Tape storage was up in 2022 whereas HDD gross sales fell

On Jan 23, 2023

LTO Backup tape for data recovery isolated on white background most use in Data center room.

(Picture credit score: yentafern through Getty Photographs)

Often right here at PC Gamer I am writing about blisteringly quick storage to get your video games up and working as quickly as doable. We’re speaking speedy SSDs that cut back your boot instances to the purpose the place they are not even noticeable. In actual fact, should you’re after a few of that quick to remove your livid, we’ve got a listing of a few of our favorite SSDs proper right here (opens in new tab). When you’re extra of a slow-and-steady strategist, the excellent news is tape storage is again, with gross sales of the old fashioned medium on the rise.

You would be completely appropriate in questioning why anybody may have a use for tape storage in 2023. Most of us working our PCs for common use definitely have little interest in this archaic format.

However with HDD gross sales dropping year-over-year and Linear Tape Open or LTO on the rise, there’s a use for this older, cheaper, however a lot slower tech.

After trying into the Trendfocus knowledge, Tom’s {Hardware} (opens in new tab) discovered that gross sales of LTO storage for 2022 had been up 14% year-over-year in 2022. That is a whopping 79.3 exabytes of tape storage offered. HHDs are nonetheless means forward after all, seemingly promoting within the zetabytes, however the unit shipments had been down 34% in 2022. It is predicted that tape drive gross sales will proceed to develop sooner or later. For these of us nonetheless considering of tape as a defunct medium, these stats are sort of mindblowing.

So who’s shopping for all this previous format storage? Final 12 months tape storage was on the trip for ransomware resistance. This 12 months, it seems it is largely being purchased and utilized by cloud knowledge centres. They use LTO storage for previous archives that hardly ever must be accessed. Whereas LTO could also be very gradual by at the moment’s requirements it is by far one of many most cost-effective alternate options whenever you’re speaking about important knowledge sizes.

They’re additionally rated for longer shelf-life than some storage mediums, excellent for archiving. Plus they will retailer a good whack of knowledge per unit, particularly when in comparison with HDDs. As an added bonus, my nostalgia can solely think about how the rooms full of those infants odor.

With regards to most people, an LTO storage answer does not actually make a whole lot of sense. Until you have received a scary quantity of knowledge you do not actually need to have entry to for 30 or so years, and do not thoughts ready on these sequential learn and write instances, it is onerous to see a function. However for archival makes use of, LTO seems to be prefer it’s right here to remain, regardless of seemingly by no means seeing one on our personal desks.

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Hope’s been writing about video games for a couple of decade, beginning out means again when on the Australian Nintendo fan web site Vooks.internet. Since then, she’s talked far an excessive amount of about video games and tech for publications equivalent to Techlife, Byteside, IGN, and GameSpot. In fact there’s additionally right here at PC Gamer, the place she will get to indulge her interior {hardware} nerd with information and critiques. You may normally discover Hope fawning over some artwork, tech, or seemingly a beautiful mixture of them each and the place related she’ll share them with you right here. When she’s not writing concerning the superb creations of others, she’s engaged on what she hopes will sooner or later be her personal. Yow will discover her fictional sit back ambient far future sci-fi radio present/album/listening expertise podcast (opens in new tab) proper right here.

No, she’s not kidding.