What Is a Tape Image?

Broader library products include autoloaders and libraries. Autoloaders and tape libraries are actually a combination of tapes and tape drives. An autoloader is a tape drive and automatic tape changer located in a stand-alone unit that can pick up tapes from a magazine containing multiple tapes and place them in the drive, or vice versa. It can back up data with a single tape capacity of 3TB-6TB (LTO-6 standard, LTO technology is about 18 months newer generation, and the capacity is doubled). Autoloaders support routine backup processes and automatically load new tapes for daily backup jobs. A small company or branch office with a workgroup server can use an autoloader to automate backups.