As a result, network administrators are spending more time monitoring backups, and the overall cost of backups is increasing. This technology brief summarizes the evolution of tape backup and explains how DLT hardware technology provides the level of backup performance, capacity, reliability, durability, and manageability required for large systems, networks, and enterprises. It describes the current Compaq DLT product and DLT media, introduces Compaq DLT Array products, and predicts the future of DLT technology. The designers of backup systems are confronted with a growing challenge. Network storage capacity has been doubling every year.
File sizes continue to increase as applications become more complex.
Users want information at their fingertips and are reluctant to delete files. The amount of data to be backed up is growing rapidly. The time during which complete backups can be done is being reduced, in some cases, to near zero. In addition, companies are consolidating servers to reduce network and administrative costs. When one superserver does the work of several smaller servers, the importance of keeping that superserver on line escalates.