Linux LTO Tape Backup and Archive

Whether it is Ubuntu, Debian, Suse, CentOS, Fedora or another Linux distribution, Linux servers are core parts of many IT setups. Often the most important and biggest storage is connected to Linux servers. High server load and large file sets increase the responsibility that admins have to deal with. As a consequence, a solid Backup and Archive strategy is needed to secure ongoing production data as well as preserve completed projects for long-term. Archiware P5 Backup and P5 Archive support LTO tape devices from desktop drives to large tape libraries. Linux Backup to LTO tape has an excellent track record and offers maximum security at the lowest price per TB of any professional storage medium. Having Backup and Archive in one solution simplifies administration and reduces overhead.

The 3-2-1-1 Backup schema for maximum security

To achieve maximum security that protects against technical failure and local incidents as well as real disasters this Backup schema is a solid foundation for the occasional deleted file as well as for disaster recovery and business continuity.

  • Every important file needs to be available in 3 copies.
  • These copies should use 2 different storage technologies (e.g. disk + LTO).
  • 1 copy needs to be stored off-site.
  • 1 copy needs to be offline.
     

Linux servers backed up to LTO tape where one tape set is stored offsite fulfil all these requirements.

Linux Archive to LTO and Cloud

Where Backup means a replication of data to protect it, Archive is a data migration from the production storage to long-term archive storage. Both are needed to safeguard files that are still in use for ongoing production as well as files of past projects.

Additionally, the Archive serves as the “Single-Source-of-Truth”, the one place where all finished assets, files and projects can be found. This alone is a massive benefit and timesaver enabling referencing, reuse and even monetization of files.

Archiware P5 Archive offers Linux Archive to LTO and Cloud. The MAM-like features like thumbnails of images, proxy clips of videos, customizable metadata fields and combined search also enable a powerful media archive. For the archive to LTO tape P5 Archive offers the native P5 format and the LTFS format. Existing LTFS tapes can be imported into the P5 Archive index.

Maximum Protection with Archiware P5 on LTO

LTO protects against network attacks

The air gap between the LTO tapes and the network offers maximum security and protection against all cyber threats, malware, ransomware etc. Tapes that are not in the drive cannot be accessed by an attack, virus or malware. LTO tape offers the last resort for business continuity and disaster recovery. Both P5 Backup and P5 Archive offer tape cloning to create identical tape sets for off-site storage. 

Archiware P5 secures Linux servers

Archiware P5 is a multi-platform data management software that runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, QNAP, Synology and NetGear. Archiware P5 offers P5 Backup for Backup to LTO tape, disk and Cloud storage. P5 Archive also supports disk, LTO tape and cloud storage as target. Another module, P5 Synchronize, offers cloning/replication from disk to disk. 

  • Archive, Backup and Cloning in one solution
  • OS agnostic, maximum flexibility, easy migration
  • Storage agnostic: disk/flash, LTO and Cloud storage as target
  • Browser-based, easy to use GUI
  • Platform-neutral storage format
  • Scales from TBs to PBs
     
  • Supports single LTO drives and all standard LTO libraries (Oracle, Quantum, Overland-Tandberg, Qualstar, HPE, IBM, MagStor etc.)
  • Configurable access, storage pools, login areas
  • Powerful scaling with tape parallelization
  • Many 3rd party solutions and integrations
  • Media archive for broadcast, postproduction, SFX, marketing, corporate video

Synchronization, Replication and Data Distribution Solution for Linux

Additionally, to the solutions above Archiware P5 offers P5 Synchronize to clone or replicate Linux server data or storage. P5 synchronize works also when source and target are on different files systems and even translates attributes between them. 

For time-critical data P5 Synchronize mirrors the primary storage to a secondary storage for immediate data availability if something goes wrong or the primary storage becomes unavailable.

The biggest advantage is that there is no restore time involved reducing possible downtime to a minimum.

Another use case for P5 Synchronize is data distribution where either a core data set needs to be available at different locations or data move through a workflow from one stage to the next. Sync from client to client is also available. Optionally, file versions as well as snapshots can be kept on the target storage.

A disk-to-disk-to-tape solution is created when combining P5 Synchronize with P5 Backup. Current files will be replicated to disk for quickest restore while older files/Sync cycles will be copied over to LTO tape for longer retention time and cheaper cost per TB.

P5 as universal Linux data protection & data management solution

The products of the P5 platform offer data security, data preservation and disaster recovery as well as replication and data distribution for Linux servers and storage. The extreme flexibility and versatility of P5 empowers admins to build powerful solutions with maximum transparency and minimum training.

Having a single platform for all data security and data management requirements has many advantages. It increases productivity, optimizes processes, reduces operating costs, improves data availability and streamlines workflows.