store backups and critical data at Online Tech’s SAS70 certified data centers.

In the process of designing OTVault, and listening to mid-size business’ needs for online data storage, Online Tech uncovered 7 tips that IT managers gave when assessing the move from tape to online data storage.

Tip #1 – Consider the Costs. Rapidly declining storage and Internet costs has made online storage far more cost effective over the last 12 months. At less than $1 per GB, online data storage can be a more cost effective alternative compared to tape, especially when including the hardware, maintenance, personnel costs, tape pickup and drop off, and offsite storage.

Tip #2 – Consider the Security Risks. Online data storage can eliminate physical security risks associated with tapes. Data can be automatically transported over a secure, encrypted VPN tunnel into a SAS70 audited, secure data center, and never touch human hands.

Tip #3 – Consider Reliability. Experts estimate that anywhere from 10% to 40% of tape backups fail, depending on who you talk to. Online data storage, on the other hand, delivers the reliability of RAID configured hard drives – many orders of magnitude higher reliability than tape storage.

Tip #4 – Consider the Recovery Time Objective. In most disaster recovery plans, recovery time objective (RTO) is the critical metric around which backup systems are designed. Online data storage can deliver a near instant data recovery compared to the delay of retrieving and loading backup tapes.

Tip #5 – Consider the Ease of Use. Online data storage eliminates the hassles involved with tape backup. Map the online storage to a drive on a server, and backups can be automated without any human interaction.

Tip #6 – Consider the Capacity and Storage Time. With daily backups and continuous data archiving where the data can be readily accessed, online data storage trumps tape backup.

Tip #7 – Consider Upload Speeds and Daily Transfer. One of the ‘hidden secrets’ of low end online data storage providers is limited upload speeds from 200 to 500 Kbps – effectively limiting the amount of data backup each day. Higher end online data storage like Online Tech’s OTVault offer 5 and 10 Mbps upload options which allows transfers of up to 100 GB per day uncompressed. OTVault also includes free data seeding, over a USB drive, to quickly load all of the data before backups or archive starts online.