Use of tape drives to back up data

     The use of tape drives to back up data is very common in business. However, tape drives and media require a lot of attention to achieve a decent level of protection. The drive should be tested every 2-3 months by doing a backup and restore of some sample data. The restored data then needs to be tested to verify that it is usable. Drives also need to be cleaned frequently. Dirty drives can cause data corruption on your tapes, leaving them unusable. Backup log files in your backup software should be reviewed every couple of days to be sure there are no serious errors occurring. Tape backups fail to restore all of your data in usable form in 40%-60% of restores. We have replaced four $1,200 tape drives in the same brand name server in 2 years for one client. This was using premium tapes sold by the manufacturer of the tape drive. Granted that this breakage was excessive, but it does illustrate the point we are making.

      Many companies purchase computers or servers with Travan / DDS tape drives in them. These popular drives cost in the range of $300-$400. We have seen Travan drives fail to read tapes that were written by a different drive. If you have to replace a lost or destroyed server, you might not be able to restore your data to the new hardware. Most companies with full time IT departments use tape drives that cost anywhere from $1,200 to over $25,000. They also spend many hours ensuring that everything works the way it’s supposed to. Small companies don’t have the luxury of a dedicated IT staff.

      We recommend that tape backups be just one layer of your backup plan. The core of your backup plan should include backups done in your office and automatic off-site backups done daily. This plan means you don't have to remember anything, no problems with sick or vacation days, or bad weather. It leaves you free to concentrate on your business needs where your time is better, and more profitably spent.

      Most offices don't use password protection on their backup tapes which leaves your data accessible for anybody to read if you lose a tape. You always need to have a good backup on-site and a second one off-site. The off-site backup is preferably on a different medium like a computer hard drive. That way, if you experience a failure with one type of medium, you always have another backup available. This method avoids the problem of storing tapes off-site, and then finding out that your tape drive has not been functioning correctly for a while, and you can’t recover data from your tapes.