April 30, 2010 -- A cadre of storage vendors has formed the Active Archive Alliance with the goal of turning offline archive and backups into visible, accessible extensions of online storage systems.
The newly created organization claims that developments in active archive applications and in tape and disk technologies – most notably the ability to see and access data on tape through a file system interface – make it possible for users to cost-effectively maintain all data in online storage for fast, easy search and retrieval.
The group says tying applications to tape via a file system interface mitigates the delays and problems normally associated with retrieving data off tape media.
The first thing that popped in to my head was "HSM all over again," but the group states that active archives differ from hierarchical storage managers. "An Active Archive contains production data, no matter how old or infrequently accessed, that can still be retrieved online."
They also maintain that Active Archiving is a collaborative solution offered by software and hardware vendors and can be put in place using existing equipment.
Spectra Logic's Molly Rector, a founding member of the group, says we can soon expect to see Active Archive best practices and guidelines for end user education, white papers, webinars, videos and educational materials on ActiveArchive.com.
Founding members of the Active Archive Alliance include Compellent Technologies, FileTek, QStar Technologies and Spectra Logic.
The Alliance is taking all comers. Membership is open to providers of file systems, active archive applications, cloud storage, high-density tape and disk storage, as well as individuals and end users.
For the latest developments in the world of archiving, visit InfoStor's Tape & Archiving page.
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