Data Conversion
On many occasions you may not be aware that a data conversion has been done. Often in a Windows environment, a file is clicked on and an application opens and displays the information you require. Very often the original data is not in the native format of the application, and so a conversion is required. This may be fully automatic, or prompted for. It may be because the data is from an earlier version of the program, (eg. Word 6 rather than Word 2000) or it has come from a completely different application. When the data conversion is clean and automatic, it can justifiably go un-noticed.
Moving data between very different systems can require a more actively involved data conversion procedure. This can be particularly true when moving information between mainframes and PCs or Unix systems. The two major differences are that mainframes tend to work in EBCDIC and have the concept of records, while PCs use ASCII and data is a continuous stream and not blocked in records. Unix and PCs can differ in that a PC uses a Carriage Return (CR) plus a Line Feed (LF) to indicate the end of a line of text, while Unix has just a Line Feed. A Macintosh uses just a CR!
Data conversion allows you to keep the same information but allow it to be processed by either a different application, a different computer, or both. An example can be when information has to be moved to a different company or when computer systems are upgraded. It is also common when companies merge and want a new common computer system.
Forensically there can be great advantages if the data can be converted into a format that can be processed with familiar tools, but in this case one must always be aware that any data conversion could possibly change the data and so must be approached with caution. However it can help with initial analysis of data.
Probably the two most common requirements for data conversion are database records and word processing systems. This is largely because they are the majority of computer applications, and hence a very large variation in the way that data is stored. eMag's products were first developed nearly 20 years ago to handle a large number of word processing systems, but now the common applications are databases and record based files.
For database conversion, IB95 is used as it has very flexible ways that data may be imported and processed. It does include Access compatible outputs including linked tables for databases that contain multiple transactions per record.
For raw data conversion, RR32 is used. A very common application is to handle EBCDIC records that also contain packed fields. The program contains many conversion rules to handle all varieties of date and numeric representation. RR32 also has a very useful feature that allows routines to be incorporated at the same time tapes are read with MM/PC or MM/UNIX.
eMag's capability with data conversion is unsurpassed due to our extensive experience in service delivery work and the writing of proprietary software products tackling the reading of a myriad of tape types, and formats. With Conversion Service Centers in the UK and US, we can advise on the best way to convert data from any source. Whether it is data conversion software (MM/PC or MM/UNIX) or a data conversion service, eMag can assist you in data manipulation from any source. Contact us today for more information on eMag's data conversion services.
Tape Conversion
It is often very easy to date a film based on certain props. A modern film will have cell phones everywhere, an 80s film will have VDUs, and a 70s will have computer rooms full of 0.5" open reel tape drives.
The open reel (9-track) tapes have almost died now, and eMag has just recently announced the end-of-life for open reel tapes, but the data on these tapes is often still required. Thus for 9-track tape alone there has been an enormous requirement for tape conversion onto more modern, and higher capacity media. Less visible (because they never looked impressive in movies) has been the ever-ongoing problem of migrating data from 3480s to 3590, or LTO, and from DC600 to Super DLT. These are all examples of where tape conversion is required due to the slow but very steady progression of tape as still the most important computer storage medium.
Capacities have grown over the years. A still current open reel tape recorded at 1600bpi might store 35MB, and so over 1000 could be stored on a DDS-4 DAT. This is a fraction of the size. An LTO and Super DLT will store 5 DATs, and each year capacity (and requirements) increase.
Tape drives and cartridges are all a trade off between cost, capacity and performance, so they all have their market place. The information stored on them is generally worth considerably more than the media and therefore needs to be retained when the drive has become old, too slow or obsolete for any reason.
Sometimes it is possible to do a straight conversion from one medium to another retaining details such as vol-id and the amount of data that has been stored on the original tape. Although this may solve the problem of the media, it does take away much of the advantage of the new tape capacity. A good step, therefore, is to stack the tapes and possibly take 2000 open reel tapes and put them on a single LTO (please duplicate the LTO before destroying the original 2000 tapes). Provided the operating system can handle the stacked tapes, this is a good solution.
Along with evolving tape standards, the basic computer has also evolved, and an application that may have required a mainframe 10 years ago could now be Unix based. The tape conversion issue has now become, for instance, IBM labelled 3480 tapes to Super DLT under Unix. Fortunately eMag has many tools to help with these types of conversion. eMag can provide a tape conversion service, or we offer tape conversion software (MM/PC or MM/UNIX) to help with the migration normally required on system upgrades. Further help can also be offered when it comes to ensuring that the data is in the correct format so contact us today if you have any further questions.
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