Tape Data Recovery: A real story
For those curious about tape data recovery and what it entails and involves: read on! Tape data recovery the recovery of any data that has been lost on a tape, obviously, but what it involves is quite interesting. A tape cartridge can be damaged by any number of things from smoke to water to dropping the cartridge. Tapes can also be damaged by exposure to extreme temperatures, internal mechanism failure, and errors that are located in the middle of the tape’s file among other things.
Tape data has been recovered from tapes with water damage, missing oxide, folds in the tape material, sliced edges, blade damage, no oxide, bad oxide, and friction damage. There are generally two types of tape data recovery. These are known as physical recovery and logical recovery.
Physical Recovery
Physical tape data recovery is needed when there is actual physical damage to the tape itself. Something is physically wrong with the plastics or the cartridge itself and this prevents the data on the tape from being read properly. This type of recovery could be needed because of the deterioration of magnetic coatings on the actual tape surface, broken or cracked wheels or cartridge housings, twisted or folded tape, creased tape edges, broken tape, stretched tape, or any other reasons associated with the actual tape of the machinery.