Preventing Tape Drive Failure

Contrary to popular belief, tape drives are generally robust and reliable. However, there are three common mistakes that people make that dramatically increase the probability of
tape drive failure.

Firstly, it is not well known that tape drives is differ considerably in terms of how long they are designed to operate each day. Each tape drive range has a specified duty cycle,
which is the maximum percentage of time that the drive should be operational. For example, a drive with a duty cycle of 50% should be operational for no more than 12 hours a day, while a drive with a duty cycle of 100% may run continuously.

Secondly, it is not well known that data must be supplied to tape drives at a sufficient rate in order to keep them streaming, or else the tape suffers from start-stop motion.
It's easy to imagine the wear-and-tear this places on the tape, and how the integrity of the data stored on the tape can be severely degraded.

Thirdly, poor handling and storage commonly causes damage to tapes and the drive. It's not a good idea to drop tapes or stack them in a pyramid on the floor; the tapes should be
handled and stored carefully. Tape drives should be kept as far away from contaminants as possible; for example, they shouldn't be placed directly on the carpet or kept in dusty environments.

Tapes should always be stored in a different location to the server, in order to prevent a disaster that damages the server from also damaging the backups on tape. At the very least, weekly tapes should be stored offsite. To reduce the chance of fire damage or theft, tapes should be stored in a fireproof safe.

By following these simple tips, your tape backups should run reliably, and you'll avoid the costly exercise of replacing your tape drive.

Tape Data Recovery Software

Tape drives are installed in the cleanest environment and require high quality, cleaning on a regular basis, and proper handling of the tape media. Improper or poor usage, handling, and storing of tape drives lead to tape drive corruptions or damages. Tape drives are developed to be operated in clean environment; dust particles, fibers and airborne particles can cause damage to the tape drive. The tape drives need clean environment because when a tape is installed to a tape drive, the clearance between the heads and the tape is measured in microns thus the particles can damage the tape or the head if they come in contact with either. The tape drive is generally used to save and restore system data files, to archive important records and to distribute operating system software upgrades. The needs are great but also are the consequences.

Tape media can get damage or corrupt due to mishandling, improper usage, damaged tape headers, erased tape drives, broken or de-spooled backup tapes, failed backup systems and tape libraries, unexpected system shutdowns or system failures. In this scenario, tape data recovery proves effective and user can always get back the lost data. There are two primary tape data recovery procedures – Physical and Logical. Physical data recovery comes into existence when there is physical problem with the tape media. This type of data recovery includes dealing with deteriorating magnetic coatings, broken tapes, twisted or folded tapes, cracked or sealed cartridges and also the tape media affected due to fire, water, mud, debris etc.

Logical data recovery is the most difficult and expensive data recovery process. This process includes recovery of files logically from the tape drives. Data which was successfully recorded on the media but now cannot be read for unknown reasons is recovered. This type of data recovery involves usage of tape recovery software. The tape data recovery software effectively restores and recovers the lost and inaccessible files and folders. The tape recovery utilities like Kernel tape recovery software effectively recovers missing, lost, deleted file (s) and folder (s) from all types of corrupt, damaged tapes like DLT, LTO, AIT, DAT and every other tape media type.