Tape Backup Software

Tapes, despite an old method, are still quite extensively used for backing up data. Like everything else, this process is also fraught with problems that creep up if not taken care of.

The various formats used for writing to tapes are QIC, Travan and DAT — all are fraught with problems that hamper the authenticity of the data written. Most tapes are made up of oxide coating on plastic tapes. When the heads are not clean, the tapes are damaged while the software is writing the data on the tapes and leads to loss of data.

Often using the same tape causes the software to record the data with errors, creating ‘bad blocks,’ causing bad data backup. Therefore, it is a good idea to keep a good rotation of tapes for backing up data.

All data backup programs have an option of verifying data. Using this option is a must to ensure that the data written is perfect and does not have bad portions that hamper the proper safekeeping of the data. Running the data verification process will throw up error messages wherever there is an error.

Apart from this, the backup software comes with a lot of other capabilities, and if not set up correctly can end up damaging or not writing the data properly. All tape backup programs have an option that allows verification or comparison after writing to the tapes.

Many times bad backups are made because the software is not set up properly. For example, if the software is set on one mode say the option of writing select data only, and this mode has been used for a long time without making any changes; the only data left would be the select data.

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