Home » Data Recovery Articles by CBL

Doug Owens: CBL's Tape Data Recovery Expert

Doug Owens is one of North America’s top experts in the data recovery industry. Specialized in tape data formats, Owens brings more than 20 years of data storage experience to the CBL Data Recovery team.

Have a look below as Doug answers your questions and concerns about tape related media as one of Techtarget.com’s leading tape specialists.

Latest Tape Related Questions From Doug’s Techtarget Column

When using tape backups is an original and a copy sufficient or should there be the original and two copies?
This question posted on 08 August 2004

The value of the data should dictate the number of copies, and every organization is different.

If the information is critical to your business, you should have multiple copies. Data that is less essential to the running of your business — archived customer records, for example — needs only one copy.

The important question to ask yourself when determining the value of your data is this: If your live data was lost for any reason, what information would you need in order to continue to serve your customers without shutting down your operation for any length of time?

Ultimately, every organization’s data is different, but you should have at least one copy of anything if it is worth be backed up in the first place.

That being said, you should test all of the copies: If the tapes aren’t being written properly, having 10 copies won’t matter because they will all be bad.

Can you describe the top three mistakes that are made when configuring a tape library?
This question posted on 08 August 2004

One of the big mistakes is not making sure the backup software has permission rights and security privileges to access the servers and/or files that are to be backed up. For example, if the server containing your accounting data has been secured well but the backup software isn’t allowed to read it, that critical data will not be backed up. The best approach is to make a checklist of servers, folders and files you need to have backed up regularly, and then verify that your backup software has the appropriate permissions to access the data.

Also, the backup software should be able to address the library properly. If the correct drivers aren’t present, the data won’t be interpreted properly.

Finally, setting up preventative maintenance and rotation schedules should be done immediately; doing a retrofit as an afterthought is always problematic. If it is not done immediately, it is easy to put off doing it until it is too late.

How long should a tape be in rotation before it is retired?
This question posted on 08 August 2004

Most tape vendors have recommended specifications as to how long a tape should be kept in rotation. Most tapes are good for about 500,000 head passes before they will experience any problems.

So, for example, it takes 52 passes for a DLT 7000 to fill a tape, and another 52 passes to verify the backup. Assuming you don’t do a restore (which is another 52 passes), you can back up to that tape about 5,000 times.

This is assuming the drive is writing correctly of course. In addition, most people don’t take care of their equipment, so it is probably best to replace the tapes ahead of the recommended specs.

If you’re doing weekly backups, you probably want to replace the tapes every two years. In the end, it’s better to spend the money on new tapes than just as much money to do data recovery on one tape or risk losing information critical to the operation of your business.

To Pose Your Own Questions Check Out Doug Owens’ Column: Tape Recovery Expert