London, UK — 2^nd April 2009: Shoden Data Systems UK, an innovative provider of data storage solutions for organisations facing backup and data recovery challenges, today published the results of an independent survey of 100 UK IT decision makers. The findings revealed that in some markets (retail, distribution and transport), up to 72% of organisations have already or are planning to implement disk-based as opposed to tape-based backup in 2009. According to the study, carried out by Vanson Bourne earlier this year, among the biggest proponents of disk-based backup is also the financial services industry, with 64% of respondents opting for disk over tape.

Although disk-based backup has been available for several years, it was over the past 18 months, thanks in part to rapidly falling hard disk prices, that it has become the strategy of choice for most end users. Among the reasons behind the switch are the advantages of better speed, reliability and total cost of ownership (TCO) offered by disk drives and the emergence of technologies such as data deduplication.

The survey also found that the smaller the business, the stronger the response: 64% of respondents from organisations with between 1,000 to 3,000 employees said that they have already or are planning to deploy tapeless backup this year, whereas the figure dropped to 56% for companies with more than 3,000 staff. This response is likely to be given by the existing tape-based infrastructure that tends to be found in larger data centres, which are therefore slower to convert to a disk-based strategy.

“This survey unveils a portrait of the current market which supports the view that in backup environments tape is being replaced by disk. Tape is not disappearing, but it is being marginalised to long-term data retention applications such as archiving,” said Phil Jones, CTO at Shoden Data Systems UK. “Today end users can reduce the amount of storage required for their backup by at least 95% with data deduplication and together with a resulting dramatic reduction in the CAPEX and OPEX this has contributed to the success of disk becoming the backup medium of choice.”

On average, the study found that 60% of UK organisations prefer disk- to tape-based backup, and this should come as no surprise. In 2009 disk is easy to manage, fast and affordable; tape is cumbersome, slow and no longer the most cost-effective solution. In addition, tape is not optimised for data restores and it presents the issue of uncertain data integrity: a backup process may have completed successfully, but verifying the data on all of the tapes is effectively impossible without doing an actual restore.

On the other hand, disk arrays do not present these challenges. Disk-based backup has no need for a steady stream of data; even incremental backups do not suffer from the inherent problems associated with tape. Disk-based backup can simplify and speed up the backup process without incurring a performance penalty or increasing the risk of failing restores.

Disks also make off-site recovery easier, more efficient and reliable. They allow the replacement of bulky ATLs and VTLs, saving on power, cooling and floor space costs, leading to a far smaller carbon footprint.

“We have reached the stage where organisations can now lower their OPEX and CAPEX costs and achieve better productivity by relying on a disk-only backup strategy in their IT infrastructures,” Jones continued. “However, many datacentres may still rely on tape for archiving purposes, but for how long?"

About Shoden Data Systems UK

Shoden Data Systems UK is based in London, was founded in 2008, and is part of the Shoden Data Systems (Pty) Ltd group, Africa’s largest independent IT solutions integrator. Shoden Data Systems UK is an innovative provider of best-of-breed data storage solutions to the UK market place, with a focus on backup and recovery, and high-performance offerings that meet the needs of enterprise-level organisations. Shoden Data Systems UK is committed to supplying the highest levels of pre and post-sales support, taking full advantage of Shoden’s world-leading infrastructure in Johannesburg, while relying on a local experienced and skilled team. Shoden Data Systems UK solutions are available directly from the company. For further information please contact us on +44 (0) 20 7956 2103 or info@shoden.co.uk.