Tape drives are an effective and low cost solution for storing high capacity data. Unlike other storage media, tape stores data sequentially and will automatically assume the most recent piece of information recorded will be the information you want to retrieve.

The problem with sequential back up is if a fault occurs towards the end of a tape it will prevent it accessing data stored at any point before the fault.

It may seem obvious but so few companies read their back up logs. Information gleaned from the back up logs will highlight problems with the back up and could help prevent a potential critical problem resulting in the loss of data.

Use more than one drive and tape. Read your back up tape in a different drive from which it was written. A tape should be readable in any drive. If it is not, you have a problem. Doing this regularly will significantly reduce the risk of loosing data. And use plenty of tapes for your back up. The more copies you have the less opportunity to loose large segments of data.

Keep a back-up off site. In the event of fire, flood, theft, a back-up stored off site will be undamaged and allow you to restore your business operation smoothly.

Refresh your technology. The reliability of tape drives means it is not unusual to receive a tape for recovery written by a drive ten years old. This often results in poor quality back-ups. However, the real problem occurs when data on a tape written by old technology becomes inaccessible on a newer drive. If you are experiencing this problem, view information about our Data Conversion service.

DMS technicians have successfully recovered data from all types of media ranging from DAT's, DLT's, LTO, AIT and more.

The most common problems of inaccessibility of data stem from damaged tapes, media error, accidental erasure or overwrite, corrupted files due to fire or water damage, failed restore or the tape appears to be blank.

Regardless of model, age, format or originating problem, DMS have the skills to successfully recover your data through in-house developed software, highly trained and experienced engineers and investment in the latest hardware.

For more information on pricing, turnaround time or general enquiries, please complete our data recovery evaluation form and one of our advisors will contact you to discuss further, or you can ring us on +44 (0) 1767 319888.