Tape storage systems have a number of inherent benefits for long-term data archiving - tape can be truly offline; it can be easily transported offsite; and though disk prices continue to fall, tape is still relatively inexpensive. "Disk is very well suited for backup, especially now with technologies such as deduplication making it more practical," said Mark Peters, senior analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group. "But for long-term archive tape is the thing."

And, as many organizations turn to disk backup for ease of use and faster restores, tape vendors continue to innovate. In addition, many of the recent developments in the tape market are aimed at making tape more useful for long-term data archiving.

In this tutorial, learn about the latest developments on tape storage systems, LTO-5 and LTFS, the differences between backup software vs. archiving software, and and how tape is evolving into a long-term data archiving medium.