VXA packets are a breakthrough technology that has long been in the works. In fact it was born in Boulder, Colorado in 1999. Let's have a look at the benefits of the VXA packet tape backup.

The VXA packets are far superior to the conventional tracks. VXA not only reads data in packets, it writes it in packets as well, making it a very reliable method of data transfer. This is fundamentally the same way data is transferred on the Internet.

Because the drive itself has a variable speed function, it is able to match the exact rate of data transfer, which means backhitching is a thing of the past and so is the wear and tear it caused.

There are no longer any head-to-tape alignment issues to deal with, which was one of the biggest problems with the conventional tape systems. VXA didn't just improve on it, it completely eliminated it by fundamentally changing the way the backup actually reads and writes the data.

In fact, the VXA packet tape backup is classified as "perfect write" because it is the only backup system in existence that has a zero tolerance for error. When the data is being written the VXA backup records a pair of alternate azimuth packets each time the drum rotates. A second head trails and reads the data packets that were just written to the tape again. Errors are then re-written on the fly. This read-write verification methodology guarantees that every packet is written without error, hence the "perfect write".

Confused? Let's try to simplify it a bit. The head makes its first pass laying the data down on the VXA tape. The second head, which is trailing behind, once again reads the data and if errors are found from the original data written to the tape it automatically overwrites the data on the fly. While other conventional methods allow for errors to occur the VXA system does not.

Because the data is written in an almost perfect fashion, the tapes are still able to be read from after being boiled, dipped in hot coffee, or even frozen.

During this writing process, packets are assigned an address on the tape because they are written in a non-linear order. When it comes time to recover the data, it is sent to a buffer which then compiles the data in the proper order before restoring the data to a source drive. No matter where the data is located it can still be read, compiled, and written faster than other tape backup systems.

The benefits of the VXA packet tape system are too many to list but one thing is for certain - the technology is revolutionary and has been the industry standard for tape backup and recovery systems since 2000.

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