What factors should you consider when making a decision between tape and NAS storage

Posted by Kiara Taylor on January 5th, 2023

Many businesses today are looking for cost-effective and reliable ways to store their data, and they have two primary options – tape storage or NAS (Network Attached Storage) storage. Each option has its pros and cons, so it’s important to understand the differences between them before deciding which one is best for your business. Let’s take a look at the factors you should consider when making your decision between tape and NAS storage. 

Capacity & Scalability 

One of the primary considerations when choosing a storage solution is capacity and scalability. Tape storage can hold up to 10TB of data per cartridge, but it’s not easily expandable beyond that. On the other hand, NAS storage solutions are much more scalable – they can be expanded as needed with additional hard drives or even virtualized onto multiple servers in order to accommodate larger datasets. 

Cost & Efficiency 

The cost of the solution will also be a major factor in your decision-making process. Generally speaking, tape storage is cheaper than NAS storage solutions due to its lower upfront costs and lack of ongoing maintenance requirements. However, when you factor in things like energy efficiency, ease of use, and scalability, NAS solutions may end up being more cost-effective in the long run due to their low total cost of ownership (TCO). 

Accessibility & Performance 

Finally, you should consider how easily accessible your data needs to be, as well as its performance requirements. Tape solutions offer good speed for archiving large amounts of data quickly but poor accessibility since tapes must be physically retrieved from an offsite location if needed; this makes them better suited for storing long-term archives or backups than for frequently accessed data. In contrast, NAS solutions offer good accessibility since they are stored onsite and can be accessed remotely over a network connection; this makes them ideal for storing day-to-day working files that need to be accessed often by multiple users simultaneously. They also offer better performance than tape solutions since they are faster at both reading and writing data. 

Conclusion:  

When it comes down to it, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to choosing between tape storage and NAS storage–it depends on what your specific business needs are in terms of capacity, scalability, cost efficiency, accessibility and performance. Doing research into each option will help you make an informed decision about which one is right for you based on these factors. With this knowledge in hand, you'll be able to choose the right solution that meets all your needs while still staying within budget.Contact us for more information about actors should you consider when making a decision between tape and NAS storage.