In the world of backup there are two main technologies in use in companies: hard drives and magnetic tape cartridges. Then there is, in reality, a sort of middle ground consisting of cartridges with hard drives or SSDs inside: it is technology RDX from Overland-Tandberg, which provides the ability to use such discs in WORM mode (Write Once, Read Many).
Overland-Tandberg relies on hard drives in cartridges to fight ransomware
“Ransomware” is a term that has long since moved out of the niche of security experts to become part of the common language due to the exponential increase in attacks of this type at all levels. The problem is particularly relevant for companies, also given the stringent limits that the GDPR poses them from a data protection point of view.
Overland-Tandberg offers its RDX technology as an alternative to using magnetic tape maintaining, however, many of the peculiarities that characterize this medium. RDX uses cartridges impact resistant (falls up to 1m high) and promises one storage duration of over 10 years; inside the cartridges there are in fact common 2.5-inch hard disks or SSDs with a specially designed control board.
This technology can be interesting for companies that want to have an offline backup system without, however, resorting to tape and without huge amounts of data to archive: the cartridges in fact range from 500 GB to 5 TB of capacity (up to 8 TB in the case of SSDs), which are still quite far from the latest LTO-9 Ultrium standard which supports capacities up to 45 TB (but at significant costs).
The main advantage of RDX therefore lies in the fact that the cartridges are less delicate than normal hard disks (but not compared to SSDs, also proposed as a faster option), but above all in the possibility of using a WORM mode which causes the material to be treated as read-only. Note that specific software must be installed rdxLock, available for Windows only and only by subscription, in order to obtain this functionality. The company introduced the feature RansomBlock which specifically prevents access to RDX devices by using a whitelist of programs to be given write permissions.
“The RDX platform, thanks to its unique features, the levels of enterprise-level reliability it is able to guarantee and its affordability, has over time established itself as one of the most appreciated archiving and backup solutions globally”, commented Michelangelo Di Ianni, Italy Channel Sales Manager of Overland-Tandberg, who then concluded: “Among the exclusive advantages it offers, a place of honor certainly deserves the rdxLock software which, in addition to allowing the use of our cartridges in WORM mode, allows to further increase the security levels, keeping the contents protected from viruses and malware. . “
Overland-Tandberg does not publicly disclose pricing information.
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