This week, IBM introduced the
Diamondback Tape Library, reaffirming its position that magnetic tape is a form of data storage that’s here to stay. Yes, magnetic tape, kind of like what’s spooled inside the VHS tapes and cassettes of last century.
“Tape has been known to live in the middle of the desert for 40 years and still be recoverable,” says Shawn Brume, IBM’s storage strategist. “In 2010, the health of tape was really understood when all of the data used for [
the Nimbus satellite project] were recovered from tapes that were at that time, 46-years-old.”
IBM argues that this feature makes tape the ideal medium to store archival data that doesn’t need to be frequently accessed. Tape can also serve as an “air gap” backup—offline versions of important or sensitive files that are resistant to cyberattacks. The types of data that stay on tape span financial records, medical records, personally identifiable information, and documents that are part of a legal hold, Brume notes.
In addition to offering protection against ever-evolving cyber threats, it’s also more conservative with power use. “Tape uses no energy with data at rest. Even when it’s drawing files back, it’s doing it with very little energy because it’s not trying to do it in a high-performance manner,” Brume says.
