HP today introduced the new HP StoreEver Storage tape portfolio featuring sixth-generation Linear Tape-open (LTO-6) technology that delivers twice the capacity and 44 percent faster performance than LTO-5 in the same footprint.

A fragmented approach to data retention and protection can open organizations to legal and financial risks. From a technology perspective it can also result in high costs and management complexities. Converged data centers reduce costs and complexities, but require a comprehensive approach to data protection that spans software, disk and tape technologies in order to mitigate risk.

HP StoreEver Storage integrates HP's tape products and technologies with HP Converged Storage, HP Data Protector and third-party backup software. 

"Tape storage is experiencing a resurgence as companies struggling with big data archives realize that a fragmented approach to protection and retention can result in added cost and risk," said David Scott, senior vice president and general manager, Storage Division, HP.

The HP StoreEver Storage portfolio supports tape media, standalone tape drives and tape libraries to accommodate more than 44 petabytes (PB) of data in a single system. HP StoreEver libraries feature removable drives and media to accommodate virtually limitless capacity, enabling clients to support the scalability requirements of their digital archives.

HP StoreEver Storage provides improved longevity for data held offline with LTO-6 tape media cartridges that offer a shelf life of up to 30 years. To reduce the risk of media failure, HP has increased tape media durability and extended tape-head life by moving beyond the LTO-6 standard with several innovations that:

• Reduce wear and enhance performance through the use of a larger roller diameter and a dynamic tape lifter that minimizes unnecessary drag.
• Improve reliability and performance with HP's data-rate matching algorithm, which continuously adjusts the tape drive speed with the data stream coming from the host.
• Address issues proactively with HP StoreEver TapeAssure technology, which monitors tape drives, libraries and media.
• Enhance media durability with HP's proprietary fabrication process that coats the tape head with a protective layer.

At 2.5 cents per gigabyte (GB) and a maximum capacity of 6.25 terabytes (TB) per cartridge, HP StoreEver Storage with LTO-6 offers cost- and energy-efficient storage, HP is targetting long-term protection and archiving. Client benefits include:

• Reduced energy costs via tape drives that, unlike spinning disk drives, do not need to be constantly powered on and will default into hibernation mode after short periods of inactivity.
• An up to 93 percent reduction in total cost of ownership through energy savings when used for long-term archiving compared to spinning media, which requires as much as 238 times more energy than tape.

An independently funded study by The Clipper Group on the total cost of ownership (TCO) of long-term archiving of digital data concluded that "the cost of energy alone for the average disk-based solution exceeds the entire TCO for the average tape-based solution."

HP StoreOpen file system management software with Linear Tape File System (LTFS) functionality aims to make HP StoreEver Storage tape as easy to manage as disk in order to lower costs and improves productivity. This enables clients to:

• Improve operational agility via drag-and-drop functionality that makes it easier to locate and manage tape files.
• Reduce administration time by simplifying the distribution and exchange of files across organizations with heterogeneous platforms.
• Minimize business risk with the ability to manage disk backup to HP StoreOnce and offload data to tape directly from the backup application.
• Decrease storage management costs by controlling all disk and tape backup and replication functions through a single interface, enabled by HP StoreOnce Catalyst integration with HP Data Protector and third-party backup software.
• Reduce complexity by centralizing management of libraries across the world via a single interface with HP Command View Tape Library (CV-TL).

"As a production company with multiple hit TV shows, our storage capacity requirements rapidly increased, resulting in the need for a low-cost, easy-to-manage solution with virtually infinite scalability," said Will Pisnieski, vice president, Post Production, Authentic Entertainment. "The combination of HP StoreEver Storage and StorageDNA's DNA Evolution software is the most efficient and cost-effective archiving solution we've used."

HP also reports that the technology can also be paired with HP StoreOnce Backup for information protection or with HP StoreAll Storage for information retention. HP StoreEver Storage also features both hardware-based data encryption and write once, read many (WORM) protection to prevent accidental overwrites.

HP's Americas client event, HP Discover, takes place June 10-12 in Las Vegas.