Media Cleaning, Retention And Evaluation Services
 

  Tape & Media Cleaning and Retention

This is an important procedure to prevent any type of I/O errors or miss handling (dropped) of tapes.

• Tape cleaning is always recommended for cartridges stored more than 6 months. Media cleaning could prevent I/O error encountered while restoring. I/O errors are very commonly caused by dust or debris, stuck to the media while the tape is exposed in the drive. A sudden change in temperature could cause a very high level of humidity in the cartridges casing, which are the cause of fungus growth. And this media is the cause of the read/write errors and in long run, these cartridges could cause faulty Read/Write Head in the drive.

• Tape Re-tensioning is always recommended for optimal performance, particularly if using a new tape. Re-tensioning restores the proper tape tension to the media and removes unwanted tight spots that develop naturally on tape. If a tape cartridge has not been used for over a month, you should re-tension the cartridge before using it.

 Media Evaluation

Tape backup storage is only as reliable as the media that it is stored on. A program to test the media is therefore an extremely valuable tool and can help isolate faulty and dubious tapes. By doing regular tests on tapes, it will possibly determine if the tapes need replacing or if there is a problem with contamination within the tape library or tape handling system. When testing tapes, the block size and density can be set as required. Tests can be done for a volume of data or a period of time. It is not practical to test many tapes for the full length, but with 3480s and ORT (9-track) this is a viable option. For other tapes it is often adequate to test a full length of a serpentine tape