Vxa Tape Technology Is More Durable Than Track Based Tape Formats

By Author: Rob Miller
Total Articles: 598
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Tape storage technology has longer useful life than the DVD and CD recording media, which has been a major factor that helped the tape storage format to overtake the DVD and optical storage media. Majority of the tape format use track based linear technology. Track based backup storage system was introduced decades ago and since then has not been significantly changed and enhanced.

In this article, I am going to describe you the benefits and leading edge technologies of new VXA tape format. VXA tape technology has introduced newly developed digital data packet mechanism. VXA tape system reads & records the data in the form of digital packets. This new digital packet system has been developed to make data safer and to speed up backup operations. Head to tape alignment of the track based tape format is very complex as compared to that of VXA backup tape technology.

Media of track based data tapes is composed of skinny, long sequential data tracks. Head to tape alignment in track based tape systems have to make tight adjustments for accurate writing and reading of information from the tape. The allowable ...
... tolerance in track based backup technology is microscopic, which can result in greater read/write errors. This tight tape to head alignment makes the track based systems more expensive. Track based drives read the stored information by tracing each data track's outline. This data tracking process is done in sequential order. During this read process, if there is a micro difference between the angle of data track and tape head or the data track is distorted, then this causes a read error and your precious data is lost.
There major causes for this can be accumulated debris, drive tensions variations, tape wear and stretch and temperature changes.

On the other hand, if we take a look at the VXA tape format, it provides its users more benefits as it does not depend on the complex alignment of tape to head. The need of head to tape alignment has been eliminated in the reliable VXA tape format. In VXA tape format, the fundamental way of reading & writing information has been changed. Instead of traditional data tracks, digital packets are used by the VXA tape drive to restore and write the data.

At first the data is broken into smaller digital data packets. An ECC (error correction code) and individual address is assigned to each of the small data packet. VXA tape drive writes these data packets on to the tape in form of strings. In data write operation, a pair of alternate azimuth is recorded by the VXA tape drive during each drum cycle.

VXA drive features a second trailing head, which reads the digital packets which have been written on the VXA tape media. If the drive finds an error in the data packet, then the tape drive will re-write this affected data packet on the fly. This process is not possible in the tracking tape drives. These powerful features make VXA more cost effective data tape.

Rob Miller is the Marketing Manager of Tape4backup and markets VXA Tape. He has vast experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping buyers who have the backup needs and guide clients about the technology.

Rob Miller
34972 Newark Blvd,# 501,Newark CA 94560
Tel: 888-491-4949
Fax: 888-449-5050
Email: rob@tape4backup.com