On the PRISM Listserve, Jim Booth provided a great source that RM's should also reference.

http://www.cio.com/white-paper/684126/Debunking_Five_Myths_About_Tape_Storage

With all the talk of the Cloud, and Disk to Disk (which should really be Disk to Disk to Tape in an intelligent organization), this piece is one you should print out and have as a source.

There are some real simple stats you can throw out such as tape is much less expensive as Disk systems average 11 times more cost than a tape system. (... and that is before energy costs are calculated which increases the pricing advantage for tape)  As for security tape is hands down winner. The biggest eye opener, tape vs disk to disk comparison on error rates shows a  4 million times better error rate than disk systems. (Read the article.)

You should have these facts ready the next time a discussion arises about a change from tape or a move to totally use the Cloud.  The article is by Oracle so they know what they are talking about.

In other news, more and more RM's have wrangled the tape storage platform for offsite storage to be managed under their records management umbrella. IT is happy to let this be managed by someone else as they merrily march towards their D2D2 platform and see the tape part of D2D2T as a happy give up.  The tapes become archival and this is a perfect fit. Half the world's data resides on tape.

The platform of corporations and offsite storage companies utilizing our FIRELOCK Vault Chamber to protect their media has grown tremendously over the last 10 years along with our server vault platform. I can tell you from experience, that the move to security is directly related to whether some disaster has recently occurred that scares the heck out of the C-Levels. That is when the interest in our vault is highest.

I recently was called as an "Expert Witness" in a trial regarding a fire in a server room. (See staying in a Holiday Inn Express does work.)  Larry and Peter said the definition of an "Expert" is a man out of town with a brief case, so I had that covered too! 

I was able to witness how important having the information, being able to document it, and show that the records management plan is compliant is to the whole defense or the plaintiff. ARMA and NFPA are great for citing sources as to how things should be done.

A great records manager, and a great offsite storage vendor who can re-document everything on your program, is such a tremendous advantage.  The D2D2 and Cloud platforms can be a huge liability when you are trying to prove the "Whole Cloth."

One advantage we bring to the table is that we can point to 27 years with no breaches in security due to loss by theft, fire, earthquake, hurricane or spoliation due to improper storage environments.  Who knew; so long ago that "Spoliation" would be a critical factor??

Shoot!  Who knew I would live this long? Larry and Peter say if I can live 10 more years that I will actually become an expert.  

Hugh Smith
FIRELOCK Fireproof Modular Vaults
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(610)  756-4440    Fax (610)  756-4134
WWW.FIRELOCK.COM

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