Tape Automation with Libraries: Securing gigantic capacities - Starline Computer: Storage und Server Lösungen von erfahrenen Experten

Beause you never know what you might need again

Tape automation with libraries: saving everything – anytime – for decades

The sky is the limit – with Tape-Libraries

We have an archiving solution for your permanently increasing data volume: Tape Automation with Libraries.

With an automatic tape changer, no capacity bottleneck slow you down Because they form the backbone of a solid backup and archiving strategy. In doing so, they also take away the horror of not being able to restore important company data from disasters of any kind.

Magnetic tapes are proving time and again that they are rightly considered to be one of the – if not the – most durable data carriers in the digital world. Depending on the generation, a tape therefore stores many terabytes of data. In the current eighth LTO specification, you can therefore write 12 terabytes of compressed data to a single tape. If the content you want to store even consists of uncompressed text, it is 30 terabytes. If these volumes are multiplied together in a tape library, the resulting capacities are absolutely gigantic.

Tape automation works like this: A robot mechanism selects a tape with the desired data under software control and inserts it into the LTO drive of the storage loader or the libraries. A table of contents at the beginning of each tape with LTFS formatting (Linear Tape File System) ensures that the desired file is quickly spooled to the desired file. If the software requests the data of another tape, the machine changes the tape automatically.

 

Tape Automation and Libraries in Practice

Within the tape libraries, not only individual tapes can be changed at any time, but also entire magazines. This facilitates the organisation and simplifies the further expansion of capacities. And because both the tape cartridges and the drives are interchangeable, the system can be upgraded in parallel with the drive generations. Because of these advantages, we have a particularly well-equipped section on tape automation in different classes. This means that the right format is available for every size of company. The data space ranges from several dozen terabytes to the petabyte range.

  1. In the Qualstar Q series for small and medium-sized companies, for example, you will find storage loaders with eight tapes on 1U up to libraries with 24 tapes on 2U. The latter offer space for up to four separate drives for faster access in the swap mechanism. 
     
  2. The mid-range and enterprise models from the Q series - Q40 and Q80 - from Qualstar even meet the requirements of medium-sized and large companies. A Q80 basic module for tape automation holds up to 80 cassettes on 6U. Six additional units with the same storage density can be added, so that a total of 560 tapes with a total capacity of 10 petabytes (LTO-9 native) can be accessed.

Your advantages with Starline:

  • LTO-Ultrium (Linear Tape Open) is an established standard that is supported by over 30 well-known companies
  • In addition to storage libraries, there are also single drives to conveniently secure individual workstations or servers
  • There are always several tape generations – usually two – downward compatible
  • Magnetic tapes store the data reliably for several years

Libraries perfectly integrated into hardware and software structures

From Tapes, Tar and Tiering

In networks, the solid tape backup devices are integrated either by SAS or via Fibre Channel. They can then be conveniently accessed via software as a storage target in Tier3. Nearly all backup programs have plugins that can directly address LTO tapes.

Archiware P5 for example, offers filtering by data type, incremental backups, tape cloning as well as complete integration of the LTFS format for easier navigation on the large tapes. This means that no further software or drivers are required for LTO management there – as is the case with direct control of the tapes.

 

Powerful Tape Automation with Libraries

Each LTO-8 drive can store about one terabyte per hour of already compressed data. This value is multiplied by the number of mounted drives. Our Q24 Libraries, for example, have up to two of them installed. In this way, they are able to backup up to 2.7 TB per hour with compressed data and 1 TB per hour with uncompressed data. Therefore it is not necessary to summarize and compress the data before archiving by tar: The LTO software takes care of this right away.

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NS372S
Autoloader and Tape
4317-637661dcca198156610985

Mit dem NS372S erhalten Sie ein platzsparendes und vielseitiges SAS-LTO-Rackmount-Enclosure. In das 1HE-Gehäuse des NS372S lassen sich bis zu zwei SAS-Laufwerke der führenden LTO-Hersteller einsetzen. Anschluss finden die LTO-Bandlaufwerke per SFF-8482 Schnittstelle mit 6 Gbit/s. Damit ermöglicht es Nutzern von Mac-Servern mit eingebauten Hostbusadaptern per LTO-LaufwerkDaten direkt auf Band zu sichern.

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OVL-XL40-L7FD
Autoloader and Tape
4494-637661e029102463146063

To keep up with the enormous data growth, tape libraries are a particularly attractive and cost-effective solution. They automatically back up data to high-capacity LTO magnetic tapes. The NEO XL series meets the requirements of medium-sized and large companies and offers a high degree of flexibility, data density and performance. The NEOxl 40 models with up to three tape drives occupy 3U in the rack and store up to 480 TB of non-compressible data.

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OVL-XL40-L7S
Autoloader and Tape
4519-637661e033721197644751

To keep up with the enormous data growth, tape libraries are a particularly attractive and cost-effective solution. They automatically back up data to high-capacity LTO magnetic tapes. The NEO XL series meets the requirements of medium-sized and large companies and offers a high degree of flexibility, data density and performance. The NEOxl 40 models with up to three tape drives occupy 3U in the rack and store up to 480 TB of non-compressible data.

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OVL-XL40-L8FD
Autoloader and Tape
4521-637661e037db0359088361

To keep up with the enormous data growth, tape libraries are a particularly attractive and cost-effective solution. They automatically back up data to high-capacity LTO magnetic tapes. The NEO XL series meets the requirements of medium-sized and large companies and offers a high degree of flexibility, data density and performance. The NEOxl 40 models with up to three tape drives occupy 3U in the rack and store up to 480 TB of non-compressible data.

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OVL-XL40-L8S
Autoloader and Tape
4523-637661e03c231120284727

To keep up with the enormous data growth, tape libraries are a particularly attractive and cost-effective solution. They automatically back up data to high-capacity LTO magnetic tapes. The NEO XL series meets the requirements of medium-sized and large companies and offers a high degree of flexibility, data density and performance. The NEOxl 40 models with up to three tape drives occupy 3U in the rack and store up to 480 TB of non-compressible data.

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OVL-XL40-L9F
Autoloader and Tape
6285-6661a9b522491289635995

Um mit dem enormen Datenwachstum Schritt halten, stellen Tape Libraries eine besonders attraktive und kostengünstige Lösung dar. Sie sichern die Daten automatisiert auf hochkapazitive LTO-Magnetbänder. Die NEO XL-Serie erfüllt dabei die Anforderungen von mittelständischen und großen Unternehmen und bietet einen hohen Grad an Flexibilität, Datendichte und Performance.

Die NEOxl 40-Modelle mit bis zu drei Bandlaufwerken belegen 3HE im Rack und speichern bis zu 720 TB nicht weiter komprimierbare Daten.

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OVL-XL40-L9S
Autoloader and Tape
6286-6661a9b55539f470942046
Um mit dem enormen Datenwachstum Schritt halten, stellen Tape Libraries eine besonders attraktive und kostengünstige Lösung dar. Sie sichern die Daten automatisiert auf hochkapazitive LTO-Magnetbänder. Die NEO XL-Serie erfüllt dabei die Anforderungen von mittelständischen und großen Unternehmen und bietet einen hohen Grad an Flexibilität, Datendichte und Performance. Die NEOxl 40-Modelle mit bis zu drei Bandlaufwerken belegen 3HE im Rack und speichern bis zu 720 TB nicht weiter komprimierbare Daten.

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OVL-XL80-2L7FD
Autoloader and Tape
4524-637661e0638be953137118

To keep up with the enormous data growth, tape libraries are a particularly attractive and cost-effective solution. They automatically back up data to high-capacity LTO magnetic tapes. The NEO XL series meets the requirements of medium-sized and large companies and offers a high degree of flexibility, data density and performance. The NEOxl 80 models with up to six tape drives occupy 6U in the rack and store up to 960 TB of non-compressible data. In addition, you can provide even higher storage volumes via up to six expansion modules.


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Starline quality

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Experienced and trained technicians do performance and functional checks and offer quick help in case of failure.

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Proven compatibility

We know which components work together because we test the connectivity extensively in advance.

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Starline has been active in the sector since 1982 and is a specialist in all aspects of data storage. 

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Large Stock

Starline maintains a high level of spare parts and is therefore able to supply spare parts long after the warranty period has expired. 

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Rely on tested quality also for tapes

Our employees are at your side: From the beginning you will receive detailed advice from personal contact persons. They are available as well as our technical support five days a week. We even offer a 24x7x4 service.

From service contracts and customs clearance to financing models – we offer everything from one source.

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FAQ Support
Is there a support hotline?

Starline offers excellent technical support. We have adept technicians who can be reached via mail, phone and even remote support. Our support hours: Weekdays at +49(0)7021-487 200 or email support@starline.de from 8:30am to 5:00pm (Friday until 4:30pm).

In addition, we offer special service contracts that guarantee that a technician will come to you within four hours at any time of the day or night.

How do I quickly get an exchange for a defective component?

The fastest option is Bring in Service (free of charge within the three-year warranty). You then bring the defective server or RAID system to us in Kirchheim and the fault is rectified here after a performance, function and health check. Incidentally, it is also possible to extend the warranty period to five years.

Where can I get the serial number of the system?

We will be happy to search for the relevant information for you. For complete systems, please send us the serial number of one of the installed drives (HDDs/SSDs) to info@starline.de and we will find out the number.
 

What is the default password for my system?

Please call +49 (0)7021-487 200 or e-mail support@starline.de from 8:30am to 5:00pm (Friday until 4:30 p.m.) on weekdays for the current system password.

I have an older server. Do you still have spare parts and extensions?

We are proud of our large stock and like to shine with it. So if you have an older system that you need a spare part for, we are very likely to be able to supply it. We keep hardware in stock long after the warranty period has expired. This is because we also take care to provide support for as long as possible when selecting our products.

What about spare parts after the warranty period?

We are proud of our large stock and like to shine with it. So if you have an older system that you need a spare part for, we are very likely to be able to supply it. We keep hardware in stock long after the warranty period has expired. This is because we also take care to provide support for as long as possible when selecting our products.

I have an old RAID - which disk still fits in it?

We'll find out. Call us on weekdays at +49 (0)7021-487 200 or write an e-mail to support@starline.de. You will always receive an answer between 8:30 and 17:00 (Friday until 16:30).

Any questions? Please contact us.

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Bernd Widmaier
Sales

Sales manager and expert in vertical markets and in Mac, video storage and media streaming.