14TB of tape data

[ASSEMbler]

Well it is loaded with private info, payroll ssn numbers... I will have to try here or arrange something.

What's the best way to make sure I get a working tape drive and not some garbage on ebay?

I've had bad luck finding a working ait drive

[Prometheus]

The drives shouldn't be too hard to find. There has to be someone here who know how to properly test the needed drives and has some they can donate to the cause. What drives do you have, and what drives do you need?

[retro]

Well, I have two AIT drives in my machine right now. They're not that hard to find, nor are people who know how to use them ;-) but yeah, you'll get idiots selling clapped out drives on eBay.

[CodeAsm]

I was just thinking, just like Harddrives and older magnetic tapes like Audio or Creditcard ones, cant we make a program or find one to make Raw dumps of those tapes ? so Assembler will need to have Tapedrives capable of reading them, but not the exact software, beause he needs to raw read them, then on the digital copy we can try reading it ?

something like this: http://www.emaglink.com/MMPC-forensic.htm
But maybe we have some Linux DD programm and can do it for free if Assembler or others have the right reader (maybe protect the tapes from writing to it aswell somehow?)

random google, scsi ubunti tape http://nwlinux.com/a-few-tools-for-scsi-drives-on-ubuntu/

Sadly the only tapedrive ive found so far was defect, only the z80 control chip was intact and the front was looking fine (pcb was water damaged as well scratches and IC's missing) so I have no experience with tapedrives.

[APE]

Hypothetically yes. You can modify a casette reader's head to read magstripes but if that magstripe was wider you'd have problems reading the entire thing. Thankfully most magstripe cards that have 3 tracks use a redundant track or two so it isn't a huge issue. Software to do a raw read is totally possible as you could store the waveform and figure out what it means later but that requires you to get lucky or have a big book of encoding schemes somewhere.

With this sort of tape you're looking at something wider that may not have a quick and easy off the shelf modification to get working. Plus I wouldn't want to build something for this project as the tape is irreplaceable. Professional grade equipment should be used first if possible.

[CodeAsm]

Oke :( I see ... (I thought lets find a tape like the ones Assembler has and test on that first... but he has many diferent versions and makes it a exensive and maybe unsuccesfull project)

To give some hope: http://archive.org/details/cray-disk-project

[terbutaline]

what about the data release?

[rso]

what about the data release?

As far as we know, all the data is still on the tapes - and only on the tapes - pending the acquisition of proper drives and/or the necessary software.

[CodeAsm]

Lol

im doing some VHS recovery as we speak... damm electronics are not easy :P so we just have to be patient about when Assembler finds/get the right equipment and software. will take ages, but then... We has torrentz :P

[Prometheus]

I have no idea if ASSEMbler has managed to dump any of the tapes yet, or if he managed to obtain any drives since his last post. From the pics he provided, we need drives for the following tapes (possibly more not seen in the pics):

Sony QG-112M
Sony sdx1-35c
Sony sdx1-cl
TDK DC4-90R
Maxell HS-4/90s

What exactly are we doing? Are we waiting for someone who works with data tape recovery to cut a deal and help out? Are we waiting for someone to donate the drives for us? What is the plan? I'm afraid if we wait too long, the tapes won't be salvageable. These are nearly 15-20 year old tapes, they won't hold data forever. It's good to be cautious considering the data is one-of-a-kind and irreplaceable, but if we keep waiting, that data may no longer exist.

[darkknux]

This is going to be interesting being that the tape drives themselves are going to cost the most. The other question that rises is where you going to put all that data?

From what I've researched, the easiest place to put it all would be on five 3TB hard drives. 3TB drives right now are about $200 a piece so $1000 for 15TB of data. I wouldn't trust the 4TB drives just yet since they came out just recently.

2TB drives I would be a bit more apt to trust since they have been out a bit longer and it would be around the same price being the prices for 2TB drives are about $130, so you would need seven of those to equal 14TB.

Of course there's always Blu-Ray discs as well and single layer discs are getting cheaper. But it would be on 574 single layer discs at $60 per 50 discs which would be around $600. It would be nice for redundancy sake since hard drives are mechanical devices.

I do have a question as well, would you be backing up using Linux since it seems their file systems are the best for archiving large amounts of data. I wouldn't dare trust any Windows file system for that amount of data.

[Prometheus]

There's a possibility that the tapes were not used to their full capacity, so there may not even be 14TB of data. Then again, they could also be extremely compressed and hold more than 14TB of uncompressed data. I don't think he'll use bluray discs to archive the data. It'll probably be how ever many 1-3TB hard drives are needed.

Does anybody happen to have the catalog from the Acclaim auction these were purchased from? Maybe they also sold the tape drives that were used to store the data. If we know which drive they used, we'll know for a fact which ones will work and it'll make things that much easier.

EDIT: Just checked the auction catalog. Nothing really noteworthy. Only one listed tape drive model: IBM 7205 311 External Tape Drive

[retro]

I think the ultimate point is that the tapes belong to ASSEMbler and they are his to do with as he pleases. Whether he chooses to restore them, or let them rot, you have to respect his decision.

I have a 1960s classic car that, sadly, rotted away in a field. My fault, it's a shame, but there you go. And had anyone pestered me for not doing anything about it, I think I'd have got rather annoyed... in fact, I *DID* get annoyed when people kept telling me to get rid of it.

Yes, there's most likely some interesting data on there, but they aren't our tapes and we have no right to ask for access to the data whatsoever. If ASSEMbler wants to restore and share the data, he will... in his own time.

[CodeAsm]

@retro, very much true. and a lott of awesomeness in this world properbly got destroyed or lost this way. we cant do anything about that. But in the option if Assembler wants to try it (save) and he appears to, we can try to do our best to get him some tapedrives he needs and software. Im more than happy to donate some if a known tapedrive is for sale he needs :D

[Prometheus]

I would assume that ASSEMbler intends to dump the data. That's what we're all trying to do here, help him out in any way possible.

I think I know what ASSEMbler has planned, and it's probably far cheaper, safer, and easier than handing the tapes off to someone else. For now, we need the tape drives. That part hasn't changed.

If we can't trust used drives, which is understandable, then let's purchase brand new drives. What other alternative do we have?

[retro]

In a lot of cases, there's no such thing as brand new drives.

[Prometheus]

I've seen them on eBay (I know, I know) where they appear to still be factory sealed. Are most of those not really new?

[retro]

IF they're really factory sealed (many people have access to shrink wrappers), it doesn't necessarily mean that they'll be working. Certain types of capacitors have a limited shelf life, for example - not just when used. Likewise, you wouldn't take a 50 year old car that's never been started and try to start it.

Regardless of whether an electro-mechanical device such as this has been used thousands of times or left in shrink wrap, it needs regular servicing.

[Prometheus]

So we acquire the drives from someone who does regular servicing. Do we know anyone who does?

[retro]

Yes, but that's very expensive!