Why not use tape backups?
Tape has been the traditional backup solution for a long time, but tapes are drives and software are expensive and generally unreliable, the cost of ownership with a tape drive is far too high and involves significant manual intervention to load, check, unload and store the tape safely. Regular maintenance is also needed to keep tape backup drives operating properly. Backup tapes have a limited life span! Your backups will start to fail once a tape loses its magnetic strength. Most sources agree that tapes can deteriorate seriously in as little as 5 to 10 years. You cannot be 100% guaranteed that data can be retrieved from the backup tape if you need it. Often, people don’t realise that backup data is corrupt until they are unable to restore it. Worse, many tape backups are not encrypted or password protected. If your backup tape falls into the wrong hands, someone will have immediate access to ALL your sensitive data. Optical media and external hard drive backups can be a viable solut
