Tape drives are a form of magnetic tape data storage that has been around since the early 1950s. They were originally used for data backups but evolved over time to handle other large data storage needs. Tape drives store information on long reels of magnetic tape that allow you to read and write data sequentially. The technology first became popular in the 1980s as tapes gained the ability to store more data at faster speeds. While other forms of data storage emerged over the years, tape drives have remained useful for securely storing large amounts of infrequently accessed data.
In the early days, open-reel tape drives were common, but they were later replaced by cartridge and cassette tapes that were easier to handle. Major vendors developed their own proprietary tape formats over the years, including technologies like Linear Tape-Open (LTO), Digital Linear Tape (DLT), and 3592 from IBM. Tape drive capacities grew enormously from megabytes in the 1950s to multiple terabytes today. Transfer speeds also increased substantially from about 10 KB/s initially to over 750 MB/s on modern LTO-8 drives.
While tape drives lost relevance for everyday computing uses, they retained an important role in data center backup and archival storage. According to an article, tape drives have 30-year lifespan for storage, making them well-suited for long-term data retention. Companies continue to use tape for storing infrequently accessed data today, especially for disaster recovery and offline backups.
Current Uses
Tape drives are still commonly used today for data backup and archiving, especially for large datasets. According to TechTarget, magnetic tape has a key advantage over disk technology as an archive medium with a lifespan of up to 30 years when properly stored [1]. Mainframes also continue relying on tape for backup, disaster recovery, and archiving due to tape’s portability, long shelf life, and offline protection against ransomware [1]. Some estimates indicate that over 224,000 tape drives were shipped globally in 2020, showing its ongoing prevalence [2]. For example, the New York Stock Exchange uses tapes to store massive amounts of data, backing up 1.8 petabytes of data every day [3]. Other industries like healthcare, government, education, and entertainment also utilize tape for backups, data retention, and compliance.
[1] https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/tip/Whats-driving-the-resurgence-in-tape-storage-use
[2] https://corodata.com/tape-backups-still-used-today
[3] https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/tape-drive
Advantages
Tape drives offer some key advantages compared to other data storage mediums. First, tape drives provide extremely high storage capacity at a relatively low cost. A single tape cartridge can store terabytes of data, with capacities continuing to grow over time. This makes tape one of the most cost-efficient storage mediums available today (Source).
Second, tape drives have an exceptionally long shelf life if stored properly. Tape cartridges can retain data for 10-30 years or more before degradation occurs. This is significantly longer than hard disk drives or flash storage (Source). The longevity of tape makes it ideal for long-term archival storage.
Finally, tape is a removable, offline medium. When not mounted in a drive, tape cartridges are disconnected from any network or power source. This air gap provides a layer of data security and protects against ransomware compared to always-online disk storage.
Disadvantages
While tape drives have some benefits for long-term data storage, they also come with some downsides. Two notable disadvantages of tape drives are slow data transfer speeds and vulnerability to damage.1
Because tape drives rely on physical media, the process of reading and writing data to tapes can be quite slow compared to solid state drives or even hard disk drives. Typical transfer speeds for tape drives are in the range of hundreds of megabytes per second, whereas SSDs and HDDs can transfer data at rates of gigabytes per second or higher.2 This makes tape drives impractical for frequent or rapid data access. The linear nature of tape also means long seek times when trying to locate specific data.
In addition, magnetic tape media is relatively fragile, especially compared to solid state media. Tape cartridges can be damaged by mishandling, exposure to magnets, temperature extremes, and accumulated wear from repeated use. Proper storage and handling procedures are required. For this reason, tape is better suited for archival data that only needs to be accessed occasionally, rather than data requiring frequent transactions.
Trends
While tape drives have declined in popularity over the years with the rise of cloud storage and flash media, they are still commonly used today for long-term data archiving and backup (“What’s driving the resurgence in tape storage use?”). Tape remains a very cost-effective solution for storing large amounts of infrequently accessed data over long periods of time. According to one source, the global tape storage market is projected to grow steadily at a CAGR of over 5% from 2022-2027 as tape continues to play a key role in data archive strategies (“Tape Drive Storage Market Research Report”).
While short-term backup and primary storage has largely transitioned to disk and flash solutions, tape is still unmatched when it comes to long-term storage density and cost savings. Tape cartridges can store vast amounts of data with capacities up to 60TB per cartridge, while maintaining very low energy usage. This makes tape ideal for archiving cold data that needs to be retained but is rarely accessed. Major companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook all continue to rely on tape as part of their data center infrastructure.
While not as fast as other media for everyday transactions, tape drives continue to see speed improvements. LTO-9 drives can achieve compressed transfer speeds of 750MB/s. Tape is also very portable, easy to take offsite, and has a shelf life of 30 years. As data volumes continue to explode globally, tape is likely to remain an essential part of the data storage hierarchy for mass archives and backups.
Cloud Storage Comparison
Although tape drives are still used today, cloud storage has emerged as a popular alternative for data backup and archiving. When comparing tape drives to cloud storage, there are a few key factors to consider:
Relative costs – Cloud storage typically involves ongoing monthly or annual fees based on the amount of data stored, while tape drives require an upfront hardware investment and the periodic cost of new tapes. For large amounts of infrequently accessed data, tape drives may be more cost effective than cloud storage in the long run (Castle Computers, 2015).
Accessibility – A benefit of cloud storage is that data can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection, while tape drives require physical access to the tapes. However, tape drives aren’t reliant on internet connectivity. Cloud outages could prevent access to data stored in the cloud (Kimbrer, n.d.).
Vulnerabilities – While both solutions carry risks, tape drives aren’t connected to networks and are more isolated from cyber attacks. Cloud storage relies on third-party security measures that could be compromised. Proper encryption and access controls are critical for secure cloud storage (Kimbrer, n.d.).
New Innovations
Tape storage continues to see major capacity increases and innovations. The LTO (Linear Tape Open) consortium releases a technology roadmap with plans for future generations of LTO tape drives and media. The latest released generation, LTO-9, provides 18TB native capacity per cartridge, over double the 8TB offered by the previous LTO-8 generation. The roadmap shows plans for LTO-10 to offer 36TB native capacity and LTO-11 with 72TB native capacity per cartridge. These impressive leaps are made possible through continued improvements in areal density using new magnetic particle formulations and servo technologies to allow more tracks to be written on the same tape width.
According to a report from Storage Newsletter, Fujifilm and IBM recently collaborated to create a new enterprise 3592 JF tape cartridge and TS1170 tape drive with native capacity of 50TB per cartridge, demonstrating the continued push for greater capacities. Partnerships between media manufacturers like Fujifilm and drive vendors bring together expertise in magnetic tape technology and servo control to enable these innovations.
Major Vendors
The largest vendors for tape drives include:
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IBM – Founded in 1911, IBM has been a leader in tape technology for decades. They offer a range of enterprise tape drives and storage systems.
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Oracle/StorageTek – Oracle acquired StorageTek in 2005. StorageTek was an early pioneer in tape drives starting in 1969. Oracle continues to offer a variety of tape storage products.
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HP – Along with IBM, HP has been one of the largest providers of tape drives and autoloaders. They offer tape solutions targeted at both enterprise and SMB customers.
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Quantum – Founded in 1980, Quantum focuses specifically on data storage and management solutions including tape drives and libraries.
These major vendors account for the majority of tape drive sales and heavily invest in tape technology and innovation.
Use Cases
Tape drives are still commonly used for specific use cases where they provide advantages over other storage media:
Media Archives: The entertainment industry relies heavily on tape for long-term storage and backup of large video and audio files. Tape offers high capacity and low cost for archiving high-resolution raw footage that would require incredible amounts of cloud storage.
Genomics Research: Genomics researchers need to store massive amounts of DNA sequencing data. Tape provides an affordable medium for cost-efficiently storing these huge datasets for decades. Major genomics labs use tape libraries for preservation and access to their data.
High-Performance Computing (HPC): Supercomputers used for scientific modeling, weather forecasting, and physics research require writing and reading enormous datasets at high speeds. Tape drives offer fast sequential bandwidth to keep up with the extreme I/O demands of HPC systems.
Backups: While disks excel at random access, tape drives are still widely used for data backups, especially for disaster recovery and archival purposes. The linear format makes tape efficient for writing/reading backup streams sequentially.
Sources:
https://www.fujifilm.com/in/en/business/data-management/datastorage/lto-tape-drive/use-cases
Conclusion
In summary, tape drives may seem outdated but they are still very much in use today. They provide high capacity, long-term archival storage at a relatively low cost. Tape drives are ideal for storing large amounts of infrequently accessed data, performing backups, and archiving data for regulatory compliance. While hard disk and cloud storage continue to become cheaper and more popular, tape remains a critical part of the storage infrastructure for many organizations.
Going forward, we can expect to see continued innovation in tape technology, with higher capacities, faster transfer speeds, and lower costs per terabyte. Vendors will keep enhancing management software to make tapes easier to integrate with cloud and disk-based storage. However, the core benefits of tape – high capacity, portability, longevity, energy efficiency and low TCO – are unlikely to change. Tape drives will remain an essential data storage and backup technology, especially for large enterprises, scientific data, medical imaging, video archives and other users with substantial long-term preservation and compliance needs.