The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries 014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE By Ben Maas and Jerome Wendt EMPOWERING THE IT INDUSTRY WITH ACTIONABLE ANALYSIS WWW.DCIG.COM
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries Table of Contents 1 Introduction 15 Big Data Tape Library Models Executive Summary 5 How to Use this Buyer s Guide 6 Disclosures 6 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria 7 The 8-Step Process Used to Score and Rank Tape Libraries 8 DCIG Comments & Thoughts 8 The Big Data Tape Library Category as a Whole 8 The Rise of LTO-6 8 The Evolving Role of Tape 9 s and 9 DCIG Observations & Recommendations 9 Best-in-Class and Recommended Rankings 10 Excellent Ranking 10 Good Ranking 11 Basic Ranking 16 Dell PowerVault ML6010 17 Dell PowerVault ML600 18 Dell PowerVault ML600 19 Dell PowerVault TL000 0 Dell PowerVault TL4000 1 HP StoreEver ESL G 100-Slot HP StoreEver ESL G 00-Slot HP StoreEver ESL G 700-Slot 4 HP StoreEver ESL G 1500-Slot 5 HP StoreEver ESL G 000-Slot 6 HP StoreEver ESL G 5000-Slot 7 HP StoreEver MSL04 8 HP StoreEver MSL4048 9 HP StoreEver MSL6480 0 IBM TS100 1 IBM TS00 IBM TS10 IBM TS500 4 Oracle StorageTek SL150 5 Oracle StorageTek SL000 6 Oracle StorageTek SL8500 7 Overland Storage NEO 00s 8 Overland Storage NEO 400s 9 Overland Storage NEO 000e 40 Overland Storage NEO 4000e 41 Overland Storage NEO 8000e 4 Quantum Scaler i40 4 Quantum Scaler i80 44 Quantum Scalar i500 45 Quantum Scalar i6000 46 Spectra Logic T50e 47 Spectra Logic T10 48 Spectra Logic T00 49 Spectra Logic T80 50 Spectra Logic T680 51 Spectra Logic T950 5 Spectra Logic T-Finity 5 Tandberg Data Storage Library T4 54 Tandberg Data Storage Library T40+ 55 Tandberg Data Storage Library T80+ 56 Tandberg Data Storage Library T10+ 57 Tandberg Data Storage Library T160+ 1 Big Data Tape Library Scores and Rankings 58 Product Rankings Dashboard Appendices A-1 Appendix A Definitions, Explanations and Terminology B-1 Appendix B Storage Provider Contact Information C-1 Appendix C Author Contact Information 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights. i
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries Introduction No one would make the statement that tape as a storage medium will ever leapfrog disk again as the preferred method of data storage. However it can be said with confidence that one of the oldest computer storage medium is holding steady in its current niche and is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. Expansive tape libraries remain a necessity as the Big Data market grows ever larger each year. An illustration of this growth is that while tape sales dropped by 14% in 01 overall, sales actually rose by 1% in the third quarter of 01, and some analysts expect them to increase again by at least % in calendar year 01. 1 The amount of data growth is becoming exponentially greater with small, medium and large enterprise organizations alike generate much more data. As they do, they are coming to the realization (again) that storing data to tape remains a cost-effective and viable option. The benefits of tape over disk for long-term storage are well-documented. However it is worth repeating to reinforce why tape is still necessary, and why its allure will hold steady or possibly even grow slightly as the need for data storage capacity expands. Tape is good at leaving data at rest. This makes the cost structure of tape particularly attractive to users with large data sets that, once created, stay relatively static. Most Big Data datasets are constantly growing, but once data is created, that data rarely changes. On the other side, disk can present disadvantages to the storage of static data because the operational costs of keeping disk drives spinning are much greater than tape s inherent state of set it and forget it. Tape also offers distinctive security and reliability advantages over disk. Data backed up to tape is typically more secure than data stored on disk or in the cloud because, in part, tape can make data more difficult to access and then retrieve. As a result, the average hacker is more likely to spend time trying to hack a storage cloud than to go to the trouble of breaking into a storage facility where tape backups are stored, retrieve those tapes, load them into a tape library, and then go through each tape cartridge to find and access the data stored on them. Lastly, tape libraries are still more physically reliable than disk. For instance, tapes can be repaired after snapping to make the data readable again. In contrast, a failed hard disk drive (HDD) is often rendered useless with the data on it becoming inaccessible. To put this contrast into perspective, data loss could range from a lost terabyte on a failed HDD while on a repaired tape the loss could be limited to as little as a few hundred megabytes (or less) lost. CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research that operates the world's largest particle physics laboratory, is a perfect example of the effective difference between data loss from tape backup versus disk storage. While it loses a few hundred MBs each year out of its 100 PB tape library, it loses about a few hundred TBs during the same time period from its HDD storage repository of 50 PB. Aside from the various legacy advantages that tape still holds over disk, there are some advances being made in tape storage medium, most notably with s, which are one of the new features identified and scored by the DCIG 014-15 Big Data Tape Library 1. "Tape Rescues Big Data." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 6 Sept. 01. Web. <http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/01/09/information-storage>.. Ibid. 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights. 1
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries Introduction (continued) Introduction (continued) Buyer's Guide. REST uses a subset of HTTP, a protocol with which many programmers are already familiar, meaning they can write code for it with few complications. Furthermore, s are web-based services and protocols that make up much of the underpinnings of new public and private cloud datasets. Roughly one out of every four of the models surveyed for this Buyer's Guide support the ability to store data directly to tape using REST. As a way to ease the initial ingest of data and migration between different tiers of data storage, at least one vendor, Spectra Logic, is simulating the Amazon S REST protocol. Additionally, nine models further support the ability to store data to secondary cloud storage. The combination of s with cloud storage being offered more closely alongside tape storage is a significant step forward for the tape storage industry. The DCIG 01 Big Data Tape Library Buyer s Guide focused on the then recently introduced (Linear Tape File System) as the major advancement in tape storage. Although an important advancement, that technology has not contributed to the expansion of the medium as much as one might have been expected. It does appear, however, that REST APIs are set to be the next big thing in the near future and will help to further cement tape as the optimum choice for organizations tasked with storing and keeping safe massive quantities of data for extended periods of time in a cost-effective manner. 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights.
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries Executive Summary Executive Summary There has been a campaign against tape since at least the turn of the century as disk storage vendors, historically the competitors of tape storage, have sought to sunset tape technology. As storage advancements have increased, hard drives have become cheaper and able to handle larger amounts of data with fewer complications. Despite the technological advancements for disk, however, it still cannot challenge tape for its supremacy in its ability to store large amounts of data for lengthy periods of time, and do so with relatively few associated risks. Tape has long held some notable advantages over disk-based storage, and those benefits still remain relevant. Some of those include: Reliability Tape tends to store long-term data better than disk, and data recovery is easier to accomplish on a broken tape than a failed hard disk Security Tape can be packed away and stored where it must be physically accessed, giving it a tangible advantage over data stored on disks that can be accessed on computer. Cost Savings Tape can prove to be more economical than disk because of the price of tape cartridges, its longevity and the fact that it can be scaled incrementally (only need to purchase one tape cartridge at a time.) Compared to the previous edition, this Buyer s Guide puts a larger focus on hardware encryption and the benefits it brings to tape libraries. Though many may consider encryption to be a disk-based technology, it is and has been widely available for tape for some time and only serves to strengthen this medium as a consistently appropriate option for long-term data storage. Tapes can also be dynamically partitioned, similar in concept to how disk drives can be partitioned to treat a single drive as if it were multiple disks. Although encryption and partitioning technologies are exciting feature sets that help tape compete against disk storage, the way forward for tape likely rests, no pun intended, with REST (REpresentational State Transfer) APIs. is web protocol object storage that is already familiar to most programmers, is an alternative to SOAP and its programming code can be written in a more natural language to execute operations. Most notably, it is already available in about 5% of the tape libraries included in this Buyer s Guide. Along with s, optional secondary storage is being offered by many of the tape vendors in this Buyer s Guide. As many companies have already done, storing data in "the cloud is now offered by a number of tape providers. Using this option data is concurrently written to tape and the cloud so dual copies of the data are made to provide the respective benefits that both the cloud and tape have to offer. For the purpose of this Buyer s Guide, all tape library models included in it support at least 4 tape cartridge slots and two tape drives. All models also support the LTO-4 tape format or later. It is for reasons like these that DCIG produced this 014-15 Big Data Tape Library Buyer's Guide. All the evidence supports tape remaining a viable and important storage medium for the foreseeable future. In this Buyer's Guide, DCIG accounts for tape s historical use case 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights.
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries Executive Summary (continued) Executive Summary (continued) of backup as well as its continuing emergent role as a cost effective storage medium for archival data that is necessary in the era of Big Data. Like other DCIG Buyer s Guides, this DCIG 014 Big Data Tape Library Buyer's Guide accomplishes the following objectives: Provides an objective, third party evaluation of tape libraries that weights, scores and ranks their features from an end user s viewpoint Includes recommendations on how to best use this Buyer s Guide Scores and ranks the features on each tape library based upon criteria that matter most to end users so they can quickly know which tape libraries are the most appropriate for them to use and under what conditions Provides data sheets for 44 tape libraries from eight different storage providers so end users can do quick comparisons of the features that are supported and not supported on each tape library Provides insight into which features on a tape library will result in improved availability and increased storage capacities Provides insight into which tape libraries are supported by popular archiving and backup software products Gives any organization the ability to request competitive bids from different providers of tape libraries that are apples-to-apples comparisons We hope this Buyer s Guide meets this intended use case in your environment. Ben and Jerome 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights. 4
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries How to Use this Buyer s Guide In determining how to best use the information contained in this DCIG 014 15 Big Data Tape Library Buyer s Guide, it is important to note that it is intended to help users in their purchase of a tape library. The purpose of this Buyer s Guide is NOT to tell users exactly which tape library to purchase. Rather, it is to help guide them in coming up with a list of competitive products that have comparable features that meet their specific needs. It is also important to note that just because a product scored higher than another, achieved the highest in a particular category or is ranked a certain way does not automatically mean that it is the right product or fit for an organization. If anything, because of the scope of the tape library models evaluated and analyzed, it may have features that are too robust for the needs of an individual department or organization. However, what this Buyer s Guide does is give users some sense of how each tape library compares to other tape libraries as well as offers substantial insight into what product offerings are available on the market. DCIG recommends that you use this DCIG 014 15 Big Data Tape Library Buyer s Guide in the following seven ways: Eliminate the painstaking research associated with coming up with a short list of tape libraries that meet their needs. This Buyer s Guide ranks, scores and contains data sheets for 44 different models from 8 different tape library providers. Each tape library is scored and then ranked as Best-in-Class, Recommended, Excellent, Good and Basic based upon its overall score. On each tape library, over 80 different features were evaluated, weighted, scored and then ranked. Using this guide, an organization may only have to look at the scores and features of each product in order to come up with a short list of products for consideration. Do apples-to-apples comparisons of tape libraries from different storage providers. In today s crowded storage market, it behooves organizations to get competitive bids from multiple storage providers. After all, when they compete, you win! But that tactic only works well when organizations know that they are receiving competitive bids on products that are roughly comparable. Using this DCIG 014 15 Big Data Tape Library Buyer s Guide, organizations can do a better job of accomplishing that objective. Separate the apples from the oranges. Just as important as doing apples-to-apples comparisons is identifying when an orange is thrown into the mix. Sometimes it is very difficult for an organization to know if it is truly getting a good deal when bids come in from multiple storage providers that include different tape library models. Now organizations can refer to the scores and rankings of each tape library in this guide so they know when they are getting a good deal, a great deal or just a so-so one. Provides perspective on how models from less well known storage providers compare against established and better known brands. Anyone involved with tape storage at all has probably heard of HP, IBM, Quantum and Oracle (formerly StorageTek). This creates a certain built-in comfort level when buying products from these companies and a corresponding built-in resistance to buying tape libraries from companies that may be perceived as unknown quantities. This Buyer s Guide helps to remove some of that apprehension about buying from a less well known provider or even a less well known model from an established provider. Using this Buyer s Guide organizations can see how these models from lesser known companies as well as lesser known models from established providers stack up. Normalizes complex storage terminology. Every computing industry has a proclivity to adopt acronyms and jargon that is specific to it but the data storage industry seems to go out of its way to not only use unfamiliar terms, but refer to the same technology in different ways. This Buyer s Guide sifts through the acronyms and storage jargons and terms and normalizes them. This minimizes or even eliminates the need for users to try to understand all of the industry terminology. Creates a standardized data sheet. The product data sheets available from the different storage providers are rarely laid out in the same way or contain the same information. Some storage providers even have data sheet formats that vary from model to model within their own product portfolio. This Buyer s Guide tackles this problem by creating a standard, easy to read data sheet 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights. 5
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries for every tape library. In this way, product data sheets for individual products can be printed out, laid down side by side and then the features on them quickly compared. Helps justify technical buying recommendations to business folks. Nothing is easier for those on the business side to understand than a number when doing comparisons. So at the top of the data sheet for every tape library model, a product score is included so the business side of the house can quickly see how the different tape library models compare. Because of the number of features analyzed, how these features were weighted and then how the tape library models were scored and ranked, there was no way for DCIG to predict at the outset how an individual tape library model would score or rank. DCIG wants to emphasize that no storage provider was privy to how DCIG did the scoring and ranking of the tape libraries. In every case the storage providers only found out the scores and rankings of its tape library model(s) after the analysis was complete. Disclosures Over the last few years the general trend in the US has been for both large and boutique analyst firms to receive some or all of their revenue from storage providers. DCIG is no different in that respect as it also receives payment for the different services it performs for storage providers. The services that DCIG provides include blogging, customer validations, product reviews, executive white papers, special reports and white papers. In the interest of being fully transparent, a number of the storage providers included in this DCIG 014 15 Big Data Tape Library Buyer s Guide are or have been DCIG clients. This is not to imply that they were given preferential treatment in the Buyer s Guide. All it meant was that DCIG may have had more knowledge of their tape libraries and that DCIG would consider their tape libraries for inclusion in this Buyer s Guide. In that vein, there are a number of important facts to keep in mind when considering the information contained in this DCIG 014 15 Big Data Tape Library Buyer s Guide and its merit. No storage provider paid DCIG any fee to develop this Buyer s Guide. DCIG did not guarantee any storage provider that its tape library(ies) would be included in this Buyer s Guide. DCIG did not imply or guarantee that a specific tape library model would receive a good score on this Buyer s Guide ahead of time. All research was based upon publicly available information, information provided by the storage provider and the expertise of those evaluating the information. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria The DCIG 014 15 Big Data Tape Library Buyer s Guide has incorporated input from key users and tape providers into establishing the criteria used to decide what tape libraries belong or did not belong in this Buyer s Guide, but likely failed to account for all variables. While this may have resulted in a specific model not being covered in this Buyer s Guide when it may have rightfully belonged, DCIG believes the following criteria was consistently applied as we did our research and made our decisions. The focus of this survey is to evaluate tape library solutions that meet the following requirements: Support a minimum of 4 tape cartridge slots. DCIG found that those tape models that support less than 4 tape cartridge slots are better classified as autoloaders. Support at least two () tape drives. Like the 4 tape cartridge slot requirement, DCIG found that those tape models that support only one (1) tape drive are better classified as autoloaders. Support LTO-4 or later technology. Sufficient information available to DCIG to make meaningful decisions. DCIG made a good faith effort to reach out and obtain information from as many tape library providers as possible by providing surveys for them to complete. In a few cases tape library models still had to be excluded because of a lack of reliable data. Shipping by October 1, 01. A cutoff date had to be put in place or this Buyer s Guide would never be published. Some allowances were made for feature or product enhancements that were made in late 01 that did not adversely affect the analysis done in developing this Buyer s Guide. 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights. 6
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries The 8-Step Process Used to Score and Rank Tape Libraries To score and rank each tape library, DCIG went through an eight step process to come to the most objective conclusion possible. 1. DCIG listed out all of the features available on tape libraries. Prior to selecting the features that were included in the final evaluation in the Buyer s Guide, DCIG went through and quantified what features tape libraries possessed. As part of this process, DCIG normalized the list of features available on a tape library such that a common name for each feature was established.. DCIG established which features would be included in the Buyer s Guide and which ones would not. One of the goals of this Buyer s Guide was to try to only include features on each tape library model that could be objectively and authoritatively analyzed. For example, was evaluated as a feature instead of Maximum Compressed Storage Capacity. While many users may take advantage of compression features found on tape libraries, a consistent objective answer cannot be determined since various data types will compress differently. So Raw Storage Capacity was selected as the feature to be evaluated since an objective answer could be ascertained and supported.. Each feature had a weighting associated with it. The weightings were used to reflect if a feature was supported and potentially how well it was implemented. For example, the Redundant feature is more of a Yes or No type of response, whereas the feature could elicit a number of different responses, with the tape library able to be managed by a number of different backup software products. As such, these features were weighted and scored differently. 4. A survey that asked about all of the features scored in this Buyer s Guide was sent to each storage provider. In addition to using the information that was publicly available on each storage provider s website, each storage provider included in this Buyer s Guide had the opportunity to respond to a survey sent to it by DCIG. This was done to both verify that the information DCIG found on the storage provider s website was correct and remove any ambiguities that existed regarding how some of the features were implemented. 5. All vendors were given the opportunity to review their data sheets before the final scores and rankings were determined. To ensure the information presented in this Buyer s Guide is as up-to-date and reliable as possible, DCIG provided each vendor with a copy or copies of their respective data sheets that appear in this Buyer s Guide without the scores and rankings on them. In this way they had the opportunity to validate the information and potentially correct it before it was publicly released. 6. All of the features were scored based upon the information presented in this Buyer s Guide. The weighting and scoring of the tape libraries found in this Buyer s Guide was done by DCIG based on past experience with other Buyer s Guides and input from end users. Only features that are presented in this Buyer s Guide were used to arrive at the final scores and rankings for each product. 7. The features were broken down into four general categories. The features included in this Buyer s Guide broke down into a total of four broad categories that are reflected on each tape library data sheet. These four categories are Hardware, Management, and Support. 8. The tape libraries were ranked using standard scoring techniques. One of the goals of this Buyer s Guide is to establish clear lines of differentiation between tape libraries with conclusions that are arrived at objectively. To accomplish this goal, the mean or average score for each classification was first determined and then the standard deviation. Using the mean of the scores from all of the tape libraries from which the standard deviation was calculated, DCIG developed a ranking for each tape library model based upon the following in each classification: Those models that were.5 or greater standard deviations below the mean were given the rank of Basic. Those models that were.5± standard deviations above or below the mean were ranked as Good. 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights. 7
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries Those models that were.5 1.5 standard deviations above the mean were ranked as Excellent. Those models that were greater than 1.5 standard deviations above the mean were ranked as Recommended. The model with the highest score was given the designation of Best-in-Class. It is for these reasons that the number of models that achieved a certain ranking in each classification varied. DCIG Comments & Thoughts The Big Data Tape Library Category as a Whole In 1951 the US Census Bureau bought eight Remington Rand UNISERVO tape drives to replace punch cards on its UNIVAC I computer system ushering in the tape age. 1 For a good portion of the general public, the tape drive was the computer. If news footage of NASA was shown, there were rooms full of tape drives on display. Movies from the era that portrayed computers always had lots of blinking lights and a tape drive that moved so it was known to be working. Tape, it could be said, was cool. Even as late as the early 1980s, HDDs were still rare and tape was the most predominant means of long term storage. With a history like this it is not surprising that for many storage engineers and especially those who are young associate the tape storage market as being old tech stale, overly conservative, and well, just not cool. To a certain extent this reputation is deserved, and for good reason. Tape just gets the job done and has done so for over sixty years now. The tape industry is also conservative by nature because its job for those sixty years has been to never lose data. It should be noted that one vendor, Qualstar, has left the tape library market since the DCIG 01 Big Data Tape Library Buyer s Guide was realeased. However, the loss of one vendor does not reflect upon the overall state of the current market. Those who believe tape is dead or try to insinuate such a position are sorely mistaken. That same conservative attention to standards and long term data availability continues to keep tape viable. Tape particularly continues to shine for at-rest or cold storage of data, when data needs to be stored but either not accessed or is accessed very infrequently. DCIG has identified a number of features that are being implemented by vendors to continue tape s reign as king of the archive. The Rise of LTO-6 Tape manufacturers have made methodical improvements to both tape drives and tape cartridges. For instance, the open standard LTO (Linear Tape-Open) format has roughly doubled its raw capacity every two to three years since it was initially released in 000. The latest incarnation, LTO-6, began shipping in late 01 and early 01 and has a raw capacity of.5 TB. LTO has become ubiquitous enough that once again support for LTO is a requirement for tape libraries inclusion in the DCIG 014 15 Big Data Tape Library Buyer s Guide. In the DCIG 01 Big Data Tape Library Buyer s Guide, research on included models found limited deployment of LTO-5. This lacking support for LTO-5, however, is certainly not the case with LTO-6. The jump from the 800 GB capacity of LTO-4 to.5 TB in LTO-6 was a significant increase in capacity and vendors unable to make the jump would have likely perished. A recent market survey of tape cartridge sales illustrates the mass movement towards LTO s newest iteration by showing a move away from LTO-4 to LTO-5 and LTO-6. The arrival of LTO-6 has made several features standard on the tape libraries surveyed. Hardware encryption and partitioning are possibly the most important of these standardized features. Hardware encryption is also seen as extremely important in tape s role of at-rest storage. The ability to partition tapes is also now supported by nearly all models surveyed based on its requirements for licensing of LTO-5. The Evolving Role of Tape Tape providers have begun to differentiate themselves in how they migrate data between disk, tape, and even the cloud. The additional option of data migration that tape library providers include is in part based on the increasing presence of disk-based appliances and public and private storage clouds. 1. Maleval, Jean-Jacques. "First Computer Originated From Remington Rand." StorageNewsletter. Micro-Journal, 1 May 01. Web. http://www.storagenewsletter. com/rubriques/tapes/remington-rand-uniservo-ibm76/.. Santa Clara Consulting Group. "WW Sales at $14 Million in Q1 Santa Clara Consulting Group." StorageNewsletter. Micro-Journal, Dec. 01. Web. http://www.storagenewsletter.com/rubriques/market-reportsresearch/ww-tape-cartridge-sales-at-14-million-in-q1-santa-clara-consulting-group/. 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights. 8
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries An early step in tape vendors offering more options was tracked in the 01 Buyer s Guide. (Linear Tape File System) is intended to make it easier to use tape by making the tape library appear as a normal file system that can read and write files like any familiar disk drive based file system. While the number of models supporting increased from about 50% in the 01 Buyer s Guide to 75% in this year s edition, has not achieved the mind share level of adoption that some expected it to capture. s and A more promising methodology is the use of s to perform object-based storage operations on tape libraries. REST (REpresentational State Transfer) APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) take advantage of a subset of the HTTP (web) protocol to provide programmers a standardized method of storing objects without needing to know the underlying storage medium. s have become particularly popular with cloud storage services such as Amazon, which uses them for its S platform. Two vendors featured this year, Spectra Logic and Oracle, report that they support using the cloud for secondary storage while HP plans to add this feature to its tape library models in 014. When cloud is used for secondary storage, data is written both to tape and to a public or private cloud for additional redundancy and ease of use. The usage of both s and the offering of cloud storage as a secondary source can be expected to increase in popularity and effectiveness over the next several years. The Growing Scale of Tape Libraries One other change in this 014 15 Buyer s Guide is that the number of large-scale libraries with more than 64 drives and/or 1000 cartridge slots grew by an amount significant enough to warrant inclusion in scoring. In the DCIG 01 Big Data Tape Library Buyer s Guide, models that exceeded the above criteria did not receive additional points. However, in 014 over 0% of models evaluated exceeded both of these criteria. Such a high concentration of tape libraries meeting the criteria forced a reevaluation of this Buyer s Guide s scoring methodology. The Guide now favors raw capacity over cartridge slot counts and no longer imposes a ceiling on the number of supported drives. Tape is often the right choice for long-term data storage for many enterprise organizations and all indications support that tape library vendors are making improvements to their product lines to meet new trends in the storage industry. DCIG Observations & Recommendations Observations Best-in-Class and Recommended Rankings The Oracle StorageTek SL8500 ranked highest of the models evaluated in the DCIG 014 15 Big Data Tape Library Buyer s Guide, earning the Best-In-Class ranking. Coming in only a fractional point behind was the lone model that earned DCIG s Recommended ranking: the Spectra Logic T-Finity. In general, both of the top-scoring libraries: Scale to several hundred petabytes of data Scale to hundreds of drives and over one-hundred thousand cartridges Support the majority of backup and archive software packages tracked in this Guide Support 10Gb Support the s Offer tape drive virtualization Both models are truly Big Data offerings engineered to handle tremendous volumes of data. The Oracle StorageTek SL8500 scales to over 850 PB of raw (uncompressed) data, while the Spectra Logic T-Finity can scale to 1 XB (exabyte) of raw data. Assuming the LTO-6 standard of.5:1 compression, these installations can both handle in excess of a staggering XB of compressed data. Necessarily, to handle all that data these models support 10Gb and Fibre Channel (FC) for storage network connectivity. Both models also include high availability (HA) features such as redundant robotics, redundant fan and power supplies, and Active-Active I/O controllers. Also supported are advanced features such as REST object storage and tape drive virtualization. The Oracle StorageTek SL8500A is a new model in this year s Buyer s Guide scoring well across all categories, placing first in and second in both Hardware and Management. Oracle s support for advanced features such as REST, tape 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights. 9
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries drive virtualization, and 10Gb show a commitment to continually pushing its flagship tape storage library forward. The Spectra Logic T-Finity missed defending its DCIG 01 Big Data Tape Library Best-In-Class ranking by a fraction of a point. The addition of LTO-6 and more pass-through capacity allowed the T-Finity to scale to the largest raw capacity, over 1 XB, of any of the models evaluated. Spectra Logic was also the only vendor in this survey to support secondary cloud storage across all of its models. Recommendations Organizations looking for cost-effective, flexible storage options in the hundreds of petabytes and beyond should consider tape libraries that overall ranked Recommended or higher. When properly managed, the size and performance of these tape libraries can provide near disk-like performance using non-traditional interfaces such as and s, while still supporting legacy tape implementations. By centralizing management of such large installations, enterprises can further drive down costs of long-term archives and backup data stores. Excellent Ranking Observations Big Data Tape Libraries ranked as Excellent generally shared the following characteristics: Rank Excellent or above in both Management and Include either redundant controllers or robotics, but not both Support most archival and backup software Offer tape drive virtualization support Offer support Support the ability to scale by allowing multiple appliances to act as one This ranking included two individual models and two product families: IBM TS500 Spectra Logic T series HP StoreEver ESL G series HP StoreEver MSL6480 IBM s TS500 took the upper end of the Excellent ranking due to its top finish in the Hardware category and an Excellent ranking in. Its strong finish in Hardware was based on its ability to scale to 900 PB of raw data, the inclusion of redundant controllers and robotics, and a wide range of tape formats, many of which are proprietary. However, its Management scores kept it out of the top overall rankings. The Spectra Logic T series and HP ESL G series anchor the Excellent group with top finishes in the Management and categories. Both supported a wide range of software packages and supported advanced features such as redundant robotics and tape drive virtualization. In general, however, Spectra Logic models scored higher than HP StoreEver ESL G models of similar capacity. Spectra s higher scores were in large part due to their support for s and across the board support for secondary cloud storage. Rounding out the group is the HP StoreEver MSL6480. The MSL6480 outscored other HP models due to its support for advanced features such as tape virtualization and dynamic partitioning. Recommendations Organizations looking for models with a full range of enterprise management features, but with smaller capacity needs, should look to models ranked Excellent. With a wide range of capacities, starting as small as 15 TB and scaling all the way up to 900 PB, this group can fit most any data set while providing top notch management and software. Good Ranking Observations Big Data Tape Libraries ranked as Good in general shared the following characteristics: Lack more advanced features like tape drive virtualization and s Lack high availability features such as redundant controllers Capacities ranged from 100s of TB up to 1 PB Rank Good or Excellent in Management Rank Good or Basic in 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights. 10
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries Recommendations Big Data Tape Libraries that scored as Good are primarily best suited for small to mid-sized enterprises that require reliable tape capacity, but are willing to exchange advanced feature functionality for a lower purchase price. There are now several models in this category that can provide capacities over 1 PB. Organizations who need this level of capacity and are willing to forgo some of the more advanced software features should consider the following models: Dell PowerVault ML600 (1 PB) IBM TS10 (1 PB) Quantum Scalar i6000 (50 PB) Quantum Scalar i500 (1 PB) Basic Ranking Observations Big Data Tape Libraries ranked as Basic generally shared the following characteristics: Capacities in the mid to low 100s of terabytes Rank Good or Basic in Hardware Rank Basic in Management Rank Basic in Recommendations Tape libraries ranked as Basic are primarily suited for organizations that are cost conscious. They generally have a dataset in the low hundreds of terabytes or less and do not require advanced Management or features. That said, an outlier in this category is the Overland Storage NEO 8000e with a capacity of.5 PB, well outpacing most of the other models in the Basic ranking. The prototypical model in this category is a 4-slot library that supports either one or two drives. Both Dell and Tandberg Data deserve recognition in this category for having Hardware that scored well despite lower Management and rankings. 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights. 11
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY SCORES AND RANKINGS The scores and rankings for the big data tape libraries contain the following information: A chart that includes the scores and rankings for all of the products The mean and the standard deviation that were used to establish how each big data tape library was ranked A summary of the primary findings 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights. 1
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries SCORES AND RANKINGS BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY SCORE RANKING 1. Oracle StorageTek SL8500 7.47 BEST-IN-CLASS. Spectra Logic T-Finity 7.08 Recommended. IBM TS500 66.40 Excellent 4. Oracle StorageTek SL000 66.4 Excellent 5. Spectra Logic T950 66.0 Excellent 6. HP StoreEver ESL G 5000 slot 65.65 Excellent 7. HP StoreEver ESL G 000 slot 65.1 Excellent 8. HP StoreEver ESL G 1500 slot 6.71 Excellent 9. Oracle StorageTek SL150 6.6 Excellent 10. Spectra Logic T680 6.5 Excellent 11. HP StoreEver ESL G 700 slot 61.66 Excellent 1. Spectra Logic T80 61. Excellent 1. Spectra Logic T10 61.10 Excellent 14. Spectra Logic T50e 59.70 Excellent 15. Spectra Logic T00 59.6 Excellent 16. HP StoreEver ESL G 00 slot 59.6 Excellent 17. HP StoreEver ESL G 100 slot 57.4 Excellent 18. HP StoreEver MSL6480 56.57 Good 19. Quantum Scalar i6000 54.7 Good 0. Dell PowerVault ML600 49.69 Good 1. IBM TS10 49.5 Good. HP StoreEver MSL4048 49.0 Good. HP StoreEver MSL04 48.74 Good 4. Dell PowerVault ML600 48.0 Good 5. Quantum Scalar i500 46.94 Good 6. Dell PowerVault TL4000 4.8 Good 7. Quantum Scalar i80 4.41 Basic 8. Dell PowerVault TL000 4.0 Basic 9. IBM TS00 4.1 Basic 0. Dell PowerVault ML6010 41.67 Basic continued on next page 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights. 1
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries SCORES AND RANKINGS (continued) BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY SCORE RANKING 1. IBM TS100 41.84 Basic. Quantum Scalar i40 9.95 Basic. Overland Storage NEO 8000e 8.16 Basic 4. Tandberg Data StorageLibrary T160+ 4.49 Basic 5. Tandberg Data StorageLibrary T10+ 4.0 Basic 6. Tandberg Data StorageLibrary T80+.55 Basic 7. Tandberg Data StorageLibrary T40+.06 Basic 8. Overland Storage NEO 4000e.01 Basic 9. Overland Storage NEO 000e.01 Basic 40. Overland Storage NEO 400s 5.1 Basic 41. Overland Storage NEO 00s 4.84 Basic 4. Tandberg Data StorageLibrary T4.70 Basic Total Number of Products 4 Rankings Highest Score 7.47 Lowest Score.70 Average (Mean) 49.75 Standard Deviation 1.78 Recommended 70.4 7.47 Excellent 56.65 70.4 Good 4.86 56.64 Basic.70 4.85 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights. 14
014-15 BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating Big Data Tape Libraries BIG DATA TAPE LIBRARY MODELS 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. Licensed to Oracle Corporation with unlimited and unrestricted distribution rights. 15
Dell PowerVault ML6010 Approximate Starting List Price: $15,97 SCORE Hardware Management Support 41.67 10.8 9.50 9.5 1.00 BASIC BASIC BASIC BASIC EXCELLENT 1 / 41 RD PARTY PACKAGES ED 1 / 8 10.5 TB 4 6 Included AES-56 Key Management ( / Included) / N/A Years Contract 4 7 65 Non- Business Day 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. The information, product recommendations 16
Dell PowerVault ML600 Approximate Starting List Price: $15,696 SCORE Hardware Management Support 48.0 17.6 7.78 10.0 1.50 GOOD GOOD BASIC GOOD RECOMMENDED 1 / 1 RD PARTY PACKAGES ED 1 / 6 7.5 TB 4 18 Included AES-56 Key Management ( / Included) / N/A Years Contract 4 7 65 Non- Business Day 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. The information, product recommendations 17
Dell PowerVault ML600 Approximate Starting List Price: $4,058 SCORE Hardware Management Support 49.69 18.11 8.78 10.0 1.50 GOOD GOOD BASIC GOOD RECOMMENDED 1 / 5 RD PARTY PACKAGES ED 1 / 10 7 1 PB Included AES-56 Key Management ( / Included) / N/A Years 0 Contract 4 7 65 Non- Business Day 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. The information, product recommendations 18
Dell PowerVault TL000 Approximate Starting List Price: $8,756 SCORE Hardware Management Support 4.0 1.5 8.50 8.05 1.50 BASIC GOOD BASIC GOOD RECOMMENDED 1 / 4 RD PARTY PACKAGES ED 1 / 6 60 TB 1 Included AES-56 Key Management ( / Included) / N/A Years Contract 4 7 65 Non- Business Day 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. The information, product recommendations 19
Dell PowerVault TL4000 Approximate Starting List Price: $11,97 SCORE Hardware Management Support 4.8 1.79 8.64 8.5 1.50 GOOD GOOD BASIC GOOD RECOMMENDED 1 / 48 RD PARTY PACKAGES ED 1 / 4 8 10 TB 4 Included AES-56 Key Management ( / Included) / Years Contract 4 7 65 Non- Business Day 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. The information, product recommendations 0
HP StoreEver ESL G 100-Slot Approximate Starting List Price: $95,0 SCORE Hardware Management Support 57.4 14.4 18.50 15.40 9.00 EXCELLENT GOOD EXCELLENT RECOMMENDED GOOD 10 / 10 RD PARTY PACKAGES ED 1 / 1 10 55 TB 6 4 Included 5 AES-56 Key Management ( / Included) / 50,000 Hours 1 Year 4 Contract 4 7 65 Non- 4x7x65 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. The information, product recommendations 1
HP StoreEver ESL G 00-Slot Approximate Starting List Price: N/A SCORE Hardware Management Support 59.6 16.6 18.50 15.40 9.00 EXCELLENT GOOD EXCELLENT RECOMMENDED GOOD 100 / 00 RD PARTY PACKAGES ED 1 / 1 10 750 TB 6 4 4 Included AES-56 Key Management ( / Included) / 50,000 Hours 1 Year Contract 4 7 65 Non- 5 4x7x65 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. The information, product recommendations
HP StoreEver ESL G 700-Slot Approximate Starting List Price: N/A SCORE Hardware Management Support 61.66 18.76 18.50 15.40 9.00 EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT RECOMMENDED GOOD 100 / 700 RD PARTY PACKAGES ED 1 / 4 10 1.75 PB 6 4 Included 5 AES-56 Key Management ( / Included) / 50,000 Hours 1 Year 96 Contract 4 7 65 Non- 4x7x65 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. The information, product recommendations
HP StoreEver ESL G 1500-Slot Approximate Starting List Price: N/A SCORE Hardware Management Support 6.71 0.81 18.50 15.40 9.00 EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT RECOMMENDED GOOD 100 / 1,500 RD PARTY PACKAGES ED 1 / 96 10.75 PB 5 4 40 Included AES-56 Key Management ( / Included) / 50,000 Hours 1 Year Contract 4 7 65 Non- 5 4x7x65 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. The information, product recommendations 4
HP StoreEver ESL G 000-Slot Approximate Starting List Price: N/A SCORE Hardware Management Support 65.1. 18.50 15.40 9.00 EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT RECOMMENDED GOOD 100 /,000 RD PARTY PACKAGES ED 1 / 96 10 7.5 PB 6 4 58 Included AES-56 Key Management ( / Included) / 50,000 Hours 1 Year Contract 4 7 65 Non- 5 4x7x65 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. The information, product recommendations 5
HP StoreEver ESL G 5000-Slot Approximate Starting List Price: N/A SCORE Hardware Management Support 65.65.75 18.50 15.40 9.00 EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT RECOMMENDED GOOD 100 / 1,006 RD PARTY PACKAGES ED 1 / 96 10 0 PB 6 4 58 Included AES-56 Key Management ( / Included) / 50,000 Hours 1 Year Contract 4 7 65 Non- 5 4x7x65 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. The information, product recommendations 6
HP StoreEver MSL04 Approximate Starting List Price: N/A SCORE Hardware Management Support 48.74 14.95 1.14 1.65 9.00 GOOD GOOD BASIC EXCELLENT GOOD 4 / 4 RD PARTY PACKAGES ED 1 / 10 60 TB 6 4 4 1 Included AES-56 Key Management ( / Included) / 00,000 Hours 1 Year Contract 4 7 65 Non- 4x7x65 014 DCIG, LLC. All rights reserved. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. The information, product recommendations 7