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Media Requirements Calculator
Your Most Valuable Business Asset
Your most valuable asset is your DATA. Access to data is what you depend on to run your business. Without it, people are non-productive, your network is inoperable, and often your business is at risk. It could be said that the success of your company rests in your ability to keep data accessible and protected from loss. This notion implies that a business’ success rests in the hands of its storage media. Many efforts have been made to scale the value of data. Here are some typical benchmarks that put the value of data into perspective.
To re-create 20MB data
| department | sales & marketing | accounting | production | engineering |
| cost | £17,000 | £19,000 | £27,000 | £98,000 |
| time | 19 days | 21 days | 32 days | 42 days |
To protect your most valuable asset, you need a good backup, archive, recovery and storage plan
Backup Program
A single layer of data redundancy has proven to be inadequate. If it were adequate, we would all just make another disk copy of our files and be done with it. Backup was created as a data protection and availability process to fill the gap. With any backup program, multiple copies of files are created on inexpensive media, allowing for short-term data protection, recovery versions, and long-term archive.
A single copy or even copies on a single piece of media is inadequate. Remember that the purpose of backup is to protect against disaster, data loss, damage, or deletion of the primary on-line copy. Backup also provides version history of files so that prior work can be recovered. It takes many copies of files stored on separate pieces of media to fully ensure that each of these requirements can be met reliably. The costs of re-creating data are extremely high. Why expose your company to these risks, when they can be avoided by using an adequate media rotation schedule?
Recommendations for Backup
- Verify that your backup data can be recovered
- Create a version history
- Store backup copies off-site
- Have a management system in place
Backup Rotation Schemes
A good tape rotation schedule is vital to ensure data recovery. The best rotation schedule is one that provides you with a long and varied history of file versions. Media not in active use should be stored in a secure, off-site location. Following are descriptions of two popular rotation schedules. Both provide a great depth of file versions and are offered as configurable backup patterns by most backup application software.
Archive Program
While data may be kept for years, you shouldn't keep data on the same media for years without a media and data management infrastructure. Don't just pretend to have an archive program. Having one is critical to your business health, as well as essential for legal reasons. Think of archive as an additional data protection program in the same way as you save tax records, only even more important. Because of the importance of this program, don't be fooled into thinking that backup gives you all the secure archive you need. You need longterm archived media in addition to routine backup.
The distinction between data in archive and media in archive is important. Multiple copies of data on a single piece of media leaves that data at risk. Data security is achieved only through media redundancy on reliable media. The foremost principle is that the quality of media used should always be suitable for the data application.
It is also appropriate to see archive as a hierarchy of media that is generated by different processes working in concert. Backup creates short-term media. When coupled with data removed from active storage via hierarchical storage management (HSM) or explicit archive grooming, it is considered medium-term archive. Long-term archive forms a legal record.
Recommendations for Archive
Listed below are recommendations for the archive program that will result in safely protecting your data and giving you long-term success.
- Use the most reliable media available. Your data is an irreplaceable asset, and the cost of loss far outweighs the investment in protection. Mainframe data centres have years of investment in archive technologies.
- Record your archive data using the verification feature in your software, and even then ensure that your recorded data set is readable before assuming you have safely recorded what you need. Reading data is not the same as writing it. Too often, administrators are surprised that data is missing, although it was never recorded properly to begin with.
- Retain archive data for a period of time appropriate to the legal standards for the type of data you are protecting. You may need to retain data permanently.
- Periodically inspect archive media for obvious damage or contamination.
Disaster Recovery Program
Whereas backup provides redundancy for recovery of files and disks, a disaster recovery program is the real insurance policy in the data protection world. Disaster recovery uses the media that you hope you will never need, but if you do you will be happy to have. The value of off-site vaulting of disaster recovery media is a "bet your business" event. For example, after the World Trade Center bombing in New York, more than 50% of the businesses that did not have off-site recovery media went out of business.
Recommendations for Disaster Recovery
Listed here are recommendations for a disaster recovery program.
- Make sure your off-site storage facility meets the environmental storage requirements for archive defined in the media handling section.
- If you have operations and data vulnerable to loss, move the media off-site daily. Use a service bureau or do it yourself if you have corporate facilities.
- Remote means off-campus, far enough away to not be impacted by the nature of any local disaster.
Data Storage Program
All three processes discussed (backup, archive, and disaster recovery), as well as storage, consume media independent of each other. It is important to have adequate media to ensure redundancy, reliability, legal compliance, and business continuity insurance.
The media calculator below is a planning tool to assist you in determining your annual media requirements. By completing the form and adding up the right-hand column, you can create a media plan. This planner encourages you to consider all aspects of tape use: backup, archive, disaster recovery, and storage. Compare your current practices and usage against the numbers you calculate here. Remember that you need media both on-site and off-site. Are you adequately protecting your business data?
The Right Media for Protecting Your Data
Today, with the volume of information increasing exponentially, dependable recording and preservation of data is crucial to the successful operation of a corporation. One of the most critical links in the process is the quality of the backup tape itself.
Since the launch of its first computer tape in 1965, Fujifilm has continued to lead the way in developing evermore innovative solutions for media storage. In 40 years it has carved out a niche for its expertise in manufacturing mid-range and enterprise class back-up tape for the computer industry, delivering media with proven performance and durability with high capacity and fast data transfer speeds.
Recommendations for Media Handling
To ensure the archival life of your media, we recommend that you follow these guidelines and treat your media with the care your data deserves.
Data tape media and drives are extremely robust. Given proper usage and care, they should reward the user with a long, productive life. However, problems do arise from lack of proper drive care and poor media management. This section provides recommendations on media care as well as on optimum media usage, all aimed at protecting your data.
Media Acclimation
If the tapes come from a different environment, allow them to stabilise for a period of at least 24 hours before use.
Operating Environment
Control the environment in which you use the tapes. Hostile environments can cause physical and/or chemical damage to the tape. Stay within the following ranges:
| DLTtape™ | UTO Ultrium™ | 3590 | 3592 | |
| Ambient Temperature (°C) |
10-40 | 10-45 | 16-32 | 16-32 |
| Non-condensing Relative Humidity (%) |
20-80 | 10-80 | 20-80 | 20-80 |
| Maximum Wet Bulb Temperature (°C) |
26 | 26 | 26 | 26 |
Archival Storage Environment
Archive your cartridges within the following specifications:
| DLTtape™ | UTO Ultrium™ | 3590 | 3592 | |
| Ambient Temperature (°C) |
16-32 | 16-32 | 4-32 | 16-25 |
| Non-condensing Relative Humidity (%) |
20-80 | 20-80 | 5-80 | 20-80 |
| Maximum Wet Bulb Temperature (°C) |
26 | 26 | 27 | 26 |
Handle With Care
Do not drop or try to open data cartridges. Take care not to label outside of the label area. And always keep cartridges away from magnetic sources. To protect media from being overwritten, use the "Write-Protect" switch.
Error correction
Many causes of recording or reading errors are temporary and can be corrected by cleaning the drive or retensioning the tape. Periodic drive cleaning with a Fujifilm cleaning tape may be required when prompted by the drive cleaning light.
Recommendations for Media Storage
DO
- Inspect media for damage before use.
- Observe environmental controls (storage, operation, and transportation).
- Write-inhibit the media before long-term storage or data interchange.
- Observe media labelling recommendations.
- Take care in handling.
- Ensure that media and drives are kept clean.
DO NOT
- Retain just one copy of critical data.
- Use suspect or physically defective media.
- Use media on dirty subsystems and equipment.
- Touch the media surface with your fingers.
- Dispose of the storage media without destroying the data first.
Calculating Media Requirements