2 minute read3 Ways Backup to Disk Is Better Than Tape

Using disk as a primary backup is cheaper, faster and easier to manage than tape. Beyond these reasons, backup to disk has a lot of advantages.

Here are 3 main reasons why.

As a backup target, disk provides assurance that your data is protected… and recoverable. Data deduplication was the primary breakthrough technology that enabled disk to begin to replace tape as a primary backup solution. As a result, disk is more affordable and you now have infinite capacity if you manage your resources correctly. Better yet, the prices of disk solutions continue to drop. And the amount of affordable capacity you can get is phenomenal.

Software can now manage the replication of backup data between sites. This is great news if you’re considering a Disaster Recovery solution (and you should be). Software now enables you to backup, data dedup, recover and replicate in ways that are infinitely easier than what we had with tape.

We’re now looking at minimal downtime as long as your infrastructure is properly optimized. Disk eliminates the uncertainty that was present with backup to tape. Backups and restores are happening rapidly. Meanwhile administrators are less and less worried about backup jobs failing. In addition, IT staff are no longer engulfed with troubleshooting backups. As a result, they’re able to focus on real business needs.

In today’s era of big data, how are you managing your backup jobs? Are you still using tape or have you made the switch to disk? Or are you in a hybrid environment? What have you found works well as you made the transition?