Which backup media type supports linear data access as required in a disaster recovery plan?

The correct answer is LTO, which stands for Linear Tape-Open. LTO is a magnetic tape data storage technology that is designed for high-capacity storage with linear data access. This linear access means that data is read and written sequentially – an essential feature for disaster recovery scenarios where rapid retrieval of data from backups is often critical. The linear nature of LTO allows for efficient streaming of large amounts of data, making it well-suited for archiving and restoring large datasets during disaster recovery efforts.

In contrast, other options such as SAN (Storage Area Network) and NAS (Network-Attached Storage) typically refer to storage architectures rather than specific media types. Although they can provide various forms of data access, they do not inherently specify linear access like LTO tape systems do. JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks) represents a method of connecting multiple hard drives without RAID configuration, allowing for random access but not necessarily linear access among multiple drives. Hence, LTO is uniquely positioned to meet the linear data access requirements needed in disaster recovery planning.