While Virtual Tape Libraries (VTLs) are now a fundamental element of the data center infrastructure, the growth of data under management is outpacing most firms' ability to add disk capacity to their VTLs. This phenomenon has led to a strong demand for data de-duplication. Data de-duplication is a technology that finds and eliminates redundant data within a disk repository. The effect is a dramatic increase in the usable capacity of a given disk pool. Combining this powerful technology with VTLs allows firms to store and retain far more data than they otherwise could, while saving significantly on disk storage costs.

However, to meet requirements of the enterprise data center, a VTL must do more than simply reduce storage requirements. To be viable, it must maintain high sustained throughput performance, and must meet the availability demands of the enterprise.

The newly released TS7650G de-duplication gateway from IBM is an example of a de-duplicating VTL that meets the demands of the enterprise data center. It is the first solution that supports a cluster of two nodes while sustaining high performance, inline de-duplication.