Tertiary Storage: Current Status and Future Trends

This report summarizes current state of the art in tertiary storage systems. We begin with a comprehensive discussion of magnetic tape and optical storage technologies. This is followed by a classiication of commercial products based on their performance characteristics. Our analysis of product data indicates that in contrast to disk technology, tertiary storage products have signiicant variablility in terms of data transfer rates as well as other performance gures. We then summarize eeorts in the areas of operating systems, databases and advanced applications to integrate tertiary storage. We point out that diierent assumptions about the underlying technology result in entirely diierent algorithms and system design. We conclude the report with a speculation of future trends.