DOTS is the only digital storage designed to be read with a camera employing standard image processing techniques. Data is recorded visually on patented phase-change metal alloy tape at a microscopic density that rivals the capacity of current magnetic tapes. DOTS can record any digital file format, visible text, and imagery on the same media. Using a visual method to represent the data ensures, as long as cameras and imaging devices are available, the information will always be recoverable, and backwardly compatible to the 1st generation.

We describe a replacement for RAID 6, based on a new linear, systematic code, which detects and corrects any combination of E errors (unknown location) and Z erasures (known location) provided that Z+2E≤4. The code is at the core of a RAID technology called PentaRAID, for which the two co-inventors were awarded a US utility patent. The problem that we address is that of weak data protection of RAID 6 systems. The known vulnerability is that RAID 6 may recover from not more than 2 failed disks in a RAID, if we know which disks failed.

Object Storage is increasingly getting used on premises for a variety of use cases some of which consist of primary and critical applications. Such use cases and applications require enterprise grade Data protection and disaster recovery capabilities. Replication of S3 compatible Scale Out Object Storage presents unique challenges that are unlike found in traditional block or file storage. Replication of object storage system is done at individual bucket and object level and it not only has to deal with data replication but also object specific constructs like metadata and tags.

While the Open Source cross-platform OpenZFS file system and volume manager provides advanced block-level features including checksumming, snapshotting, and replication to mitigate ransomware at the POSIX level, the evolving nature of ransomware dictates that no technology should rest on its laurels. This developer and administrator-focused talk will explore strategies for hardening OpenZFS and its supported operating systems towards a goal of total storage immutability without authorization.

Ransomware is an acknowledged threat, and protecting your data must be a security-in-depth exercise. We discusses how Intelligent Storage can detect and recover from an attack while maintaining administrative isolation from compromised servers. While this method is only a single layer of a defence-in-depth infrastructure, it can be implemented invisibly on existing workloads and storage which can gather the proper sets of metrics.

This is a two-part detailed technology presentation on LTO, erasure codes, and archival storage. In the first part, we will cover core LTO technology by reviewing areal density roadmaps, physical and logical LTO formats, and data durability for long-term archival applications including environmental requirements. In the second part, we will discuss new two-dimensional erasure-coded tape for durable and available long-term data storage where random access is used. Tape has recently reemerged as the lowest cost medium for different levels of cold data in archival data storage.

The ransomware attacks raised the need of an appropriate defense, bringing back the mature idea of WORM. Having pre-existing WORM capability in the disk storage alone is not enough for the backup area due to multiple problems like usage complexity, and potential for backup application mishandling of WORM partitions. Instead, integrated WORM support delivered by cooperation of the backup application with the disk storage delivers a complete WORM solution addressing these problems.