When using and operating a high availability server or system within an organisation, you need to consider that there may be times when hardware fails and the system may be offline. This is par for the course when it comes to computers. No system in 100% fail safe as there are so many things that can go wrong. One of the main issues that IT departments face is loss of data if a disk fails. A way to overcome this issue is to employ a level of RAID and use SCSI hot swap disks.

Using RAID allows you to spread your data across many disk drives in the server. This process has several levels of complexity and redundancy and allows you to recover information from a failed disk using parity information, written to different disks. A little like an algebra sum, where 1 + a = 3 (a = 2), RAID allows the data to be recreated when the faulty hard disk is replaced. The server still operates, but it has to work out the sums on its own, making it slightly slower.

In the past, it was a requirement that the server hardware was powered off to replace the hard disk, but hot swap drives and caddies have allowed the server to continue to operate whilst the data is recovered. SCSI hot swap drives allow you to remove the faulty hard disk and insert a new one without having to power off any part of the server. This allows the server to continue running whilst the new disks is restored or repaired and made part of the RAID array. Each major manufacturer of server hardware has a slightly different implementation of the hot swap technology. The SCSI hard disk sits in a caddy or tray which is specific to each server brand. The SCSI disk itself is sometimes independent to the server brand, and therefore any similar size SCSI disk can be used.

Backing up valuable information is a very important part of running a business or a group successfully. As more time passes, it is becoming smarter to save records of all the transactions and paperwork which go through the system in order to have protection against any discrepancies which may arise in the future. The question remains, which is the best way to save these records.

There are two main schools of thought when it comes to the best preservation methods. Most people are more familiar with the use of disc space to record and store all of their records. What many people don’t realize, however, is that the use of magnetic tape outweighs disc space by far.

Magnetic tape costs nearly 25 times less to record the same amount of information as it would cost on hard disc space. It also has the ability to last for over 30 years, making its shelf life incredibly valuable. The only issue comes in the form of the fact that most computer systems normally do not come with magnetic tape decks.

This means that if someone wanted to use magnetic tape to backup all of their documents, they would need to install a tape drive into their system. Thankfully, an external tape drive is available, making the use of one of these systems incredibly easy for any user.

By installing an external tape drive, one simply needs to hook the unit up to the computer and run some software to make the unit compatible.

Sticking a blank magnetic tape into the external tape drive makes it then available for the unit to record and store the data necessary, with only a minimal amount of work on the part of the computer user. These external tape drives can be a lifesaver when it comes to the storage of all of the important data.

External tape drives will often end up saving the company a great deal of money as well, when compared to saving the equivalent amount of data on discs. The cheapest of these drives can be found for a little over $100, while some of the more quality, top-end brands can go all the way up to $900.

Whichever external tape drive is purchased, however, the company will quickly begin to save money. The tapes which are required to store the information are much cheaper and will hold much more than the disc space that could be required. In this manner, it will not take long for the company to make up the difference they would have been spending on all of the disc space and begin to save money, therefore killing two birds with one stone, with the external tape drives!

Pinnaclemicro.com, based in Santa Ana, California has been selling new and refurbished computer, telecom and medical products. Additionally, they repair tape drives, optical drives and printers. Their customers range from computer resellers to self maintainers to corporations to governmental and educational institutions. They will beat any advertised tape or optical drive repair price by 5%. To take advantage of this offer order your tape or optical drive repairs online via their Order Repairs Online form. In the comments section in their form mention our competitor and the location of their ad showing the repair price that they need to beat by 5%. Once you submit our online form they will reply with an email within 48 hours authorizing your repair and the discounted rate.