This IBM Redbooks publication will help users to select the appropriate tape solution for various backup scenarios found in open systems environments. This book is a tape product selection and differentiation guide that is designed to assist users in finding all the information needed to select the best tape solution for the designated backup environment. This guide describes the information gathering process and product selection criteria to differentiate among the available IBM tape offerings. It provides a basis for tape differentiation. It is not, however, intended as a tape system sizing guide. For this purpose, users should use the sizing tools provided by each product family. This guide focuses primarily on identifying backup environments for the IBM 358x Ultrium product family (LTO) and the environments for the IBM TotalStorage Enterprise Tape System 3590 and 3592. Single user or departmental type backup environments are also addressed through providing information on the entry level tape product lines such as 4mm or This edition of the book has been updated with information about the following: IBM 3592-J1A tape drive; WORM and Economy cartridge support for the IBM 3592; new models of the IBM TotalStorage UltraScalable Tape Library 3584; and new models of the IBM TotalStorage Ultrium Tape 2U Autoloader 3581.