In light of these facts, quite a few people feel that magnetic tapes should not be thrown. They should be reconditioned and recycled. Such tapes would be cheaper too.
Cheaper tapes would be a much welcome prospect by IT professionals who are in constant quest for viable data storage devices. These professionals are faced with increasing quantum of company data on one hand and on the other they have to work under stringent economic conditions.
Recycled Magnetic Tape
Majority of the magnetic tapes are just used for a fraction of their life. They can be used for a much longer duration. Therefore, a few sellers collect the thrown-away magnetic tapes, clear them of the files they contain and renew them. The old data can be cleared by applying a high intensity magnetic field to them. These renovated tapes are later repacked and resold for use.
As they are recycled, they are extremely cheap. They often prove to be a good media for data storage. However, some reconditioned tapes are way below the normal prices. Beware of such tapes. Some tapes simply cannot be degaussed and reused. They have high coercivity to resist demagnetisation. (Coercivity is the ability of the tape to resist demagnetisation.) It takes a strong magnetic field to completely wipe out the residual information. If the price of the recycled tape is suspiciously lower, avoid buying it. These might be the magnetic tapes with high coercivity and they are not fit for recycling.
Even reasonably priced reconditioned tapes are not recommended as a good storage device by a few IT professionals. These tapes are fraught with inherent dangers.
Dangers Posed by Recycled Tape to Business Data
The history of the recycled tapes is unknown. This very fact of unknown origin places business data at risk. Damaged tapes lose the data they contain. Once data is lost, recreating it is expensive. One hour of data recreation costs half a million dollars. These costs may be much more, if the lost data is highly sensitive. Therefore, some people feel that recycled tapes are not worth purchasing at whatever price they may be offered.
The recycled tapes you are purchasing might have been stored in improper conditions. If they had been exposed to direct sunlight, high humidity or other extremes of temperature, this would have greatly affected their quality. It deteriorates. Such tapes either snap or get stretched, when used. This increases the head to tape contact leading to an increase in read write errors.
Further, improper storage of the tape leads to deposition of dust on the tapes. Dust scratches the surface of the tape and over a period of time they deepen. Tape starts peeling from the scratched area and gets deposited on your hitherto clean drive. The debris begins clogging the head and all your other data storage tapes would get damaged.
At times the previous tape drive in which the tapes were used would not be good. Dust might have got accumulated on the tape from transport assemblies, roller guides, etc. Such tapes when recycled contaminate the new drive they are used in. Thus, one single recycled cartridge contaminates all the other tapes in the archive.
In view of all these facts, purchasing reconditioned and recycled tapes is best avoided. However, in the face of stringent IT budget, if inexpensive storage media is required these tapes should be purchased carefully. Recycled tapes supplied by a reputed dealer are usually trouble-free. They select the best ones of the disposed off lot, degauss and repackage them for sale. They refurbish only after checking the quality of the old tape.
However, whenever you make a decision to enter your precious data on to a recycled tape, remember that tapes are used to contain priceless data. Once the tapes get damaged, the data they contained gets lost. The low price hardly matters much in such a situation. Moreover, data lost thus does not enjoy insurance coverage. Insurance agencies do not recognise data that has been damaged due to excessive use of the storage media. Usually sellers advertise that they would replace a damaged cartridge for free. This appears a deeply satirical claim, for the recycled tape is almost valueless. What is precious is the data it contains.
