Now I just need to find drives... I am also worried that they are spanned. I have perhaps a few sets that are together, the rest are all loose. Can spanned volumes be read individually?
as everything concerning these tapes: depends on the software that was used :/ anyway, good to have some pictures. i think we have tapedrives for these in the storage here. at least for half of them :thumbsup:
It may be possible to do a partial recovery of spanned tapes. Yes it depends on the method used to archive. There are a lot of DDS tapes there (original, 2gb capacity) and a fair few D8. Finding the drives is the easy bit... then the fun starts!
@Assembler - Where did you get these tapes? There is a ton a good data on them just by looking at the titles and labels written on them. -Disjaukfia
The best software I can recommend to try to restore the data with is BackupExec. I use this at work and it can restore data backed up with versions of: Backupexec (Obviously!), Windows Server Backup (NT Server / 2kx server etc.) Arcserve and maybe others. Also with Backupexec you can perform an inventory of a tape (This will give you a tape ID for each tape). Then you can perform a catalogue of a tape to get the list of what is on the tape set. Then when you click restore, if the file that you selected is not on the tape in the drive it will give you the ID of the tape it wants (as long as has had the inventory task run) On a side note you may need to work out what kind of backup strategy was used. Simple if they are just full backups of servers/folders but things can get more complex if they have used incremental or differential backups. If you are interested I will have a hunt around as I may have a spare licence that you can have for an older version of the software. When you get your kit set-up to do the restores I will be happy to help you (where I can) with any queries that you have.
Although there is 14 TB of tapes, what are the chances of them being full to capacity? I'm sure back in the 90s, it was highly unlikely, unless these were used for nightly backups (in which case there is likely a lot of redundant data).
You're on the other side of the pond from me , right? It costs me $40 to mail 2 pounds. This is over 30 lb in tapes.
urm, so SuperPlay isn't ? i see...whatevs. he already suggested BackupExec. which is the lowcost or midcost software that does best. other software is waaaaaaaay overpriced and does the same job, almost. i'll make a list on which drives you'll need
He offered a license (spare) hence thanks for help. Don't get angry , I love you too man. :love2: :lol:
You won't be able to make a list of what drives he needs without the tapes. Some of those tapes were used in different formats. You can only speculate (although I've already told him the two main formats). I wouldn't be worried about the shipping costs but the safety of the tapes shipping them overseas (damage to the magnetic media or physical loss)... otherwise I'd be happy to help, got all the gear here. Not to mention buying several drives would be quite pricey! I don't think one piece of software is going to do the job here, nice as it would be! You never know, though. As for the question about size, they aren't necessarily full, but you have to remember that each of those tapes holds 2Gb / 2.5GB UNCOMPRESSED, so could be compressed to hold twice that. One tape could have 5Gb of data or 500Mb. We don't know.
thats what i was going to do and i can totally understand the fear of loosing some of those tapes. anyway, if you decide to ship some of them i'd gladly take some since i have a lot of tape drives as i said.
Hi Assmebler, I am also willing to help, have a few tape drives in the attic although not sure of the compatibility, however I am also in Germany which is not the best option. anyway i offer my help freely and can track down older drives from a few 2nd hand retailers here too.
I think the offers of help, whilst most generous, need to stop really. It is NOT just a question of having / buying the drives - you also have to have knowledge of backup processes using several different systems. The drives are the least of our worries, as I keep saying. As for having the drives, I already have all the needed drives, so I'm sure (or would hope!) that if Kev wanted to risk shipping the tapes to anyone, he'd consider me. However, as I've already advised him, I'm nervous of damage or loss of the tapes were they to be shipped, and I'm sure he shares my feelings on that. With respect, I would say there is zero chance of Kevin sending tapes out to a new user. Likewise, it's not particularly helpful when people say "hey I hope there's something for x system as I wanna see it". It's totally up to Kev what (if any) of the data he shares, and the main focus at the moment is recovering the data. That alone is a mammoth task, before analyzing it and determining what is of any interest. For now, let's wish him well with the task ahead, and hope something can be rescued! Speculation on what software was used on what hardware aren't really going to be of much use.
you are right...the best option of transport would be "human transport", i.e. one of you guys transporting the tapes by hand, i think u dont have other options while couriers would just be too risky for a number of factors. Anyway would be glad to help anytime.
