Three important aspects of performance are bandwidth, latency, and
reliability. Many bandwidths are available for both disks tapes, but the
random-access latency for a tape is generally much greater than that for a disk.
Switching cartridges in a jukebox is also relatively slow. Because a jukebox
has a low ratio of drives to cartridges, reading a large fraction of the data in a
jukebox can take a long time. Optical media, which protect the sensitive layer
with a transparent coating, are generally more robust than magnetic media,
which are more likely to expose the magnetic material to physical damage.