Firelock - Fireproof Data Storage

New Replacement for These?

IBM and Fujifilm have recently announced they have a new magnetic tape technology with storage capacity 44 times more dense than LTO 4 tape cartidges, or 35 terrabytes of uncompressed data per tape!  These new tapes utilize barium-ferrite (BaFe) particles, which are one-third the size of traditional tape particles and aligned perpendicular to the tape (as opposed to horizontal alignment of magnetic materials on LTO tapes) to achieve this super high-density capability.  BaFe is a crystaline substance which Fujifilm claims does not corrode or change over time, making it ideal for long-term archival storage.  Like any new technology, this BaFe tape has both positive and negative qualities that raise some questions about what they mean to the data storage community.

For one, what implications does this “hard-to-demagnetize” characteristic have for information security?  The tape manufacturer said the process of reducing the particle to microscopic size is a challenge because it risks reducing the resistance to demagnification of a ferromagnetic material.  This means tapes could be difficult to reuse or could lead to more errors as some parts of the tape may not be re-recorded due to this resistance.  Also imagine the problems of degaussing it at end of life. Will these tapes need to be shredded to ensure destruction of the information held within?

Another question is how will this high capacity capability fit into the tape rotation programs practiced by the majority of data center operators?  With the ability to store all of an organization’s operational and archival data on just a few tapes, how will this affect the timing of removing tapes to a secure offsite location?  How many organizations will have the volume of data to make it worth the switch to this new media type?  Maybe Google, Microsoft and other large enterprise companies will benefit from this new technology, but for smaller organizations it is not an issue.  They may still want a tape that is done at the end of the day.   

Cindy Grossman, vice president of IBM Tape and Archive Storage Systems, said the advancement shows that “tape storage is alive and strong and will continue to provide users reliable data protection, while maintaining a cost advantage over other storage technologies, including hard disk drives and flash drives.”  It will be interesting to see how these new super density tapes are utilized when they become available, and if they live up to their manufacterer’s expectations.