Save the Obituaries! Magnetic Tapes Aren’t Dead Yet
The doomsayers are wrong. Magnetic tape isn’t dead; it’s not even on its deathbed.
On the contrary, as the Bee Gees would sing, magnetic tape is “Staying alive, staying alive…”
Magnetic tape has seen a robust resurgence lately—no doubt a surprising twist for a storage medium often considered outdated. Linear Tape-Open (LTO) shipments, according to The Annual LTO Program Media Shipment Report, reached 152.9 exabytes in 2023, marking a 3.14% increase from the previous year. The report, LTO Program Technology Provider Companies, HPE, IBM, and Quantum, attribute magnetic tape’s resurgence to “rapid data generation and the increased infrastructure requirements of hyperscalers and enterprises.”
True enough, data generation has shifted into overdrive over the past few years. In 2010, the world created approximately 2 zettabytes (ZB) of data. In just five years, that number rose nearly 700% to 15.5 ZB. This year, it is estimated that about 147 ZB of data will be created globally, which is 22.5% higher than the approximately 120 ZB generated in 2023. Data generation is projected to be even more prolific next year, with a predicted increase of 23.13%—or around 181 ZB of data.
The continuing rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) might skew those numbers even higher, given AI’s insatiable appetite for data. Developing AI models requires extensive datasets to train on as they can learn and generalise better when more data is available. This necessitates continuous data collection from various sources, including sensors, IoT devices, social media, and digital transactions. Data augmentation also happens, with AI models expanding existing datasets by creating modified versions of the originally available data. This process increases the volume of data, helping improve the robustness and performance of AI models.
The big winners here are obviously the data centres and hyperscalers of the world. But magnetic tapes are winning as well.
Perhaps surprisingly, hypescalers like AWS and Google Cloud are among the notable users of magnetic tapes, relying on these old-school storage systems as part of their broader data storage strategy. Their practice of using magnetic tape, in particular, is driven by the need for cost-effective, high-capacity, and secure storage solutions, particularly for archival and backup purposes.
Magnetic tapes are a logical storage option in this case. Their appeal lies in their vast capacity, durability, cost-effectiveness, and low environmental impact compared to newer, more modern storage solutions such as HDDs and SSDs. Additionally, magnetic tapes’ longevity and security from ransomware make them a preferred choice for archival storage despite their slower access times.
Hyperscalers, though, aren’t the only ones utilising magnetic tapes in this modern era. Some large enterprises still use tapes for long-term data retention and backup solutions, while most companies in the media and entertainment sectors use magnetic tapes to preserve their content. Government agencies that handle and store sensitive data, like national archives and space agencies, also utilise tape for secure storage.
All things considered, it looks like the strong showing of magnetic storage in 2023 is no fluke—and that it is here to stay for many more years. The continued relevance of magnetic tape underscores its unique advantages in an era dominated by digital data demands, proving yet again that talks of its demise were sorely premature.
