Facts About Tape Technology
In this document you will learn operational information about tape technology with special emphasis on restoration of data from tape. The information is categorized to assist you in learning which issues can prevent and/or slow the ability to restore data from tape media. The ultimate goal is to increase your knowledge about tape, tape technology and tape-related issues so as to overcome the "microwave" mentality of placing a tape into a drive, waiting two hours and having data be readily available for use. The process of tape restoration is significantly more complex.
Due in large part to its portability, durability and low cost per MB, magnetic tape media is the most widely used form of media for the archiving of data. Considering these and other numerous benefits, it is easy to fall into the trap of believing tape is a fail-safe technology where one simply has to place a tape into a drive to retrieve the contents. Nothing could be farther from the truth when discussing data restoration.
Nothing can be written to backup tape media without software forcing the process. As the volume of data being archived has grown tremendously over the past decade, developmental emphasis was placed on writing data to tape more rapidly. Since tape media was perceived as a means of aiding in disaster recovery, no special emphasis was placed on restoration of data from the tape as restore times were perceived as acceptable.
Fast-forward to the 21st century with its newly implemented SEC/NASD, Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and other regulatory requirements, backup software manufacturers are now playing catch-up with their code in an attempt to aid their customers in being time-responsive to many of these regulatory requirements. Failure to be responsive by users of backup software can mean fines, economic sanctions, or even litigation. As such backup software customers are demanding improvements to the technology and are even exploring other means of archiving data such as more costly but more rapidly accessible hard disk-based systems.
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