The Covid-19 pandemic has forced our hand making digital transformation the name of the game in the IT industry. Eras are escorted out as others are ushered in, and the zettabyte era has fueled worldwide growth of HSDCs, CSPs and large data centers while further disrupting the traditional data center model. Without a new disruptive technology on the horizon to contain 60-80% of the world’s archival and cold data, the many rich tape technology improvements of the past 10 years and the promising roadmap should feature tape as the most cost-effective storage solution for the unprecedented HSDC storage growth ahead. Just as it took vaccines, masks, hand washing and social distancing to slow down the growing wave of Covid-19 cases, it will take modern tape technology to slow down the growing wave of data center carbon footprint and energy consumption.

Hyperscale Storage Manifesto