At IBC 2016, IBM promoted workflows built around a flape system — that's a combination of flash and tape storage — part of a growing trend toward hybrid storage systems that combine high-performance flash technology with more affordable tape formats. 

As one example, IBM presented a case study with Kansai Telecasting Corporation (KTV) in Osaka, Japan. The set-up was covered in an IBC conference session featuring KTV's Ataru Koike and IBM's Peter Guglielmino. 

KTV uses IBM's TS4500 tape library and TS1150 tape drives for its 80 PB video archive, but speeds up access via IBM FlashSystem, the broadcaster's high-performance 4K editorial storage system that does double duty as a high-speed cache for the tape archive.

The takeaway? Tape is durable, affordable, and high-capacity, and flash is just fast. Together, they make a pretty compelling combination.