Media types

Ontrack Data Recovery Services has successfully completed data recoveries from the following media:

DLT | DAT | Exabyte | Quarter inch cartridge | DC2000/Travan TR1, TR2 and TR3 | Optical and WORM |

We also perform data recovery on:

LTO1, LTO2, LTO3, and LTO4 including quick-erased and partially overwritten media | Sony AIT, AIT2 and AIT3 | 1/2" Open Reel and Cartridges such as 7-track, 9-track, 3480, 3490, 3570, 3590, 9840 | Mammoth | DEC TK | Ximmat | Teac |

If you don't see your media listed here please email our tape consultants for a FREE consultation or call us on 1800 930 183

DLT: Super DLT, DLT8000, DLT7000, DLT II, DLT III, DLT IV, TK50/TK70

Serpentine recording format: DLT utilises a recording style known as serpentine. Recording takes place as a sequence of track pairs running alternately from beginning of tape to end of tape and then back again. This method of recording allows high speed operation and search. To locate a particular section of data on tape the drive can step across tracks until it is close and then search along the tape.

At Ontrack we have extensive experience with the recovery of data from DLT tapes from all round the world, often referred to us from other data recovery companies.

Overwrite: DLT is a very reliable tape. The majority of the problems that we see are the result of human error. Accidentally re-initialising a tape, or forgetting to enable the append option before starting a backup are common problems.

Media Failure: An error caused by a recording flaw might affect more than one data track and so an error might occur each time the drive passes that point on the tape. If the problem is the result of physical damage then you could be putting your data at further risk by attempting to read as the tape could break.

Reference Track damage: If the reference track at the beginning of the tape is damaged then the drive will not be able to identify the recording and you will not be able to restore from your backup.

DAT: 4mm DAT – DDS1, DDS2, DDS3, DDS4

Format is high capacity with good performance combined with drives and tapes which are of relatively low-cost. The recording method used is helical scan. Data tracks are recorded diagonally across the width of the tape. We have developed hardware to cope with a vast array of problems from human error to hardware failure.

Overwrite: The data that has been overwritten is lost, but all older data from further along the tape will be recovered.

Media Failure: We can move past any damage and recover the data that we find. The recording is made in one direction only and so the damage is never re-visited.

Mis-Track: Ontrack has developed sophisticated equipment to allow the rapid adjustment for tracking problems with tapes.

System Area Damage: If the system areas at the beginning of a tape are damaged then the tape will appear to be blank. Your data will still be there and Ontrack will recover it.

Exabyte: SLR/MLR Data Cartridge

We have developed hardware to cope with a vast array of problems from human error to hardware failure.

Overwrite: The data that has been over-written is lost, but all older data from further along the tape will be recovered.

Media Failure: We can move past any damage and recover the data that we find. The recording is made in one direction only and so the damage is never re-visited.

Mis-Track: Ontrack has developed sophisticated equipment to allow the rapid adjustment for tracking problems with tapes.

System Area Damage: If the system areas at the beginning of a tape are damaged then the tape will appear to be blank. Your data will still be there and Ontrack will recover it.

Quarter inch cartridge: SLR/MLR Data Cartridge | DC600A, DC6150, DC6525, Magnus

Overwrite: We can recover all data that has not actually been overwritten. The complication with QIC is that a full-width erase bar is energised during the recording of the first track. This is to ensure that the drive is writing to blank tape and thus avoid any problems with earlier data. It does mean that once a whole track has been written, the remainder of the tape has been erased.

Media Flaw: Ontrack can recover all of the data beyond a media flaw, even though your backup software refuses to read any further. If the problem is restricted to the current track then the remainder of the data will be recovered intact.

Tracking: Ontrack can recover data even after a serious drive failure. At Ontrack we have even recovered data written by a drive where the recording heads had almost fallen off.

DC2000/Travan TR1, TR2 and TR3, DC2000 mini data cartridge, DC2000 Data Cartridge, Travan Data Cartridge, Irwin Rhomat data cartridge

Accidental Erase or Blank Tape reported: This might simply be damage to the Volume Table at the start of the tape. Ontrack has developed software to identify files from the data without the need to reference the tape Volume or Directory information.

Damaged File: Some applications report file damage when they fail to locate a file within a data set. Often the data is not actually damaged and so Ontracks’ utilities can recover your data.

Snapped Tape: Ontrack has years of experience with damaged cartridges and can recover the data from all undamaged areas.

Optical and WORM: 1/2" Open Reel and Cartridges such as 7-track, 9-track, 3480, 3490, 3570, 3590, 9840 | 5.25", 3.5" WORM optical disk, 5.25", 3.5" R/W Magneto Optical Disk, 12" optical disk

Ontrack has developed hardware and software to cope with a wide range of problems with optical disks.

System Area Damage: When damage affects the defect tables or other system areas of an optical disk the media becomes totally inaccessible. Ontrack’s recovery drives can perform a low level read of the intact sectors.

Ontrack has developed software to rebuild the defect lists to allow for logical sector reads from the recovered disk image. Even when the damage has been extensive Ontrack has been able to recover large numbers of files intact.

Media Flaws: Ontrack’s vast array of disk recovery software allows for the recovery of files even when file system management areas of the disk have been rendered unreadable. Files can be recovered just as they can from damaged hard disks.

Physical Damage: Scratches and gouges will affect the performance of the optical disk laser and reduce read effectiveness. Ontrack has developed techniques to reduce the effect of physical damage and so read all but the most severely damaged sectors.

WORM formats:

Ontrack’s programmers have processed data from a wide range of Write-Once Optical systems and have the depth of experience to deal with new formats whenever they are encountered.

We're very happy to talk to you about our tape recovery process, what types of media and backup formats we can recover data from and anything else you might want to know!

Contact our tape consultants for a FREE consultation or more information. You can also call us on 1800 930 183

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