Quantum DLTtape DLT 2000, Руководство пользователя

Страница: 9 / 219

The Evolving
Tape Storage Market
QUANTUM DLTtape HANDBOOK
1
1.1
Before we plunge into the story of the DLTtape system, we need
some context. Who’s buying DLTtape drives and media? And, more
importantly, WHY? In this chapter, we’ll walk you through some of
the market forces that are impacting the industry, including:
•
Trends in computing systems: moving away from centralized
computing, toward a client/server model.
•
Moving to centralized management of distributed systems.
•
Growth of mission critical, leading edge applications.
•
Dramatic advances in tape technology for backup.
Market Size
The market for tape drives is projected at $6 billion a year for the
next few years, with unit shipments holding steady at about 4 mil-
lion per year, worldwide. Almost all of those 4 million units are going
to be used for backup.
But, while unit shipments will remain steady, the amount of data that
needs to be backed up is growing rapidly. For example, it is estimated
that in 1999 worldwide server capacity, one important category of data
that needs to be backed up, was less than 500 petabytes (Figure 1.1). By
2004, that figure will have multiplied to over 4,300 petabytes!