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Managing a Tape Environment Is No Longer an Oxymoron: Page 4 of 6

-- Can an already written tape be read correctly? Another simple question whose answer is crucial for ensuring recovery processes.

Crossroads Systems has solved the management problem for tape automation environments through the introduction of its ReadVerify Appliance (RVA) and supporting services. While Quantum has some very capable features for tape environment management via its Quantum Vision management software, the company focuses on its own, homogenous tape environments. In contrast, Crossroads can support any Fibre Channel-based tape environment (which includes open systems, as well as IBM's mainframe-based tape environment). Note also that Crossroads' approach focuses on the management of the tape storage devices themselves, rather than data management or information management.

The Crossroads approach is based upon three general principles:

1 -- An RVA is installed in the tape environment outside of the data path, collecting data that otherwise would not be available for analysis.

2 -- Crossroads' monitoring and reporting solutions not only have the necessary analytical and visual presentation capabilities but can draw upon one or more of the following sources of information -- a historical (i.e. longitudinal) database of the customer's own information, a database of vendor recommendations (such as what should be the appropriate duty cycle for a tape drive), and an anonymous database of what other customers have experienced that can be used for benchmarking.