For the past couple of years we have been telling our customers and social media followers that Tape Is Not Dead. But the past 12 months has put increasing pressure on a backup technology that business has relied on for decades. Memofix is one of the few repair facilities in North America that repairs hard drives and we continue to support customers of HP, IBM and Quantum tape drives, among others. However we see the signs that tape is quickly being pushed out of IT operations by Cloud and Solid State Drives (SSDs).

In our conversations with storage OEMs, customers and industry contacts there’s no surprise that Cloud backup is becoming the backup and data recovery option that many companies are moving to. Local storage is not going away and the move to disk-to-disk backup has been underway for years. But the Cloud is quickly replacing tape as the guarantee for business continuity. It provides offsite security while eliminating the majority of administration associated with tape backup processes, and there’s no need for expensive equipment purchases or upgrades. It was a logical move for Memofix to offer Cloud Backup solutions in order to continue serving the thousands of customers who have relied on us for storage technology and services for 25+ years.

How are SSDs affecting the use of tape for data backups? SSD Manufacturers and systems integrators are selling flash technology with the emphasis on savings. The primary saving comes from a reduction in power consumption and reduced impact on IT cooling systems. But we are also hearing more pitches that tout the speed of SSDs and the productivity gains that companies can achieve, particularly when dealing with large data sets and industries where response is critical. As SSDs grow in capacity and come down in price, they are starting to push traditional HDD storage into a Disk-to-Disk backup role. This means the tape drive infrastructure is rendered obsolete or its role is greatly reduced.

In a backup market that has plenty of new sexy technologies, tape continues to be the solid low-cost performer, albeit less exciting. It’s a little bit like shopping for a new car. IT managers and business owners can either afford to drive out of the showroom with the leading solutions in Cloud, SSD and disk-to-disk, or they have to settle for the economy model that everyone thinks is already obsolete. Whatever you’re driving, we can help you tune up your backup strategy.