We recently saw the following headline from an article in the LA Times:
“As venture capital dries up, tech start-ups discover frugality”
It isn’t often that you see the words frugality and start-ups together in the same article let alone the same sentence! Why is this frugality the latest craze?
“Tech start-up Appthority's office has plush conference rooms, soundproof phone booths, an enormous kitchen and a view of San Francisco Bay. It has ping-pong and foosball tables, beer on tap and 11 types of tea.
The cybersecurity company owns none of it. And that's how the company's president and co-founder, Domingo Guerra, likes it.
"Any time you have flexibility and you don't have a liability, it looks good on the books," Guerra said.”
This combination of flexibility without liability is fueling more than just start-ups these days. Many businesses are making their move to the cloud for their infrastructure needs because they can have a flexible IT environment without showing any assets.
One by-product of this move to frugality, however, is what these companies are doing with their hardware and data storage media which was once their infrastructure. Companies’ IT hardware still has value, and smart businesses are cashing in on these assets. With just a minimal effort, they not only make their business more flexible in the cloud, but they even get money for their old assets. Used servers, used hard drives like old Toshiba hard drives or old IBM hard drives, tape drives, tape libraries, switches, data tape media cartridges like certified IBM 3592JB 700Gb, IBM 3592JC 4Tb certified or IBM 3592JD 10Tb certified, and telecom products can be exchanged for cash with Big Data Supply.
Many companies, especially in emerging markets, need IT equipment but are not in the market for the ‘latest and greatest’ so they turn to the secondary market where they can buy refurbished IT equipment for just a fraction of the cost. What’s one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.
So embrace this move to frugality in your business by selling older IT assets and equipment like used tablets, used desktops, old GPU and used CPU, that are being replaced with new machines or moving to the cloud. As the LA Times reminds us, look for ways of “trimming excess, finding flexibility and, sometimes, being scrappy. You know, like a start-up.” Our friendly service team at Big Data Supply is standing by, ready to turn your old IT equipment into cash and start you on the road to frugality.
For businesses that require large amounts of archival storage, you need an effective and secure method to keep all of your records readily available. LTO tapes, similar to new IBM 3592JC 4Tb and Oracle T10000 tape, are ideal for large amounts of media that needs to be stored and are often utilized by medium businesses to large enterprises. With large amounts of memory available in a compact and convenient package, LTO media can be your go-to storage solution.
Data tapes just like IBM 3592JC 4Tb certified or IBM 3592JD 10Tb certified tape cartridges are one of the most trusted methods for backing up large amounts of data. LTO data tapes are one of the newest innovations in the tape drive marketplace and are manufactured by companies such as TDK, Sun Oracle, Sony, and Quantum. LTO 6 tapes have a low starting price point, but still offer massive amounts of data space for your digital media. Compressed data capacity on LTO 6 data tapes are 2.5 to 6.25 TB, with transfer speeds of up to 400MB/s. The way they operate is LTO data tapes writes data on magnetic tape, which can be read with the use of compatible tape drives. Data is placed in sections along the tape and the drive allows you to access the exact media you need quickly. The amount of data found on the tape dictates rewind times, but they are typically under a minute. Access times are even quicker and can clock in at about 45 seconds or less. Transfer rates are constantly improving with LTO 6 tapes being the fastest currently.
LTO is an advancement in the field of magnetic tapes since it boasts a more compact design. The tapes have been optimized for high storage capacities and reels are typically only a half-inch on the cartridges. Even with large amounts of archival data, you won’t have an issue finding what you need on the tapes. A catalog file is updated each time new data is added onto the media. The catalog files can also be used as backup methods for the data stored. Security is always a concern, especially amongst business owners who handle files containing medical or financial information. This is why many of the tapes come with advanced encryption standards in place to prevent the data from being compromised.
Since LTO 6 tapes aren’t required to directly work with your company's operating system, they are not dependent on what type of computer you have. They are also portable, so you can use LTO tapes to store archival files from multiple locations. One of the major benefits of this storage media is the impressive lifespan of the cartridges. Each tape boasts an archival life of approximately 30 years. The rugged body construction of the data tapes helps ensure longevity.
For firms that are no longer utilizing data tapes, there may be uncertainty over what to do with the media. In this case, you should sell your tape drives a company like Big Data Supply. We can eliminate all existing data on the tapes in order to ensure you remain in compliance with privacy laws and regulations. As part of our data removal process, the company ensures that all media on the tapes is no longer recoverable. They also buy data tapes from companies who no longer require the storage devices and only resell the products after all data has been completely destroyed.
Big Data Supply is available to answer all of your questions about LTO tape media products and uses. Give us a call today or fill out our short form for more information on LTO 6 tapes to discuss what type of data center supplies your business can benefit from.
When we think of a storage medium for backups, in business or professional environments, NAS and high capacity hard drive cabinets immediately come to mind, but ... is it sure that it is the most profitable, efficient and safe medium? With storage needs growing non-stop thanks to new technologies such as big data, cloud, streaming, large-scale computing and IoT, having a cost-effective, secure and efficient storage is a priority for the majority of companies.
During the past year, many advances in the technology of backup tape have been announced, which continue to make its use attractive. The tape media drives and cartridge work as a secure storage medium, with high capacity and with even better performance, remains in the first position of choice for many companies and data centers. Let's see its advantages over the disc.
According to industry estimates, by 2025 the transfer rate of the tape media drives like certified IBM 3592JB 700Gb or IBM 3592JD 10Tb certified is expected to be five times higher than that of the HDDs. This announcement should let us check, but it is not necessary to go so far:
With all this escalation in storage capacity, what does it produce? The cost per gigabyte in tape media drives and cartridge is traditionally lower than hard drives. It makes the tape the technology with the best total cost of ownership (TCO) for long-term data retention compared to other storage media. In this 2016 comparison, the TCO of the tape drives was seven times better than a hard drive. With the new formats, it will continue to increase.
One point often overlooked is the CO2 consumption or carbon footprint that hard disk storage produces compared to the tape. The tape media drives like Oracle T10000 and certified IBM 3592JC 4Tb are very efficient, with very little electrical consumption during operation. With the energy consumption of stored data growing exponentially year after year, many organizations are looking for technologies to reduce the carbon footprint by storing their data, and many are turning to tape technology for this. Some comparative data:
Tape media drives and cartridges like new IBM 3592JC 4Tb and IBM 3592JB tape cartridge 700Gb are not only profitable and efficient, but it is also one of the most reliable ways to store information and protect it against ransomware attacks or hackers. Why? The hard disks are always online, unless we disconnect the server, on the contrary, the tape cartridges are removed from the unit when the copy ends, and they are stored somewhere else offline.
Many people are under the impression that we have moved past using tape storage and it seems more like an outdated solution. It goes without saying that losing crucial data can be more costly than implementing a robust data protection plan. In this digital era, people are more inclined towards using hard drives and cloud backup with large storage capacities. The newer generation might not have even heard about tape media drives & cartridge. But, this is not true!
Organizations are still using tape storage such as new IBM 3592JC 4Tb and HP LTO-4 Ultrium Cartridges in California, to store data or create backups. It is a viable option, and in multiple cases, it is far more popular than online storage methods. With such popularity in recent times, let’s discuss why this storage mode/method is still relevant today!
WHY IS TAPE STORAGE STILL RELEVANT TODAY?
Tape storage was created when the first modern computers were found, back in 1950s. Back then, tape rolls could easily hold one megabyte of data on a tape storage. In recent times, tape storage has evolved significantly. Keeping up with the revolution of the likes of USBs, SSDs, and HDDs, there are tape storage devices like Oracle T10000 tape and certified IBM 3592JC 4Tb that could store up to 1 terabyte of data. Typically, people do not consider it to be a practical solution, but the benefits it offer to individuals and organizations is the primary reason of its existence.
Tape storages are capable of reducing the data before storing. It is believed that it is lower than what a hard drive can do, making tape media drives & cartridge a cost effective option. What’s more is that these are cheaper than other options that are available on the market.
Let’s have a look at the pros and cons of tape storage.
It is important to understand that tape media drives & cartridge such as IBM 3592JB tape cartridge 700Gb and certified IBM 3592JD 10Tb are not out of fashion. Yes, the use cases might have reduced due to more convenient options. But, it is a more affordable and durable option when compared to others. A tape storage device can store equivalent amount of data as that of an HDD. People think that it is not a modern technology and is not efficient as other options. The only downside is that it may take a lot of time to create a backup, transfer, or move files on a tape storage. When we talk about internet speed, cloud services and HDDs are a much better option. However, you will have to pay more to get the most out of these services. One of the primary reasons tape storage is still relevant today is because when it comes to restoring the lost data or an entire system, nothing is faster than tape media drives & cartridge.
The durability and affordability it offers is second to none when we compare tape storage and restore options. Hence in a nutshell, the technology may be overtaken by other options or new findings in near future. But, as of this moment tape storage is still relevant and numerous businesses are benefitting from its offerings.
In this technologically advanced world, people have started to leverage the offerings of cloud data storage. The cloud backup is a service through which cloud computing resources and infrastructure are used to create, edit, manage, and restore data, services, or application backup. This type of cloud storage is managed remotely over the internet service, which allows you to access your data anytime, anywhere.
Because you can access your data virtually, a cloud backup service actually prevents data loss that may occur due to hardware malfunction or natural disaster. In such cases, your data will remain safe in the offsite and remote storage platform. Making cloud backup a highly flexible and safe solution for all of your data storage needs.
Although the cloud backup is not a substitute for a local backup or data stored on an external hard drive or data tape, it is an easier and more accessible solution to it. When you store or perform a backup of your data through the cloud, you are actually creating a backup offsite. That means you can access your data offline. In addition to the easy accessibility of your data via a cloud backup, some of the cloud service providers also provide a mobile application making it accessible globally anywhere, anytime, or from any device.
Forget about carrying storage devices or running a remote server alone. With a cloud backup service, you only have to upload the data to store, allowing hassle free and efficient access to it whenever you want.
Apart from easy accessibility and data loss prevention, a cloud backup service is encrypted and protected offering an additional feature that provides protection from theft. Just as any good Internet service provider, such as IBM iSeries AS400 Cloud storage, all of your data in transit and stored in their servers are encrypted. You can also have the option to use your own key for the data encryption, taking data storage and security to the next level.
In this technologically advanced era, cloud backup services have become an industry standard for storing data. Due to its numerous benefits, people and companies have started relying on cloud backup service as it is now needed more than ever. From flexibility, scalability, enhanced performance and easy accessibility you can take your business to the next level with a professional cloud backup service provider.
With 2017 on the horizon, the technology industry has been in transition over the past year. A new year is a chance for restrategizing and technological advancements. Cloud computing has helped revolutionize many companies over the past few years and with data being the core value of many companies, it has been a game changer. In order for your company to work more efficiently, we are going to look at what’s in store for the cloud in 2017 to maintain your balanced and productive business flow.
More companies will start relying on a hybrid approach to the cloud that consists of on-premise data storage and cloud integration. Smaller companies will be able to easily migrate to the cloud fully with this method. For enterprise level businesses, adopting this method of on-site and off-site data storage requires buy-ins from across the organization.
As enterprises usually store the majority of their data on site and in company controlled servers, it’s not as quick of a transition like smaller businesses. While there are high upfront costs for big companies moving their data to the cloud, the hybrid cloud approach reduces costs and saves a significant amount of money in the long-run.
With more companies shifting toward an all cloud solution and hybrid approach, companies like Amazon have been dominating the market for cloud platform services and will continue to gain momentum. They provide a platform that enables companies to incorporate a secure agile infrastructure, which allows companies the flexibility they require. Although some enterprises have dedicated their resources to launch their own private clouds, third party services like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure have made it difficult to compete with them internally. Amazon is assisting those companies better manage their hybrid infrastructure with constant monitoring and cost management tools. Microsoft Azure is competitive in pricing and might be a more viable route for companies looking to save money. Azure will continue to gain momentum in hybrid and container technologies in 2017.
According to Investopedia, “Cisco Systems Inc. will shut down its Intercloud Services public cloud by March of 2017.” With Amazon’s additional features, Cisco is not the only company it’s knocked out of the cloud race. Many large companies attempting their own private cloud servers come to realize the time and expense are outweighed by the ease and cost-effectiveness of using third-party providers. With the constant shift in the cloud industry, companies have adapted their strategies accordingly.
With more companies adopting the cloud, security threats will continue to be a concern for organizations. With data growing in the cloud, hackers will be motivated to find new methods to breach service providers. Security as a Service (SECaaS) will become a larger factor and organizations will look to implement additional cloud security and monitoring. With many cloud platforms offering subscription based SECaaS, security services including intrusion detection and 24/7 monitoring reduce the burden on your IT team. Security will become an important differentiator when it comes to choosing service providers in 2017.
With big cloud providers like Amazon and Google, enterprises and organizations have been shifting toward a multi-platform strategy. Managing multiple cloud platforms is going to require enhanced monitoring and cost effective strategy. If you or your company is switching to the cloud, there’s no need to throw away your server hard drives and equipment. You can sell your used and new IT equipment to Big Data Supply, Inc. and will professionally erase the data.
Contact us today with your list of equipment and let’s get you started.
With digital technology on the rise, data is quickly becoming the central core of an enterprise’s value. Data is what guides companies to make consumer focused decisions in order to improve products and services in a competitive market. Data destruction is not usually top of mind for most organizations. That’s why realizing the potential security and financial risks companies face by not properly destroying their data is detrimental to future success.
The proper steps must be taken to prevent data breaches and ensure your customers’ and organization’s sensitive data has been completely disposed of. In order to get a better understanding of why protecting your data is important, let’s explore data destruction behavior and its impact.
With improper data destruction practices, some of the negative consequences your company could potentially face include:
The cost of proper data destruction is minimal compared with the potential costs of someone accessing your personal data. According to Protiviti, a global business consultant firm for Fortune 1000 and 500 companies, “One in three companies lack policies for information security and data encryption.” Having a secure data destruction process is crucial. Much of the time, sensitive data ends up in the hands of IT employees without the proper procedure to properly dispose of critical information. Hackers are aware of this common issue and are readily available to steal your enterprise’s crown jewels.
Many companies are migrating to the cloud and may relocate their data centers every few years, leaving servers full of private information. Just as any other company, data centers must make sure they plan ahead for data destruction processes in order to stay within the set budget and with minimal operational interruptions for their clients.
For proper data destruction practices, make sure you take electronics to a reliable third party service if your organization does not perform data destruction services in-house. To prevent your company from external data leaks, make sure you are properly destroying old storage media or hire someone who is trusted to do it for you efficiently and eco-friendly like Big Data Supply, Inc. Our processes meet or exceed all laws, acts and compliance regarding data destruction such as HIPPA, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), Department of Defense (DOD) and more.
Here at Big Data Supply, Inc., we offer an eco-friendly e-waste recycling program for all tape formats and brands. We comply with multiple laws regarding consumer data including HIPAA, FACTA, SEC, and more. Contact us today and we’ll take care of your data destruction needs no matter how large or small.
It can happen to anyone, right? Imagine going to the dentist for a sensitive tooth and giving sensitive protected health information (PHI) to the staff thus, in effect, handing over an implied trust that your data will be protected. You leave the office feeling better but then you get a letter from the dentist. As reported, the dentist apparently had a little bit of decay in his data protection plan:
“On the late afternoon of Monday July 25, 2016, my car window was broken out and my briefcase was stolen. In that briefcase was an external hard drive containing two different types of data. First, all office patient records were backed up on the drive, including social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, phone numbers, date of birth, physical and email addresses and health insurance information.”
Well, as they say, you can’t make this stuff up. This actually did happen to the patients of SoCal dentist. You can see the full letter which is posted on the website of State of California Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General. The letter goes into detail about reporting to credit agencies for protection from potential fraud and more.
The site www.databreaches.net reports on many of these instances and if you take a look through the information it is enough to make anyone be concerned for the protection of personal information by businesses of all sizes from Target to your dentist.
At Big Data Supply, Inc. we specialize in buying and selling backup technologies that can keep this kind of occurrence from happening. From Tapes to servers and everything in between we can help businesses and their service providers protect data in a responsible manner.
One of the best ways to protect data is using our cloud. No longer do businesses worry about the safety and the security of cloud services. In fact, as a cloud provider we are committed to providing the highest levels of security. We do this 24/7 and can offer solutions for small businesses like a dentist practice all the way up through the enterprise.
What are you doing to protect your customer data? What precautions are you taking with your business data? Have you ever wondered what the businesses you frequent are doing with your data?
Call today to learn about how Big Data Supply can help your business protect your data and your business’s reputation.
With the rapid rate of change in the IT space there can be many unforeseen trouble spots but there are also opportunities. The push to the cloud continues to gain momentum and that trend is not likely to end any time soon. In fact, it is most likely that some version of the cloud will be part of most IT infrastructures for a long time to come. We recognize this and help our customers take full advantage of these opportunities.
At Big Data Supply, Inc. we do a lot of different things and among them is cloud services. Where we are unique is our deep experience in the IBM space. Our history of implementing and supporting IBM Power Systems gives our customers a unique advantage when moving to the cloud. We work with IBM iSeries, AS/400, AS/400 running i5OS, AIX and Linux.
Working with these systems over time gives us a greater understanding of the environments that translate into an easier transition to the cloud for our customers. We host our own IBM cloud instance. As noted on our IBM cloud hosting section of our site:
The core resources are delivered using an IBM PureFlex Chassis and iSeries Nodes with IBM Storewize SANs for backend storage. This powerful combination provides the flexibility needed in a cloud environment for IBM i systems and the ability to quickly provision resources at an affordable price.
Cloud Credits
So while this is a great story to tell, it actually gets better.
Another important aspect of our business is regarding used IT assets. We purchase used IT equipement that is being replaced by companies, including hard drives, data tapes, servers, tape drives, and more. Many customers have found that the convenience of the service saves them time and money. In addition, they recoup some of the cost of the equipment in the process.
With IBM customers there is an added option that can be very attractive. While we would normally buy existing infrastructure, what we do for IBM customers who are making the transition to the cloud is provide cloud credits as part of the process. Simply put, we help our customers turn their existing hardware into a cloud environment. Having completed this kind of transformation for many customers we can turn a situation that can often be very stressful into one that is efficient and cost effective.
Contact us today to learn more about our programs. Our team of pros is ready to help you not only retire your existing hardware but also help you transition into the future with the Big Data Supply cloud.
