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Examine Strategy, Options STORAGE TAKES CENTER STAGE AT PC, ENTERPRISE LEVELS

Written by: Andy Marken

Article Overview: Understanding your short, long range storage options.

Examine Strategy, Options STORAGE TAKES CENTER STAGE AT PC, ENTERPRISE LEVELS

We've produced more information in the past 30 years than the previous 5,000; and, according to all of the leading market research firms; the available information supply will double again in less than five years.
Analysts at San Jose, CA-based Dataquest urge managers to evaluate the total cost of ownership, availability and performance when selecting their storage solutions. Because of the wide range of technologies and products that are available today, no single storage approach should be applied unilaterally.
In addition, International Data Corporation (IDC) in Framingham, MA recommends that the selection of storage solutions should be made independent from the operating system. Their analysts note that PCs and servers are constantly being upgraded and replaced for reasons that have nothing to do with the storage solution. Keeping the two separated reduces the impact of computer changes that the business makes.

When evaluating the storage solution, the most important questions to ask are:
* What type of data is being stored?
* How much will you need to store?
* How quickly do you need to access the data?
* Will people need to share and distribute data with others?
* How reliable are the various storage media?
* Finally, how much are you willing to spend?

Hard Drives
Despite the advances in "alternative" storage solutions, magnetic disks continue to be the dominant storage medium, although hundreds (and often thousands) of hard drives are difficult to manage. Even after a complete storage requirements/options analysis, many users find it difficult to shake the hard drive habit.
Higher-capacity, lower-cost hard drives continue to be the universal, sometimes automatic, storage medium of choice in both stand-alone and network environments, despite lower-cost--and often more reliable--options. Other than expensive RAM, hard drives are the best solution for work-in-progress, immediate access data where milliseconds response time is required.
For higher storage capacity (50GB - 300GB) solutions, RAID (redundant array of inexpensive disks) is being widely implemented because of the fast access that is provided to large volumes of data. Most industry analysts note that RAID is the first step in hierarchical storage management (HSM) which is used to hold volumes of information that is frequently accessed, modified and used. According to Santa Barbara, CA-based Strategic Research, the first 30 to 90 days of storage are logical candidates for RAID storage. After that, the organization needs to migrate documents, data and images to less expensive, slightly slower storage options.
Tape
Tape is at the opposite end of the spectrum, offering lower performance than hard drives, but large capacities at less than a penny per megabyte. The entry level tape system is the mini quarter-inch cartridge (QIC), or minicartridge. To extend the price/performance of QIC, some manufacturers have introduced longer length and wider tapes, such as QIC-Extra, Travan, and Ditto Max. Minicartridge costs range from $10 to $35 per cartridge. They are now available with up to 5GB native capacity (10 GB compressed), and offer transfer rates up to 30MB/min. Minicartridges are most popular for desktop applications, due primarily to sub-$300 hardware pricing, but they have begun to move into smaller sub-5GB networks.
The larger format QIC standard data cartridge had a sound migration path for more than 20 years, beginning with the DC300 and extending to MLR (Multichannel Linear Recording) technology. Standard QIC systems maintain backward compatibility with previous QIC versions, easing the problems of upgrading; however, the systems are being pressed to keep up with advances in competing tape systems. While it is a proprietary standard, the recently introduced MLR1 drive by Tandberg Data has provided a major performance boost for network managers with a 16GB native capacity and transfer rates of 90MB/min.
With 2 million units shipped in 1999 and projected sales of 3.5 million units in 2000, 4mm digital audiotape (DAT) is still the most popular format for LAN backup. One of the reasons for its popularity is, it conforms to international standards, thus providing effective interchange between drives and media from different manufacturers. Early DAT standards (DDS-1, DDS-2) are under threat from the latest QIC technology; however, the new DAT DDS-3 standard increases DAT's speed to 60MB/min and its native capacity to 12GB, which will help DAT maintain its performance lead.
The race to dominate the upper end of the mid-range server market is in full swing, and a number of proprietary high-cost, high-performance technologies were introduced last year. Digital linear tape (DLT) has clearly benefited from its early entrance into the market. In fact, Freeman Associates analysts predict that the market for DLT could nearly double by 2002, from 375,000 drives shipped in 1999 to about 540,000 this year.
The DLT 7000 system offers transfer rates up to 300MB/min and native capacity of 35GB. Two other technologies that are based on 8mm tape technology include Exabyte’s Mammoth (20GB, 180MB/min) and Sony’s AIT (Advanced Intelligent Tape) which provides a capacity of 25GB and a transfer rate of 180MB/min.
With companies increasing their centralized hard drive storage capacity, network managers and users have become more aware of the value of their data and the need for disciplined backup as well as high-capacity storage/access. Because of tape's excellent price position, automated library unit sales are growing at a compound rate of 22% annually through the year 2002. The near-line availability of Terabytes of data that can be stored at a cost of pennies per Megabyte will continue to fuel ATL (automatic tape library) demand.
For enterprise-wide applications, managers must look at a number of factors besides speed and capacity when evaluating tape technologies. Hardware and media costs, as well as access times, and load/unload times must also be considered.
CD-ROMs
CD-ROM is used mainly for distributing applications and data. It falls between tape and hard drives in terms of cost and performance. CD-ROMs hold 650MB; sell at mass market prices; offer security, since information cannot be altered; and are built around standards, a critical factor when data distribution is required.
Although 40X and higher drives have emerged, CD-ROM is still a 16X or 24X market utilizing SCSI interfaces for network applications or ATAPI/EIDE interfaces for desktop applications.
CD-Recordable (CD-R) is now widely used for producing a few copies of large (650MB) data, audio and image files, backup and limited reproduction. CD-R drive costs have dropped to under $200; and with improved authoring software, is increasingly being used for general off-line
storage. CD-R today is as inexpensive as tape (less than .004¢/MB), though at lower capacities, making it an excellent solution for archiving applications which do not require rewrite capabilities.
Truly remarkable was the entrance of CD-ReWritable (CD-RW) technology into the marketplace in 1997. The concept of erasing and
rewriting data was barely considered when read-only CD specifications were drafted long ago. An industry standard, CD-RW provides a storage cost that is higher than CD-R but lower than multifunction MO. Although CD-RW is somewhat slower than MO, it offers more versatility and a lower cost, making it an ideal bridge technology for home and network applications.
CD-RW drives are truly multifunctional. They are capable of erasing and overwriting CD-RW media, writing to CD-RW and CD-R media, and reading CD-ROM, CD-R and CD-RW media. Recorded CD-RW media can be read in CD drives that conform to the MultiRead specification, which was implemented by most CD-ROM manufacturers in 1997. While the media is more expensive than CD-R discs, the per unit media costs for CD-RW are very reasonable (under $3), and steadily increasing demands will lower costs further. In addition, CD-RW media provides a growth path for users, because manufacturers have established standards for next-generation rewritable DVD technology to ensure that CD-RW media will be readable DVD rewritable drives.
CD-RW drives and media are excellent for a wide range of applications in the SOHO (small office, home office) arena and in the
corporate enterprise. For large file presentations, one hour of MPEG1 (VHS quality) video, audio files, multimedia materials, Web designs or engineering programs, the capacity and performance of the CD-RW media is outstanding. In addition, as with other optical media; head crashes, stray magnetics and other hazards cannot destroy the stored data.
With the tens of millions of MultiRead CD drives installed in today's PCs and servers, the information stored on a CD-RW (or a CD-R) disc can be readily accessed, making CD-RW drives a very inexpensive disaster recovery solution. Inherently rugged and lightweight, the discs can also be used to ship large, complex files and videos anywhere in the world.
CD libraries (towers and jukeboxes) are increasingly being networked for near-line storage and retrieval. Towers have a drive for every CD and provide relatively fast access to data, while jukeboxes have few drives and use a mechanism to swap a large library of discs in and out of the drive on demand. Jukebox changing mechanisms are slow, but when relatively inactive and stable libraries of data and information must be kept secure and available, they provide an excellent, low-cost solution.

DVD
DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc-Read Only Memory) was developed as a high-capacity content carrier for data and video. DVD-ROM media has a single-side storage capacity of 4.7GB. The total disc capacity could
eventually grow to 17GB per disc by producing double-sided discs and using dual-layer technology. This storage medium is targeted for high-volume storage applications including movies, computer programs, and audio/video data storage.
DVD-ROM drives will read CD media.
Rewritable DVD was introduced in 1998, but industry analysts don't expect to see widespread usage until late next year. Two primary DVD-rewritable formats have emerged, which many industry analysts feel may cause a delay in acceptance of the medium. One format, named DVD-RAM, is a single and double-sided random-access (hard drive like) media with a capacity of 4.7GB per side.
The other format, DVD-RW, contains 4.7GB per side and reads/writes sequentially (streaming as with tape) and is scheduled for shipment mid next year. Both drives will read and write all CD standard media and all published DVD formats.
Most industry experts predict that because of the manufacturer’s agreements on standards and backward read compatibility with DVD drives, CD technology will continue to have widespread use through the year 2005 before it will be totally replaced by DVD, perhaps by 2010. The more than 90 million CD drives will not be replaced immediately and CD-RW drive/media costs will continue to decline, making them an attractive price/performance option. Users have to keep in mind that while storage requirements have far exceeded the capacity of the lowly 1.4MB floppy, media producers continue to ship more than 80 billion diskettes annually.

Magneto-Optical (MO)
Multifunction rewritable MO products currently have a capacity of 5.2GB. Today's MO drives deliver data relatively rapidly (24ms) and the media costs are now about $70. With a capacity of 640MB, 3.5” MO systems are a high-performance and highly stable optical solution in the desktop removable storage market. In addition to being more rugged and more cost-effective than removable hard drives, an ISO-compliant 3.5" (or 5.25") MO drive also ensures media interchange--information stored on the discs can be read by other ISO-compliant MO drives.
Because of the growing demand for centralized data marts and data warehouses, where organizations are storing 500GB to 10TB+, MO jukeboxes are becoming an important part of the storage and retrieval
solution. MO guarantees a long data life (50+ years) and offers security features for sensitive data such as medical and legal documents. With a
storage cost of less than 4¢/MB, the jukeboxes provide access to huge amounts of near-on-line data (accesses of 3 to 5 seconds).
The key advantages of MO media continue to be that it is a rugged, removable storage solution that provides maximum data integrity over long periods of time. As a result, medical, legal, financial, insurance and government organizations continue to find MO to be an efficient and cost-effective volume storage and retrieval solution.


Cost: The Final Question
How much you need to spend depends on how valuable your data is and how much it would cost you to replace it if it were destroyed. There is a wide spectrum of options available to individual and corporate users. They include very inexpensive tape drives as well as solid-state disk drives which are faster than fast and cost a fortune.
Traditionally, storage systems have been evaluated on cost per megabyte (CPM), but keep in mind that a better CPM doesn't always mean the device is the best solution for your application.
Here's a quick CPM summary of stand-alone media costs:

$.005 tape
$.004 CD-R
$.007 CD-RW
$.005 DVD Rewritable
$.003 floppy diskette
$.3 hard disk
$.04 2.6GB MO
$.12 ZIP, JAZ, Orb
$25 RAM

Following is an analysis of high-capacity, network storage solutions:

Medium CPM Access Speed
RAID $2-10 9-20ms
Hard Drive $.10-2 9-20ms
Optical Jukebox $.04-1 5-10 sec
Tape Autoloader $.05-1 1-5 min

With the growing use of the Internet, Intranets, video, image-enriched documents and enterprise-wide centralized storage, the saying "You can never have too much storage capacity," has become a truism. Long viewed as the support tool for high-powered computers, storage devices have taken center stage in almost every organization. As with all technologies, data storage is constantly changing. Managers need to consider all of their centralized, mobile and departmental requirements and then select the options that are best for each application. There is no single, universal price/performance solution.
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