Clipper Group Reports Substantial Cost Advantages of Using Tape in Tiered Storage...

Clipper Group Reports Substantial Cost Advantages of Using Tape in Tiered Storage Approaches

Study Demonstrates 23X TCO Savings and 290X Energy Advantage by
Utilizing Tape
SILICON VALLEY, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
The results of a cost analysis that includes a review of potential
hardware, energy and environmental costs highlights the potential
advantages of using tape in tiered storage infrastructures and
substantial business savings when compared to all-disk archiving
solutions.

The sponsored white paper, written by David Reine and Mike Kahn of
The Clipper Group, looked at total costs of ownership over a five year
period for the long-term storage of data in tiered
disk-to-disk-to-tape versus disk-to-disk-to-disk solutions. After
factoring in acquisition costs of equipment and media, as well as
electricity and data center floor space, Clipper found that the total
cost of SATA disk archiving solutions were up to 23 times more
expensive than tape solutions for archiving. When calculating energy
costs for the competing approaches, the costs for disk were up to 290
times that of tape.

"Our goal was to answer the overriding question of 'how much does
it really cost?' to provide readers with a balanced 'apples to apples'
comparison of these two archiving approaches," said Mike Kahn,
Managing Director, The Clipper Group. "In the end we have determined
that a blended environment of disk and tape is the right
configuration, incorporating both high performance disk to satisfy
contracted SLAs along with the lower TCO figures of tape for long-term
storage."

"While the CIO might be anxious to push forward with newer
technology, our paper shows that disk-only archiving solutions are not
a replacement for tape if cost is at all an issue -- disk should be
used to complement tape," said Dave Reine, Director, Enterprise
Systems, The Clipper Group. "Our findings show that there are
substantial potential savings when using tape in tiered approaches,
and even when you factor in de-duplication, tape-based strategies
still provide an estimated 5:1 cost advantage over de-duped disk in
archiving."

Findings of the report include:

-- The total cost of ownership of SATA disk archiving solutions
is about 23 times that of tape-based archive solutions

-- Tape is the more energy efficient choice for the data center,
providing up to a 290:1 advantage on energy costs

-- Tape is the more economical solution for long-term storage
requirements for mid-sized data centers

-- Tiered D2D2T solutions can be justified on acquisition costs
alone

-- Employing de-duplication can bring down the overall TCO of
SATA-based archiving solutions, but tape-based archiving still
has an estimated 5:1 advantage

"Tape is an integral component of a user's information
infrastructure strategy," said Cindy Grossman, Vice President, Tape
and Archive Systems, IBM. "A tiered storage blend of disk and tape can
help the IT manager address a myriad of data center goals that include
SLA performance targets, disaster recovery, archive, data security and
of course, TCO and energy consumption."

LTO tape technology provides advanced backup and archiving
features that are required in today's data centers, including 256-bit
drive-level data encryption, WORM support, high capacity -- up to
1.6TB per cartridge -- and blazing performance at up to 240MB/second
(LTO-4 at 2:1 compressed to support data retention needs. With low
energy consumption, tape technology can also provide organizations
with a green alternative for the data center, providing energy savings
for businesses.

The Clipper Group paper, "Disk and Tape Square Off Again - Tape
Remains King of the Hill with LTO-4," is available for download from
www.ultrium.com/whitepapers. A companion webcast, hosted by Reine and
Kahn, is available for archived viewing at www.ultrium.com.

How to License LTO Ultrium Technology

Buyers seeking LTO Ultrium format-compliant products should look
for the LTO Ultrium format compliance verification trademarks on both
tape drives and data cartridges. Storage and media manufacturers
interested in licensing LTO formats may obtain information by
contacting the LTO Program through www.ultrium.com/contact.php. The
LTO Program has historically offered several different license
packages - from enhanced packages that provide the specifications and
licenses to manufacture LTO Ultrium products, to basic packages,
providing LTO format specifications and guidelines for
interchangeability.

About Linear Tape-Open (LTO)

The LTO format is a powerful, scalable, adaptable open tape format
developed and continuously enhanced by technology providers HP, IBM
Corporation and Quantum Corporation (and their predecessors) to help
address the growing demands of data protection in the midrange to
enterprise-class server environments. This ultra-high capacity
generation of tape storage products is designed to deliver outstanding
performance, capacity and reliability combining the advantages of
linear multi-channel, bi-directional formats with enhancements in
servo technology, data compression, track layout, and error
correction.

The LTO Ultrium format has a well-defined roadmap for growth and
scalability. The roadmap represents intentions and goals only. There
is no guarantee that these goals will be achieved. Format compliance
verification is vital to meet the free-interchange objectives that are
at the core of the LTO Program. Ultrium tape mechanism and tape
cartridge interchange specifications are available on a licensed
basis. For additional information on LTO, visit www.trustlto.com and
the LTO Program Web site at www.ultrium.com.

Note: Linear Tape-Open, LTO, the LTO logo, Ultrium, and the
Ultrium logo are trademarks of HP, IBM and Quantum in the US and other
countries.

Fleishman-Hillard, Inc.
Jim Hughes, 323-762-1810
jim.hughes@fleishman.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008