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Throw the tapes away - disk backup is here
Posted by Mark on Oct 29, 2008
Data backup can be a nightmare, balancing the demands for instant access against the equally important need for security and reliance. Essentially there are Business Continuity demands that are competing with the requirement to be able to perform a Disaster Recovery.
The same people that patted you on the back because they could get their files back quickly from an online storage system might be the first in the queue to stick a metaphorical knife between your shoulder blades when the disk based backup system is off with the data recovery company, and you don’t have a good old fashioned solid and reliable tape backup.
So are tape backup systems better than disk based virtualized backup systems, do on-line backup systems trump all others? What is best?
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Catch-22, or “don’t keep the only copy of the software on the tape”
Posted by Mark on Oct 20, 2008
Ever had one of those days where having tried to do everything correctly that nasty stomach churning feeling becomes overwhelming as you realise that there is a major problem and a simple restore could now be a major tape data recovery issue.
You have the backup tape, you have the tape drives, but the only copy of the backup software is within a backup set on the tape and this backup is from 14 years ago and the software is not sold any more.
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The long and winding DLT
Posted by Mark on Oct 18, 2008
Tape is tough, but really …
As a data recovery engineer pretty well nothing comes as a surprise. We have received DLT cartridges where the tape has snapped, been overwritten, even where it has been submerged in flood water for over a week.
Nothing, though, has been quite as bizarre as the empty DLT case that arrived, along with a supermarket carrier bag crammed full of unwound tape. What was going on?
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Tape - dead man spinning?
Posted by Mark on Oct 14, 2008
Ever since I became involved in the sometimes arcane art of recovering data from tapes there has been the perpetual sound of people announcing that “tape is dead, long live the …”, promptly followed by a further advance in tape technology and the patient pulls through.
What is the future of tape? Why should we keep using it?
Look after your back-up tapes and …
Posted by Mark on Sep 23, 2008
… there is a chance they will look after you.
Care of backup media is an often overlooked issue, but why spend thousands each year on media and even more on the time and equipment to get your data on to it, then effectively risk throwing it all away by not paying attention to storage and environment?
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Do you need to use a professional data recovery service?
Posted by Mark on Sep 23, 2008
I’ll make no bones about it, I work for a data recovery company and believe that a good and professional data recovery service is often the best course of action. However, it is not always economically viable, and I am aware of cases where people have gone down the paid route and had a simple problem dealt with for rather a lot of money.
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Once you are in a hole it is time to stop digging
Posted by Mark on Sep 23, 2008
“There is just one more thing we want to try” has sometimes been the sentence that I have heard from the other end of the phone immediately prior to some data being lost to this world forever.
This is not a plug for using data recovery companies, I work for one and don’t believe that it is always the best option, but it is a good idea to emulate the calm and measured approach that a professional would take.
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