Tape library for Reliance Australia

The Australian branch of Reliance Worldwide has acquired a tape library system to accommodate a recent explosion in company data.

Reliance is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of thermostatic water control valves, with branches all over the globe. The company designs, develops and manufactures water mixing products.

In recent years, the local branch of the company has progressed from using DLT (digital linear tape) technology for data storage, to different generations of LTO (linear tape–open) technology. But recent data growth prompted the company to implement a tape library system.

“The group’s data growth was too fast and our existing solution was unable to back up all our data,” explains Scott Hunter, CEO of solutions provider Rapidfire. Hunter manages Reliance Australia’s IT solutions.

Assisted by Rapidfire, Reliance assessed recommendations from several national distributors, ultimately deciding on a solution from Tandberg Data. Hunter says the decision was driven in part by the local support available.

“One of the main problems with the other vendors’ solutions was the lack of a required level of local customer care. We partner regularly with a team of storage and backup specialists to bring innovative solutions to the table,” Hunter says.

Reliance has installed a dual drive StorageLibrary T40 using 40 slots and LTO-4, with 64 TB compressed capacity, at its Brisbane headquarters. Similarly configured T40s will be implemented at the company’s three other Australian sites.

Hunter says that the new system has rectified the previous data growth problems, while allowing for future growth.

Storage maintenance from site to site will be simplified, as there will be no individual tapes to manage, and systems can be configured, monitored and controlled remotely with the browser-based remote management interface.

“Benefits for management include the easy restoration of files for management and long-term storage, as well as confidence in the security of the firm’s data,” Hunter says.

In day-to-day use, the system has simplified the backup process according to Hunter, who says that it also runs faster than the previous solution.

Reliance will run the new system for three years, at which point the company will review the solution.