Will LTFS be integrated with backup software?

Since it was announced last year, a number of products have emerged that support the LTFS (Linear Tape File System) open-standard format. But, one question that’s been kicked around a lot among SearchDataBackup.com staffers is whether the spec would be integrated with business-class backup products. According to senior executives at IBM, one of the LTO Technology Provider Companies, integration will happen, but they do not currently have a timeframe for that integration.

“We are in discussions with a lot of the backup software vendors,” said Sanjay Tripathi, director of data protection and retention for IBM storage. “So yes, the plan is to integrate it. And even if they don’t integrate it, we are creating an asset management layer or working with other vendors that have an asset management layer for them to be able to move the data.”

“There can be varying degrees of integration,” said Lee Jesionowski, chief architect for IBM tape automation. “Meaning built-in native as the way [backup software] talks to tape or that it is just another file system target. There’s nothing concrete to share there, but we are having conversations about that as well.”