Oracle's StorageTek Virtual Storage Manager 6 takes tape storage capacity to over 640 petabytes

Oracle has nearly doubled the disk capacity of its mainframe virtual tape system with its latest upgrade.

The StorageTek Virtual Storage Manger 6 will be able to scale its disk capacity to over 640 petabytes. Along with the increased capacity Oracle touts the latest incarnation of the Virtual Storage Manager as offering 2 times better performance than its predecessor.

"As customers continue to contend with exponential data growth and the need for 24x7 access to mission-critical data, Oracle is raising the bar with high-performance virtual tape capabilities that can help keep costs down," said Oracle vice president of hardware development James Cates.

"Oracle's new StorageTek Virtual Storage Manager 6 delivers major enhancements in simplicity, scalability and availability that enable customers to better manage mainframe storage environments, maximise their investments in tape, and lower total cost of ownership."

StorageTek Virtual Systems Manager 6 allows companies to manage and handle data stored on tape backup for use in tasks such as archiving and disaster recovery.

Virtual Systems Manager 6 manages user data with automated policy-based management. Oracle says its management system streamlines operations and simplifies deployment.

The system is being touted as being capable of increasing the amount of data a user can store on a tape cartridge. Improve performance and capacity for tape storage users. As well as, protect data with automatic copying.

While tape storage is on the decline, it still holds a place in certain markets because of its power efficiency. Principal analyst at Pund-IT Charles King told V3 that the continued investment in tape by the likes of companies like StorageTek could keep it around for decades.

"Tape is in an odd position. While the use of tape is certainly in decline, it hasn't experienced the wholesale abandonment suffered by technologies like floppy disks which were contemporaneous with tape. That's largely been due to continuing innovation by tape storage vendors like StorageTek," said King.

"However, tape is being increasingly relegated into niche markets and use cases, like long term retention and permanent archiving where its modest read/write performance is offset by far greater power efficiency. In addition, its broad use in legacy mainframe environments means that enterprise tape storage will likely be with us for years or decades to come."

StorageTek was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 2005. The tape storage company moved again when Sun was acquired by Oracle in 2010.