tape data recovery services

Tapes are the most popular and commonly trusted medium used to safeguard and archive data. Unfortunately tape backups on rare occasions do fail or need to have data migrated from them, hence creating the need for tape data recovery. Servers and personal computer tape backup systems using LTO formats including LTO1, LTO2, LTO3, LTO4, 4mm DAT, Super DLT, DLT8000, DLT7000, DLT II, DLT III, DLT IV, TK50/TK70, Travan, Exabyte 8mm, LTO and the various QIC formats can be rendered useless if the data stored on them is no longer accessible. We also support the major tape types and backup formats done in Microsoft tape backup, Veritas Netbackup, Arcserve, Legato Networker, Unix tape backup (cpio, dump and tar) and more.

If you have lost tape data due to software problems, backup failures, overwritten tape media, tape drive failure, or physical tape damage, trust the SalvageData tape data recovery experts to have the tools and resources necessary to salvage the data that others consider unrecoverable.

SalvageData completes more LTO data recovery, DLT data recovery and other types of tape data recovery cases than any other facility. We recover data from tapes experiencing a wide range of failures including:

Common Tape Data Recovery scenarios:

Heat, Fire, Sunlight, and Smoke Damage	Damage as a Result of Aging (Past Warranty)
Water and Humidity Damage	Damage from Extreme Temperatures or Humidity
Impact Damage/Broken Cartridge	Internal Cartridge Mechanism Failing
Overwriting	Permanent Errors Residing Mid-File
Damage from the Tape Drive

As with all data recovery operations, recovering data from tapes is very focused and encompasses essentially two recovery types - Physical and Logical.

Physical Tape Data Recovery is necessary when there is a physical problem with the iron oxides or plastic polymers which prevent the data from being read normally. This type of recovery may include dealing with issues such as decomposing magnetic coatings, cracked or broken reels/cartridges, broken/stretched/creased/twisted/folded tape, etc. While these physical issues are challenging to deal with, recovery from these type of cases can usually be achieved in nearly 100% of all cases.

Logical Tape Data Recovery is more challenging, therefore more costly. Recovering files logically includes recovering the data portion of a tape that was successfully recorded, but for now cannot be read. The recovery of these files often requires multiple passes using proprietary software to restore the file. The file fragments are pieced back together and the logically recreated file is written on the appropriate output tape.

Other forms of Logical Tape Data Recovery include tapes that were written with misaligned heads, and tapes that were mistakenly reinitialized. Each can be recovered, at least partially, using our exclusive software and procedures. With data recovery, you often only get one chance to do it right – so give it your best shot. Our in-house recovery service necessitates the shipping of your non-functioning tapes to our location in order for our technicians and engineers to assess what steps need to be taken to recover the data. Once we have determined what is recoverable and obtained your permission, the restoration begins.

After the process is complete, we ship the data back to you via your choice of media (i.e. External USB Hard drive, CD, DVD, or via a secure FTP connection of up to 2GB).

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