Backup technologies, as they relate to the actual hardware and software involved in the backup process, have and continue to improve - more density, faster robotics, etc. etc. - it's an extensive list. However, what has not changed much over the last year is the actual "process" of backup execution.
The process hasn’t changed much in over a decade, it’s a well tuned systematic process of incrementals, fulls, swapping tapes, sending tapes off-site, etc. As prices for the backup technology have dropped overall, their has been a lack of attention paid to the actual cost of data stored on tape, but the cost today, is being fueled by a completely different rationale - compliance.
{For the purpose of this discussion let's define compliance simply as governance of data as it relates to an organizations legal and regulatory liabilities or requirements}
It’s no longer prudent to keep data that may be subject to discovery in a billion dollar class action lawsuit locked away, safe secure, and accessible on a tape - just waiting to be "discovered" by lawyers who know how to ask for the information.
So, what does that mean to today's backup approaches?
