QStar is the first Independent Software Vendor (ISV) to integrate with HP StoreEver Data Verification, a new application that utilises low-level information in the HP LTO tape drive to determine the health of a cartridge. An API interface allows QStar Archive Manager to schedule cartridge verification and automatically take action if it is identified as being suspect. The QStar software then presents cartridge statistics through a new GUI page, and offers the ability to schedule cartridge verification in one of three ways with LTO6; a quick scan taking around five minutes, a moderate scan taking around an hour and a full scan which takes around five hours. Should any cartridge be detected as having a lower than expected level of read back confidence, QStar Archive Manager would copy data from that cartridge to a new cartridge.
QStar Archive Manager provides a NAS interface for users or applications that need a simple way to store data to tape / optical libraries, object storage or cloud.
Archive Manager software is installed on a Windows or Linux server and uses an “integral volume” combining disk and archive storage. This approach allows files to be cached to disk for short-term retrieval with file metadata remaining there permanently, while files are moved to archive storage for long-term preservation.
A key requirement for long-term data preservation is to know when data or media is at risk of becoming unreadable. QStar recommends that archived data is protected by creating multiple copies of data, but in this case, unreadable data is only identified when the file is accessed and fails to read correctly; data must then be accessed from another copy, which is not ideal, as this copy could be offsite. Through media verification the retrieval of offline media to replace failed onsite media will never be necessary because of the preventative action. Delays in accessing data are therefore avoided and the number of reliable copies is always maintained.
“Verifying the quality of archived tape data over time has always been a challenge for customers," said Chris Powers, Vice President, Data Centre Development Unit, HP Storage. "Today, customers can now preserve the integrity and access business-critical data stored on tape media using HP StoreEver Data Verification with the added automated capabilities provided by QStar Archive Manager throughout its lifecycle.”
Riccardo Finotti, QStar CEO, stated “We are extremely proud to be the first ISV to integrate with HP’s StoreEver Data Verification API; together we are helping to preserve our joint customers’ valuable data assets for the long-term.”