Why IBM Tape Libraries are still relevant in modern IT infrastructure

Imagine a company that generates terabytes of data every day - financial reports, customer databases, analytics, backups. Thousands of them. Where can you store it all safely, securely and without astronomical costs? While cloud solutions and solid-state drives may seem obvious, IBM tape libraries are still an effective way to store, archive and protect data from cyber-attacks for the long term. They offer reliability and cost-effectiveness, allowing organisations to store critical information without the risk of loss.

IBM offers tape libraries that are cost-effective, reliable and secure solutions for enterprise data storage. They are used in financial services, healthcare, media and research for data archiving, long-term storage and backup. In this article, we'll examine why IBM tape libraries are still relevant, their key benefits and practical use cases.

Key benefits of IBM tape libraries

1. Cost-effective: the ideal solution for large archives

One of the key benefits of backing up to tape is cost savings. Compared to traditional disc arrays and cloud services, IBM tape libraries offer the lowest storage cost per terabyte of data. This makes them ideal for archiving cold data that is not used daily but needs to be stored securely for a long period.

Tape's energy efficiency is another reason for its popularity. Unlike HDDs and SSDs, which require constant power to maintain access to data, tape cartridges do not consume power during storage. This can significantly reduce operating costs and make your infrastructure more environmentally friendly.

2. Durability: preserve data for decades

The durability of tape media is a key advantage. With IBM Tape Libraries, data centres can store data for more than 30 years without data integrity loss or media degradation. Compare:

• Hard disk drives (HDDs) have an average lifespan of 5-7 years;
• Solid-state drives (SSDs) can become inoperable after 3-5 years, especially with heavy use.

This durability allows organisations to use tape as a long-term archival storage medium, ensuring that important records, transactions or research data remain accessible for decades to come.

3. Reliability: protection from failures and physical threats

IBM Tape Libraries provide highly reliable storage through several key factors:

• Offline storage - Tape cartridges do not require constant power, minimising the risk of damage from power failures or cyber-attacks.
• Physical security - tapes can be stored in secure locations that are resistant to fire, flooding or magnetic fields.
• Reduced likelihood of hardware failure - the tape reader works less intensively than a traditional HDD/SSD, extending the life of the equipment.

Thanks to these features, tape libraries remain one of the most secure solutions for backing up and archiving corporate data.

4. Scalability: meet your business needs

One of the strengths of IBM Tape Libraries is the ability to flexibly expand storage. Organisations can add new tape cartridges incrementally, increasing the library's capacity as data grows.

IBM offers a wide range of tape libraries to meet the needs of small businesses and large enterprise data centres. This allows organisations to adapt their infrastructure to meet their needs today and to scale in the future without the need for a major investment in new hardware.

5. Security: protection from cyber-attacks and malware

In today's world where ransomware attacks are becoming more common, IBM tape libraries provide a unique level of protection through an "air gap".

Because tape media is stored offline, hackers cannot access it via the Internet. This makes tape an ideal tool for:

• Protect against ransomware that blocks or encrypts data on connected devices.
• Minimise the risk of internal threats, as unauthorised access to physical tapes requires specialised equipment and considerable effort.
• Use built-in encryption to protect data.

These features make IBM Tape Libraries an indispensable tool in modern backup and archive strategies, providing a high level of security and reliability.

6. Sustainability: Reducing the carbon footprint of IT infrastructure

IBM Tape Libraries also support environmental policies with their low power consumption and long lifecycle.

Key environmental benefits:

• Low energy consumption - tape media does not require power to store data, significantly reducing CO₂ emissions compared to traditional data centres.
• Durability - reduces the need for frequent hardware replacement, which reduces e-waste.
• Reduced carbon footprint - using tape libraries helps organisations meet their sustainability and environmental responsibility goals.

As a result, IBM Tape Libraries are not only a cost-effective and secure choice, but also a green choice for organisations looking to reduce the environmental impact of their IT infrastructure.

IBM Tape Libraries combine low cost, durability, scalability, security and sustainability to provide the best solution for long-term enterprise data storage.

With unrivalled protection against cyber-attacks, flexible scalability and energy efficiency, these libraries continue to play a vital role in the IT infrastructure of organisations that work with large amounts of data and require reliable archiving.

How IBM tape libraries fit into a modern IT infrastructure

1. Integration with cloud solutions. Many organisations use hybrid storage, combining data on tape and in the cloud. For example, IBM tape libraries can be used for long-term data archiving, while cloud services provide fast access to current files.
2. Use for large archives. Industries that deal with huge amounts of data, such as media, medicine and scientific research, actively use tape backup for long-term storage.
3. A tiered storage component. Many organisations use a tiered storage model, with tape libraries as cold storage and SSDs or HDDs for active use.

IBM tape libraries: solutions for all business needs

IBM offers a wide range of tape libraries for small, medium and large businesses. They offer scalability, high capacity and cyber security, making enterprise tape storage an effective solution for long-term archiving and backup.

IBM Diamondback Tape Library

The flagship solution for large-scale, long-term data storage optimised for Deep Archive.

 Key features:

• Up to 27PB of data in a 19-inch rack
• S3 Glacier compatible interface for object storage integration
• Protection against cyber-attacks (air gap) - data is physically isolated from the network
• Energy efficiency - up to 85% reduction in energy costs

IBM TS4500 Tape Library

A scalable, high-performance tape library for organisations with high volumes of data.

Key features include:

• Up to 23PB per library
• Support for LTO Ultrium and Enterprise Tape
• Automated tape management to optimise resources
• Integration with cloud services

IBM TS4300 Tape Library

A compact and modular library for small and medium businesses.

Benefits include:

• Flexible scalability - up to 7 modules
• LTO Ultrium support for backup
• Process automation and fast access to archives

IBM TS2900 Tape Autoloader

An automated solution for businesses looking for a cost-effective backup option.

Key features:

• 9-Slot Autoloader
• Supports LTO-9, LTO-8, LTO-7
• Compact form factor (1U) - ideal for small server racks

IBM TS7700 Virtual Tape Library

A hybrid solution that combines a virtual tape library with physical tapes for enterprise backup and archiving.

Features:

• Combine physical and virtual environments
• Optimise data access speeds
• High performance for business-critical processes

IBM Storage Deep Archive (на базі Diamondback)

A long-term, deep archive solution powered by S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval.

The benefits:

• Easy to deploy and manage
• Up to 27.3 PB of storage
• Reduce storage costs by up to 85% over cloud archives
• Support regulatory requirements

IBM offers a range of solutions to suit your business size, storage needs and security requirements. From the compact TS2900 for small businesses to the high-performance Diamondback and TS7700 for large enterprises, every IBM tape library provides durable, cost-effective and reliable long-term data storage.

Real-world scenarios for using IBM tape libraries

Financial Sector

• Archiving customer records
• Transaction log retention
• Regulatory compliance

Healthcare sector

• Long-term storage of electronic medical records
• Medical image archiving (MRI, CT)

Media and Entertainment

• High-resolution video archiving
• Storage of TV recordings

Scientific research

• Archiving large data sets for analysis

BRED case study: Modernising IT infrastructure for growth and efficiency

About the company:

BRED is a regional bank committed to making financial services accessible to all customers. It provides a single, high-quality service across all channels and is actively expanding its customer base, which now exceeds 1 million.

To support its continued growth and ensure the reliability of its critical banking systems, BRED has implemented solutions based on IBM Storage and IBM Z.

BRED is a French bank offering a full range of banking services to individuals, companies and associations in France and abroad.

The bank is actively acquiring new customers in France and abroad. To continue this development without compromising the quality of its services, the bank decided to upgrade its IT infrastructure.

An assessment of the existing facilities revealed that:

• The backup system was outdated (the tape library had been in operation for more than 5 years).
• Backup execution time was increasing, affecting the speed of customer service.
• Increasing transaction volumes required more performance.
• It was necessary to create a foundation for a future cloud strategy.

"As we are planning for a possible move to the cloud, the new IT infrastructure had to support this option," said Christophe Boulanger, Head of Server, Virtualisation and Storage at BRED.

They chose to work with IBM on this transformation. To support future growth, BRED selected an IBM TS7760-based solution with Transparent Cloud Tiering and upgraded its IBM z12 server to an IBM z14.

Why IBM?

• The best virtual tape solution on the market.
• Trusted by the banking industry - IBM has many success stories in the financial sector.
• Single vendor - consolidation of IT infrastructure for ease of management and support.

What was the implementation like?

• Three IBM TS7760s deployed in a high availability configuration.
• Synchronous data replication between two main data centres.
• Automated backup to the third site.

"Moving to the new platform was a major project. But thanks to IBM experts, we were able to minimise the risks and complete the implementation successfully," said Boulanger.

Results: efficiency, savings and cloud readiness

• Reduced backup windows by 60%, ensuring business continuity.
• The average compression ratio of 5:1 - exceeding the expected 3:1, reducing costs and increasing free storage capacity.
• Simplified infrastructure management - giving administrators greater visibility and faster access to IBM support.
• Cloud readiness - IBM Transparent Cloud Tiering paves the way for cloud archiving.

"We can now focus on expanding our customer base, confident that our IT infrastructure is ready for any challenge," concludes Boulanger.

Compare IBM tape libraries with other technologies:

How to get started with IBM tape libraries

Needs Assessment

Before implementing a tape library, it is important to determine what your organisation needs a tape library to do. To do this you should

• Analyse the amount of data that needs to be archived and backed up.
• Determine the frequency of access (hot, warm or cold data).
• Assess data retention and recovery speed requirements.
• Determine the level of security and regulatory compliance.

Choosing a model

IBM offers a wide range of tape libraries that vary in performance, capacity and scalability. When making your selection, consider

• The amount of data you need to archive (terabytes, petabytes or more).
• The number of recording devices (from a few to dozens of tape drives).
• The need for rapid scalability and automated data management.
• The need to integrate with cloud-based hybrid storage solutions.

Integrate with your existing infrastructure

For IBM Tape Libraries to work effectively in your IT ecosystem, they need to be properly integrated:

• Connect to existing servers and storage.
• Configure backup and archive policies.
• Ensure compatibility with data management software.
• Implement automation mechanisms to simplify the work with archives.

Long-term storage strategy

To ensure the stable and efficient use of tape libraries, an archive management policy should be defined:

• Define data retention periods in line with business processes and regulatory requirements.
• Implement a tiered storage strategy (hot, warm, cold data).
• Provide for the possibility of migrating data to new media in the future.
• Provide mechanisms for monitoring and rapid recovery of information in the event of an incident.

Implementing IBM Tape Libraries is a smart solution for reliable, long-term, secure data storage that reduces costs and ensures compliance with information security requirements. 

Conclusion

IBM Tape Libraries remain a key element of the modern IT infrastructure, combining cost-effectiveness, durability, reliability and security. They provide efficient backup, long-term data archiving and protection of critical information from loss, failure and cyber-attack.

Why choose IBM Tape Libraries?

• Reduced cost - Tape libraries offer a lower long-term data storage cost than disc systems.
• Reliability and durability - Data can be stored for up to 30 years without losing quality.
• Energy Efficiency - Uses 5 times less power than traditional storage.
• Protection against cyber-attacks - air gap support, making data invulnerable to ransomware and other threats.
• Integration with cloud technologies - the ability to automatically move data to the cloud with transparent cloud tiering.
• Tape libraries are a strategic investment in secure, cost-effective data storage for organisations of all sizes.

Learn more about IBM Tape Libraries from the experts at Solidity and how they can improve your business!