"* Will suitable tape restoration packages come out that can assist the restoration process (increasing time and cost effectiveness)"
It is not a trival job. eMag / InterMedia have spent nearly 30 years developing such tools. Each year backup producers upgrade their software for faster performance, incremental backups, multiplexed backups from several servers at the same time etc. Backup on to RAID type tapes, ie multiple tapes at the same time is also used. Most backup programs will restore a few versions earlier, but then become incompatible.
There are other tape restoration programs, some new, and some also with a long history of development.
Different types of compression all get changed, and in recent years encryption is an additional layer. If the tapes have been maintained well, reading LTOs should be OK, but older tapes can deteriate badly.
Recovering files from tapes is only the first stage - if it is e-mails these need to be extracted and analysed.
30,000 tapes, of LTO, at 100GB a tape, am I correct in saying this is 3 Petabyte of data, ie a lot.
I do however find this topic of information management and eDiscovery quite interesting, especially relating it to the use of Tape as a backup medium and the cost associated in restoration.
Its quite evident that Tape is and will be a cost effective backup medium at the backup stage but these cost savings seem to be lost quite quickly come restoration.
I personally know of organisations who create in excess of 3 terabyte worth of tape backups every month, without making use of de-duplication. This almost seems like a clear miss use of the tape backup medium.
I would add something.
For one reason or the other, the number of tapes that "have issues" when you need to actually read them is - at least in my experience - relevant, expecially connected with age, even if accessed using the original hardware that wrote them.
I cannot say if this is due to
- "age itself" of the tape
- poor storage conditions (too hot/too cold/too humid or all of them alternating)
- "age/wear" of the device
- incompatibilities with the software you are using
- other reasons
but in my (very small) experience I would say that one tape every 10 or 15 give issues of one kind or the other when you try to re-access/read the info on them.
There are lots of debates on mantaining digital data, or digital preservation
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and right now the only senceful (though obviusly "definitely NOT cheap") option seems like having redundant data on different media AND periodically refresh it. (replication and refheshing)
I.e. if you have (say) five years of backup data, you should have it on BOTH tapes and (say) CD's, and the day you change your tape drives to a new model/technology, first thing you should copy (verifying them in the process) the old tapes to new technology tapes and the old CD's to (say) new DVD's.
jaclaz
but in my (very small) experience I would say that one tape every 10 or 15 give issues of one kind or the other when you try to re-access/read the info on them.
I havre done a thousands of tapes over the years and I would say the opposite, although I do and have seen problem tapes they seem to be remarkably resillient (given the bad press they get). Probably 1% cause an issue and give bad reads or are unreadable.
but in my (very small) experience I would say that one tape every 10 or 15 give issues of one kind or the other when you try to re-access/read the info on them.
I havre done a thousands of tapes over the years and I would say the opposite, although I do and have seen problem tapes they seem to be remarkably resillient (given the bad press they get). Probably 1% cause an issue and give bad reads or are unreadable.
I do suspect (but have NO actual data of any kind to support this statement) that the difference can be attributed to conservation environment, the few tapes I have recovered data from were in all cases rather oldish thingies, 10 years or more, stored "casually" in cardboxes kept for years in some (judging from the aspect of the actual boxes) in some cellar or the like (humid if not "wet").
The percentage of tapes which were completely or partially unreadable were less than the 7÷10% I stated as "having issues" most probably (cannot remember exactly) more near 2% - but as my experience is limited to no more than 200 tapes - it may be largely inaccurate.
I count in the "having issues" al kind of issues, like need to retensioning several times, need to try with other hardware (again I suspect some form or the other of misalignment on aged hardware) but a few I needed to physically open the cartridge, clean the tape and interior of the cartridge, add some lubricant, etc.
jaclaz
Most of the media I see is problem media that has usually been to LE agencies that have had issues with it - typically 5+ years old. I have no idea how it has been stored as I rarely see it.
To be fair - if someone stored a hard disk drive in an old box in a humid cellar for 10 years then I would expect a high failure rate there aswell. I do tihnk that the fragility of tapes is often over stated.
To be fair - if someone stored a hard disk drive in an old box in a humid cellar for 10 years then I would expect a high failure rate there aswell.
Undoubtedly.
About hard disks I think that if stored even in a "good" environment but never powered up for years, the probability of a bearing/motor "sticking" issue would be anyway relevant.
I do tihnk that the fragility of tapes is often over stated.
Also, still to be fair, even the failure of CD's aging seems to me over-stated.
Now almost 20 years have passed since I started burning CD's, and, at least keping them vertical, in their cases and in "normal" envorinment" I have yet to find one that is failing.
Not later than two weeks ago I had to get some data burned in 1994 and had no issues whatsoever.
But I see no alternatives around to tapes and hard disks and CD/DVD's.
IF the "Millenniata"/"M-DISC" thingy actually works, maybe there will be an alternative
http//www.forensicfocus.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=8026
Anyone has news/experience with these?
Any new technology, like holographic WORM coming out (for real, not in the usual press releases of what will happen - and never does)?
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jaclaz