Offsite Tape Storage vs. Cloud Computing
There has been much talk recently about the demise of offsite tape storage services due to the rise of cloud computing and disk based backup services. Cloud computer contends that it can provide the same services that tape based storage provides for less cost and faster turnaround times, yet these claims do not seem to be resounding with many businesses. In fact, one study recently showed that the overwhelming majority of businesses in the UK are choosing to stay with tape storage services to backup their data.
Cloud computing does open some new and exciting doors for the industry, but it is lacking in important areas. In particular, businesses choose to stay with offsite tape storage due to compliance and data retention regulations. Having physical copies of the data on hand is a valuable tool when dealing with regulators and auditors that cloud computing is not as flexible in dealing with. Additionally, tape based stored services provide two reassurances that resonate with business owners: the physical copies will still be around after a natural disaster, and appear to be less susceptible to hacking and identity theft issues than cloud based computing.
Whether or not these perceptions are true remains to be seen, but as of yet the new data backup technologies have hardly begun to challenge tape storage for supremacy. There is simply something much more reassuring about having physical copies of your data locked away in a tried and true manner rather than putting it all out on the internet.