Role of tape (lol) drives in a modern datacentre

[mejinks]

Just thinking out loud really, but what does everyone use these days? We currently use LTO5 in an autoloader, but as the business grows, the amount of data seems to grow exponentially and there will come a time sooner rather than later where it won't cut it any longer. On a daily basis, I am taking out and putting in a comical amount of fresh media, so much so, I've jokingly asked for a shopping basket.

Is the only option going to be hard disk backup or cloud storage?

Also, what does everyone use in regards software? I've been asked to evaluate Nova backup, but it seems hugely expensive for just 4 servers. I've used backup exec in the past and it was fine for my needs then. The other piece of software that was suggested was crashplan.

Your thoughts?

 

[mejinks]

So after two weeks, nova have still not gotten back to me.

I have rationalized what gets backed up, but still require something better than Cobian (yes I know) backup software. We are backing up from 4 physical servers and 5 virtual servers (these are backed up with Veem) to a dedicated backup server with 10Tb of storage and this will be replicated onto an off site server doing the same thing. At the moment, I have been given Cobian to use, but its so slow its not funny.

What do others recommend? I've used backupexec in the past, but its pricing is not straightforward.