What is the true value of your business data?
Data is now the life-blood of all companies, whether it is financial,
transactional or design data - and it must be indexed and stored safely. A
major proportion of companies that lose critical corporate information do not
survive the following 1 2 months. 
What is your data protection strategy?
Just copying data from disk to disk is not sufficient. You need a removable,
safe and professional backup solution to protect your valuable data. Ideally,
you require two or three planned storage locations, with at least one off-site
location away from the original source.
How much data have you got and what is your backup window?
You need to consider which technology is right for you. If you have low-
capacity disk drives or older technology servers, an HP DAT drive will cater
for your needs. If you need to protect 100 GB or more, you should consider an
HP Ultrium solution. Another issue is the data transfer rate - it must be high
enough to complete your backup within the time you have planned for it (your
backup window).
Do you need unattended backup over a longer period?
If so, you need an autoloader. HP offers different models based on both DAT and
Ultrium technologies that can be attached to your network simply. They can hold
6, 8 or 10 cartridges, and will automatically manage cartridge rotation and
drive cleaning for you.
Have you got a large sophisticated network, or SAN, that needs full backup
protection?
HP has the widest range of data protection solutions in the industry - from
entry-level 24-GB DAT drives to multi-TB libraries with over 700 slots and 24
fibre-channel drives.
Do you have other systems with old or no backup protection?
The full portfolio of HP StorageWorks tape solutions are tested and qualified
on all the principle systems in the industry, so if you have an area of your IT
environment that is unprotected, it can be quickly and easily integrated to
your HP data protection strategy.
Key benefits of HP tape-based backup solutions
-
Affordable
Tape-based backup offers a lower total cost of ownership compared to disk-based backup. -
Durable
Tape is a highly durable media, that can easily be moved from online systems and located off-site for archiving. -
Reliable
With tape, customers can be sure that their backup and restore operations will be successful, first time, every time. -
Scalable
Tape-based backup solutions are high scalable, making them suitable for every size and type of -
Comprehensive
Unlike disk-based solutions, which cannot protect against certain types of user errors and viruses, tape offers comprehensive protection against all data risks.
Why buy an HP tape-based backup solution?
HP offers a wide choice of tape backup solutions that meet varying levels of data retention and recovery requirements - all of which are designed for total peace of mind:
- One Button Disaster Recovery (OBDR) allows customers to recover quickly and easily from catastrophes like a system crash, theft or natural disaster
- Hot-plug technology enables a single tape drive to be physically moved between different ProLiant servers* with plug-and-play convenience, ensuring backups take place in the right place and at the right time
- A complete integrated solution comprises the tape device itself, plus media cartridges, HP OpenView Storage Data Protector software, and support for all other leading tape backup applications
- A comprehensive portfolio of tape technologies allows customers to take advantage of different generations of DAT, DLT and Ultrium technologies to maximise existing investments now and in the future
Questions answered
Why should I back up my data?
Because there are many consequences if you lose it -reduced productivity,
interruptions to service levels, lost customers and lost revenue. Recovery may
be possible via a professional service, but it's costly. And recreating the
data manually is no better - 20 TB of technical data could cost you over 40
working days and $100,000.
I have a new server. It's not likely to malfunction and lose my data?
Less than 40% of data loss is actually caused by hardware malfunction. And
experience shows that a brand new system is more likely to fail than one 6
months old or more. Data loss is predominantly caused by accidental or
malicious erasure, viruses and software corruption - which a regular tape
backup process will prevent.
How does tape help me if I get attacked by a virus?
Because you can easily restore your system to the point before it was infected.
This means you only need to recreate data that has changed or been created
since the attack. And any other infected files will automatically be cleaned as
well.
I'll just copy my data onto another hard disk. That will do, won't it?
You're not really solving the problem, because your backup data will be at risk
from the same dangers as your primary copy. The advantage of tape is that it is
removable, durable and low cost - so you can store the backup data away from
the source.
Which type of tape drive should I use?
There are many technologies on the market. Essentially you need to work out how
much data you have, how quickly you would like to back it up and whether you
need compatibility with existing systems. The simple table below will help you
make a first choice. Please read the Solution Guide for more in-depth
information.