Below the Radar: StorageTek Bets That Old Is Still Beautiful

With firms practically doubling their data-storage capacities every 12 months, it's no wonder that disk-storage companies such as EMC (EMC Quote) that provide high-speed access to stored information get the lion's share of attention among storage companies.

But some fund managers and analysts believe that this very explosion of data will continue to make tape storage -- a much older and slower method of accessing data -- necessary. Tape can take as long as two minutes to access, whereas data on disks can be accessed in one second or less. But tape's big advantage over disks is that it's far cheaper.

Gartner Group estimates that tape costs 1/50th the price of disk storage. And even with the cost of disk storage dropping 30% a year, many analysts believe that tape storage will continue to be relevant for many years to come. ...