StarWind Virtual Tape Library

StarWind VTL replaces physical tape infrastructure with a software-defined approach that's faster, more reliable, and inherently ransomware-proof. It emulates industry-standard tape hardware (IBM TS3500, HP libraries) using high-capacity spinning disks and flash storage, so your existing tape-centric backup software keeps working without any workflow changes. Veeam, Commvault, Veritas BackupExec, Microsoft DPM — they all see a standard tape library and write to it exactly as they would to physical tape.

The difference is speed. Disk-to-disk-to-cloud backup eliminates the mechanical bottlenecks of physical tape drives. Backup windows that used to overlap with production hours shrink dramatically. And unlike physical tapes that sit in a warehouse somewhere, StarWind VTL automatically replicates and tiers virtual tapes to cloud and object storage — AWS S3/Glacier, Azure Blob/Archive, Wasabi, Backblaze B2 — creating an inherently air-gapped archive.

Data immutability is baked into the architecture. Virtual tapes use Write-Once-Read-Many (WORM) and object-locking mechanisms, so once backup data is written, it cannot be modified, encrypted, or deleted — even by a compromised administrator account. For organisations subject to regulatory data retention requirements (APRA, HIPAA, GDPR) or those building a proper 3-2-1 backup strategy with an immutable off-site tier, the VTL is a practical, proven solution.