User manual QUANTUM HANDBOOK

[. . . ] Quantum DLTtape Handbook ® TM Your Complete Guide to Today's Hottest Storage Technology Eighth Edition FROM QUANTUM CORPORATION i Notice Editor Peter McGowan g·m marketing communications Associate Editor Stephen Weekley Quantum Corporation Senior Writer Hank Giles g·m marketing communications Art Director Christine Koch Knockout Graphics Illustrator Steve Hussey Copyright ©1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 Quantum Corporation QUANTUM CORPORATION 501 Sycamore Drive Milpitas, CA 95035 1-800-624-5545 www. quantum. com or www. DLTtape. com Quantum and the Quantum logo are trademarks of Quantum Corporation, registered in the U. S. A. DLTtape, the DLTtape logo, Super DLTtape, and the Super DLTtape logo are trademarks of Quantum Corporation. Products mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Quantum is not responsible for typographical, editorial, or pictorial errors in this publication. [. . . ] Raw satellite image data, in-process data, and final processed image data are all stored on DLTtape cartridges in stand-alone drives and libraries. DLTtape technology is also used to store backup and archive copies of the image data. In other e-commerce applications, the sheer volume of data involved makes DLTtape technology the first choice. Alexa Internet provides a powerful Web navigation service. Called Alexa, the service suggests to users sites they may want to visit, based on analysis of the collected knowledge of which sites other subscribers actively visit. The key to Alexa's value is that it provides access to some 1. 2 billion Web pages, far more than other services offer. To protect that enormous asset, Alexa backs up its Web page data on DLTtape systems ­ to the tune of well over 100 DLTtape IV cartridges per month, just to back up new pages Alexa identifies as it relentlessly crawls the Web. Alexa also uses DLTtape systems to reliably store data that may not be available anywhere else ­ a huge archive of 10. 6 VERTICAL MARKET APPLICATIONS pages that have disappeared from the Web, leaving behind "This Page Not Found" messages. These "lost" pages have enormous potential value for academic and industry research ­ value protected by DLTtape technology. Working in the Data Mines Data mining is another good example of the kind of vertical application we're talking about. It usually involves taking huge blocks of information that the organization has had for years ­ typically customer account information ­ and finding new ways to look at it. For example, a retail chain might gather all the sales data off its scanner-driven checkout registers, including every SKU code down, and every credit card and checking account number. The store chain may then mine that data looking for trends based on every parameter, including time of sale, store location, discounts used, and so on. Data mining applications are characterized by very large databases ranging from hundreds of gigabytes, to hundreds of terabytes. They are usually used for marketing, new business prospecting, and revenue and profit maximization. The requirements of these tape backup applications include the need for very high capacity (DLTtape system-based libraries used in these applications often have many drives and hundreds of cartridges), high transfer rate, and superior data integrity and reliability. These applications tend to put a premium on fast access, 7x24 service, and virtually 100 percent availability ­ if the system is down, you're not open for business. All these characteristics point to the need for a backup strategy that allows large files to be backed up in a short time, fast system restoration in the event of a system-level crash, fast file recovery, and absolutely reliable disaster recovery. QUANTUM DLTtape HANDBOOK 10. 7 Medical Imaging An increasing number of hospitals, laboratories, doctors, and medical research centers are relying on digital imaging to help speed diagnosis, save money, improve treatment quality, and accelerate medical training. Images from diagnostic tools such as CAT scanners, MRI, echocardiograms, and X-rays are increasingly being stored digitally and used either locally or in remote locations. A single 30-second echocardiogram, for instance, can take up to 10GB of disk or tape storage. Forty radiology rooms at a major Chicago medical center generate over two terabytes of images each year. As the use of 3-D images, animation, and digital video increases, the need for high capacity, high speed data backup will grow with it. [. . . ] For instance, the DLT 8000 has a sustained transfer rate of 6MB/s in native mode, and up to 12MB/s at 2:1 compression. A recording technique used by the DLT 8000 drive that writes data at alternating angles in a herringbone pattern thereby eliminating the need for guard bands between data tracks, and providing higher data density. Makers of computer systems and tape library systems. T TPI. A DLT 8000 drive, for instance, writes data a density of 416 tpi, or 208 tracks across the width of the half-inch DLTtape media. [. . . ]