Though until recently it wasn't the case, storage (hard drive space) is very cheap compared to what it costs to back up that data. For example, 1 Terabyte (1000 gigabytes) of hard drive space can now be had for less than $500. On the other hand, to back that up to tape will require a tape library in the low-to-mid-five figures and dozens of tapes costing anywhere from $80 to $153 apiece.

It is critical that organizations have effective backup strategies and hardware in place so that 1) data is backed up at all, 2) data is backed up often enough based on the needs of the business (tolerance to data loss), 3) the backup can occur within a given window of operation, 4) data restores can occur in the time frame required by your business continuity plan, and 5) the backup occurs with a minimum of manual tape swaps, which are the bane of automated, effective, timely, reliable backups. If you're a publicly traded company or deal with personal medical data, then there are Sarbanes-Oxley or HIPAA compliance concerns, too.

We also address the issue of catalog index file redundancy, which we have never seen any other service provider bother with -- kind of sad, really.

Escape works with clients to determine storage needs and backup schedules for both live jobs and long-term archive. With the plummeting costs of hard drive storage, it is usually cheaper to keep files around indefinitely than to burn them to CD or other media, but Escape will consult with you to establish the exact needs of your organization.