OK, so where did we leave off last time we spoke.

“I think it was when I told you that I won’t sell my tapes.”

Close but no cigar. You said that you can’t sell your tapes because a salesperson from a media manufacturer told you that it was too dangerous.

I don’t know what they mean about being “too dangerous” but perhaps we can work out the reason. Are you ready.

“Yes, I am”

Great let’s establish some thing right from the start. We will be talking about certification vs. recertification and your tapes. The minute you mount your “new” tape and the first byte is encoded; your new tape can be now be labeled “used”.

“Wait just a minute.” “You are trying to work me into a corner!”

I’m just stating a fact so there is no question about what is or isn’t a used tapes. You mentioned that you can’t sell your tapes because it is “dangerous”. Did the salesperson actually use the word “dangerous”?

“Well, not exactly.”

Not exactly is a little vague. How was it said.

“They started by talking about the people who might want to buy my “used” tapes and that they don’t certify the tapes they buy.” “They also intimated that they would sometimes only clean them up and sell them–sometimes as new.”

Is that all?

“No, I was also told that I may be giving away sensitive company information that could be retrieved and used such as social security numbers, account names, home addresses, etc.”.

All of what you have said, I’ve heard many times before. This is a fear tactic, which, unfortunately, works. Say something long enough and it becomes believable.

Before we go on, let’s talk about what you said. I told you that new tapes from the manufacturers are batch certified (statically sampled) and that the vast majority of tapes have been labeled certified, determined by years and years of experience. Ask any manufacturer if this is correct.

If you go to their web sites, which I recommend, I doubt that you will see, in writing, anything saying that each and every tape is tested on a certifier. Regardless of their experience, you don’t know, by definition, if there is, or is not, anything on the tapes. I know of recycling companies that actually test every single “used” tape that they buy and/or sell.

As far as company information being given away, the people who are actually looking for information that can be used for a profit (hackers) would consider it beneath their talents to buy used tapes on the open market for nefarious purposes. They are so sophisticated that they simply worm their way into your computer and manipulate whatever information they want.

Besides, your used tapes would be bought for resale; not for laboratory testing. Assume for a second, that your tapes were sold to, for example, a bank like Bank of America. If there were stray bits of information on the tapes, they would not have the computer power to extract it. A computer room is not a laboratory! This may be a hypothetical situation but also a true one.

Regardless, anything being on the tape is immaterial as the end user would over-write anything that might (or might not) be on the tape. Banks, Insurance or any other company are buying for reasons other than looking for stray information that they would be of absolutely no value to them. Again, this is hypothetical.

Oh, by-the-way, the people I know in the business would not sell untested used tape or recertified tape as new. This is “old hat”.

This was a good session and I hope you learned something,

“I’m late for an appointment right now but I’d like to explore this a little bit more.” “Next time, I’ll do a little home work.” “I must say, however, your logic seems to hold water.”

“How about the same time next week?”

Let’s make it earlier, if possible.

Okay with me.

Don Blackburn, Sales Director
Bow Industries, Inc.
(508) 877-2887

PS Anyone is welcome to join in the conversation.

“Recertified?”  “It can’t be – the equipment to certify tape performance is available only to licensed manufacturers.  No one else has it – so used tape can’t be ‘recertified’.”

I could question a couple of things in this quote, but for purposes of this article just keep “can’t be certified” in mind.  Incidentally, in the one page of this quote, they mention used tape, recycled, reconditioned, blank and recertified.

“Hey.”

Yes, oh anxious one, what is it?

“Before you start, one hundred percent of the tapes I buy are one hundred percent certified!”

Correct, oh knowledgeable one–and?

“So what are you trying to tell me?”

Relax for a second and I’ll tell you.

It would be naive to think that one hundred percent of the hundreds of thousands of tapes manufactured each year are individually certified on certification equipment.  This would be far too time consuming and the cost would be prohibitive.  So what do they do?

Magnetic tapes are “batch: certified.  This means that “X” number of tapes from a batch are tested on a certifier.  In other words, they are statistically sampled.  Based on the results of this sampling and years and years of experience, the whole batch is labeled certified as meeting or exceeding a predetermined set of standards. Regardless, the vast majority of tapes manufactured never see a certifier; yet, they are considered certified.

“Hey!”

Oh, it’s you again.  What do you want this time?

“You are talking in circles.”  “First you acknowledge that my tapes are one hundred percent certified, then you say that the vast majority of my tapes never see a certifier but they are certified.”  “I’m a trifle confused.”

I guess you could say that.  What I’m trying to tell you is that the word “certified” itself is confusing, For example, in the quote I cited at the beginning said, “…used” tapes can’t be recertified”.

“So?”

So how many times have you been told not to buy or sell your “used” tapes because they can not be certified? Doesn’t it stand to reason that a used tape can be labeled recertified if, in fact, it has been tested to meet or exceed new tape standards?  In fact, a used tape could be labeled certified if it passed a battery of tests.  That would be in line with accepted practices.

Bear in mind that these used tapes or whatever name you want to call them, were advertised, when new, as having been tested for 1,200,000 passes and/or 15,275 loads and unloads.     I have seen claims that “new” tapes should be retired after 260 uses and/or treated as supplies and budgeted for replacement each year.  That’s a very, very far cry from 1,200,000 full passes or 15,275 loads and unloads.  Tape manufacturers can not even bring themselves to admit that merely cleaning tapes would extend the useful life of both tape and magnetic heads.

“Hold on!”

OK, what is it this time?

“Since I don’t currently sell my tapes, just how did my new tapes get involved with used tapes?”

Simple, I was talking about the use of certified versus recertified and you started asking questions.  Do you want to talk about your “new” tapes?

“OK, what about them?”

When they get to be old tapes, will you sell them?  I can give you the names of people who will buy them.

“Oh, no, I can’t sell them.”

Why not?

“I was told it is too dangerous.”

Who told you that?

“The manufacturer’s salesperson.”

Look, can we hold on to this thought for a while?  It’s just too much to cover in one session.  When will be a good time to go into this?

“How about next week?”

Try to remember that we will be discussing that it is dangerous for you to sell your new tapes, when they get old. See you in a week or two.

Don Blackburn, Sales Director
Bow Industries, Inc.
(508) 877-2887

PS  If you wants to join in on this conversation, let me know and I’ll welcome you.

IERCE – International Electronics Recycling Conference & Expo

WeBuyUsedTape is presenting their CASH, CREDIT, and DONATION buyback programs. We look forward to meeting you at the show.  Contact us anytime.

Enter win a FREE APC 2200 UPS Unit at the show.  Over $1000 retail value – New in the box. Just drop your business card at our booth to enter.  Good luck!!

Preview our data destruction equipment at our booth.  We can answer all your questions concerning our buyback programs:

• Are your processes approved?
• Can you provide full documentation?
• What about onsite data destruction?
• Are you able to securely ship my tapes?
• How do we get paid?
• Which types of tapes for you purchase?
• What do i do with my old, non-value tapes?

See you there!!

LTO 5 offers you a complete range of LTO-5 tape devices including backup tapes, drives, and libraries.  The LTO-5 cartridge, which is capable of recording an enormous 1.5 TB of native data.  Video professionals and customers of complex server environments, large financial databases, workgroups, government agencies and departmental servers can count on the LTO-5 Ultrium technology.

LTO-5 tapes feature almost 100% greater recording capacity than LTO-4 tapes.  LTO-5 has added new reliable features and made significant technological advancements to enhance the output characteristics and data protection capability of its LTO5 tape devices.  LTO-5 Ultrium technology facilitates the organizations to extend their business operations and improve their operating efficiency at an economical cost.

LTO5 drives achieve up to 140MB/s native throughput rate.  In order to provide more choice and better facilitate the customers, manufacturers have designed both half-height & full-height tape drives.  Power consumed by LTO5 drives is lesser than the LTO4 drives, which makes them more power efficient and a “greener” backup solution. Introduction of latest industry leading SAS 6 GB/s interface assists the data managers to easily incorporate the LTO-5 drives into their demanding data centers and complex server environments.

LTO-5 drives; provide a link with the previously installed LTO backup resources.  The customers can restore their data from LTO4 and LTO-3 tapes with all models of LTO-5 drives.  Additionally, you can also write data on LTO-4 tapes.  Good news is that the half-height version of LTO-5 drives offers the HBA (host bus adapter) interface option as well.

LTO-5 is the first version of LTO tape in which a new innovative “Media partitioning” mechanism has been introduced.  With the help of this new technology, now you make 2 partitions on a single LTO-5 cartridge.  Now the customers can easily archive and store their digital media files through audio & video broadcast applications.

With LTO-5 technology, the users can be assured of long term protection with its exceptional hardware based data encryption mechanism. LTO 5 drives intelligently encode your sensitive data, making it sure that the data cannot be used maliciously if it is lost or stolen.  Therefore the business enterprises can easily satisfy the new demanding data legislations.

LTO-5 drive’s “Fast sense” technology ensures unmatched data precision and consistent performance by monitoring the incoming transfer rate and accordingly adjusting the streaming speed of tape drive.  You can trust the LTO5 format for long term data security and regulatory compliance.  All product names mentioned in this article are trademarks and are sole-property of their owners.

LTO-5 Ultrium Tape 1.5/3.0TB Storage

Brand                                     Part Number

Imation                                 61857

Sony                                       LTX1500G

Quantum                               MR-L5MQN-01

HP                                          C7975A

IBM                                       46X1290

Maxell                                   229323

Dell

LTO4 tape offers several advantages to the data storage administrators making it the most ideal tape storage technology. LTO-4 Ultrium tape represents the 4th generation LTO4 backup tape. LTO4 Ultrium technology is more cost effective storage medium offering unprecedented durability and performance. Data Encryption mechanism is very fast and reliable in LTO4 Ultrium technology and it does not affect the efficiency of backup storage and retrieval process. The data managers can confidently send the LTO4 tape cartridges offsite once the recorded information has been encrypted.

LTO-4 tape technology assists organizations to meet the regulatory obligations and secure their valuable information for longer time periods. LTO4 offers better cost effective results with less headaches. The cost per GB of LTO4 Ultrium tape is low, thus resulting in low ownership cost. Tape-based encryption of LTO4 tape offers a measure of interoperability and standardization therefore provides flexibility to the enterprises to upgrade their LTO-3 storage medium to higher capacity LTO-4 tape system. Backward compatibility feature of LTO4 media saves cost and protects the investments. LTO4 Ultrium tape offers an appealing feature of data encryption and backward compatibility.

Increased throughput and recording capacity are ensured in LTO4 tape technology even in compressed mode. Recording capacity and transfer rate of LTO4 is doubled in compressed mode reaching 1.6TB and 240MB/second respectively. Its native transfer rate and capacity is 120MB/s and 800GB respectively. Superior compatibility is offered by the LTO4 tape and it delivers outstanding backup results with all leading software and hardware platforms. LTO tape technology is more advantageous, user friendly and economical.

Immutability is required for the information which is to be stored for longer time periods and compliance with the strict regulations. This means that the data once recorded cannot be changed, over-written or deleted.  This technology has added a new way to meet these strict regulations. This new added feature is the WORM capability. WORM feature does not allow any alterations or deletion of data after its recording on to the LTO4 tape media. The Ultrium tape cartridge’s memory is used by the WORM media along with a unique encoding scheme in order to prohibit data tampering. LTO4 backup tape is very robust, reliable and cost efficient.

LTO4 tape cartridges are the preferred choice of the IT managers and data administrator’s because of its massive 800GB recording capacity and fast speed reaching 120 MB per second. Both are achieved in native mode. LTO is the top selling tape storage format that delivers superior performance and outstanding features in comparison to the other tape technologies. 800GB capacity makes the LTO4 cartridge more advantageous. LTO4 tape cartridge is more robust. Due to its high recording density, smooth surface and robust base film, the LTO4 cartridge has the ability to store more data at lowest cost per gigabyte. Therefore it also saves floor space thus making the daily routine job of the data managers easier.

Part Number      Manufacturer     Description

• Q1996A           HP                      AIT Cleaning Cartridge for AIT1, AIT2, and AIT3
• 402374           COMPAQ         AIT Cleaning Cartridge for AIT1, AIT2, and AIT3
• SDX1CL            SONY               AIT Cleaning Cartridge for AIT1, AIT2, and AIT3
• SDX125C         SONY                AIT-1 SDX1-25C 170m Tape 25/65GB
• Q1997A           HP                     AIT-1 SDX1-35C 230m Tape 35/91GB
• SDX135C         SONY               AIT-1 SDX1-35C 230m Tape 35/91GB
• SDX4200C      SONY               AIT-4 SDX4-200C 246m Tape 200/520GB
• SDX5400C      SONY               AIT-5 SDX5-400C 246m Tape 400/1040GB
• 315205            EXABYTE         Mammoth Cleaning Cartridge for AME and AME-2
• 00558              EXABYTE         AME-2 Mammoth 225m Tape 60/150GB
• QGD225ME    SONY                 AME-2 Mammoth 225m Tape 60/150GB
• 11100209      EXABYTE         VXA Cleaning Cartridge for X-23, V-17, V-10, and V-6
• 11100221       EXABYTE         VXA-2, X-23 230m Tape 80/160GB, 160/320GB
• 24R2137         IBM                    VXA-2, X-23 230m Tape 80/160GB, 160/320GB
• 19P4876         IBM                    VXA-2, X-23 230m Tape 80/160GB, 160/320GB 

Why should you trust WeBuyUsedTape with your used media?

• Family owned business
• 30 Years in the data tape recycling business
• 20 Years in the same company owned facility

 How can we help you?

• Accurate accounting and FAST pay
• FREE Data Destruction Certification
• Conversion projects for all types of media
• We pay for shipping; Complete chain of custody
• Receive copies of any of our documented processes
• Secure disposal of any non•value tapes and cartridges
• FREE secure eradication of all data on all purchased media
• DOD, SOX, Gramm•Leach•Bliley, SEC, and HIPAA compliant

International shipping to be negotiated. References are available from mid-size to Fortune 500 companies including banks, insurance companies, hospitals, financial institutions, schools, as well as city, state, and federal organizations.

Contact us for a FREE, no obligation quote. Receive a reply within 24 hours

8mm Advanced Metal Evaporated, Mammoth AME, AME-2, VXA, VXA-2, AIT-1, AIT-2, AIT-3, AIT-4, and AIT-5 data and cleaning cartridges are precision-manufactured to tight specifications, ensuring consistent high quality and reliability. Each cartridge comes with the storage technology leadership and reflects the high standards of a leader in media and storage-drive technology; Developed with many of the storage technologies used today, this media continues to set media and storage performance standards.

8mm tape technology was originally designed for the video industry. Its original purpose was to transfer high-quality color images to tape for storage and retrieval. Now 8mm technology has been adopted by the computer industry as a reliable way to store large amounts of computer data. Similar to DAT but with generally greater capacities, 8mm also employs helical scan technology.

VXA technology incorporates a number of breakthroughs that increase performance and reliability while reducing cost. VXA introduces discrete packet format, which substantially improves error recovery rates, and overscanning to virtually eliminate data loss. This unique design reduces cost by decreasing dependence on precision components and assembly. Variable speed operation has also been built-in to constantly adjust tape speed to match the actual data transfer rate, reducing backhitching.

The AIT format was one of the few new mid-range tape technologies introduced to address, not only a new position in capacity and performance, but also access to data. Although the key benefits of the AIT technology are described within the outstanding capacity and performance features of its highly scalable roadmap, the AIT Memory-in-Cassette (MIC) architecture was introduced to provide new capabilities such as fast time to data, data partitioning utilizing multiple load points, and a new “Write-Once-Read-Many” feature.

The AIT recording technology today offers uncompressed capacities including 25GB, 35GB, 50GB and 100GB, while showing scalability to a 6th generation product with an uncompressed capacity of up to 800GB (up to 2TB compressed!)—all using the compact 8mm cartridge form-factor. The higher compression specifications for capacity and performance for the AIT family are achieved through the incorporation of the Adaptive Lossless Data Compression (ALDC) technology, which delivers an average 2.6 to 1 compression ratio—significantly more than some competing products.

Other high priority tapes which we need immediately:
• 3592,  T-10000
• DLT S4, DLT VS160
• LTO-3, LTO-4, LTO-5
• 8mm Mammoth AME-2, VXA X-23
• AIT125C, AIT135C, AIT4200C, AIT5400C

Part Number Manufacturer Description

• 003-0519-01 SUN Storagetek 1/2 inch T-10000 Titanium Tape 500GB/1TB
• 003-3907-01 SUN Storagetek 1/2 inch T-10000 Titanium Volsafe Tape 500GB/1TB
• 003-0742-01 SUN Storagetek 1/2 inch T-10000 Titanium Tape Labeled 500GB/1TB
• 003-0758-01 SUN Storagetek 1/2 inch T-10000 Titanium Tape Labeled and Initialized 500GB/1TB
• 003-0520-01 SUN Storagetek 1/2 inch T-10000 Titanium Sport Tape 120/240GB
• 003-3913-01 SUN Storagetek 1/2 inch T-10000 Titanium Volsafe Sport Tape 120/240GB
• 003-3827-01 SUN Storagetek 1/2 inch T-10000 Cleaning Cartridge  New Only

MANUFACTURER:  Sun Storagetek
FORMAT:  T10K / T10000

Can a data cartridge help you grapple with data growth, security, manageability, and cost? With 1 TB capacity, the Sun StorageTek T10000 data cartridge lets you store more data in the same footprint. It`s the perfect solution for mission-critical, high-volume backup, archiving, and disaster recovery applications.

Designed for Sun StorageTek T10000B tape drives
Stores up to 1 TB of uncompressed data per standard cartridge
SafeGuide system and unique design extend media durability
High performance read and write, search, and rewind speeds
Optional VolSafe secure media technology cartridge
Optional 240 GB Sport cartridge 30-year archival life

Key Applications:  High volume backup,  Long-life archives,  Disaster recovery

Features and Benefits:
No need to worry about data security with the Sun StorageTek T10000 Data Cartridge. Its unique SafeGuide system is designed with a unique hub lock that stabilizes media within the cartridge shell, extends tape durability, and enhances your data protection. Additionally, Sun offers a T10000 VolSafe secure media technology cartridge and a 240 capacity Sport cartridge.

Key Benefits:   Saves space,  Saves money,  Extends media life,  A long term solution,  Save valuable floor space
As your storage needs grow, it`s good to be using a space-saving solution. You can store up to one terabyte of compressed data or 1 TB of uncompressed data per standard cartridge. A 240 Sport cartridge is also available to save money on smaller jobs.

Reduce costs
High capacity and a superior design work together to help you minimize tape mounts and improve your automation efficiency. This low-cost-per-gigabyte, high-end, half-inch storage medium is the best solution for bringing more cost efficiency to your Sun StorageTek T10000B tape drives.

Extend media durability
A well-designed data cartridge can lengthen the life of the tape and provide better data protection. The Sun StorageTek T10000 data cartridge`s unique hub-lock design and SafeGuide system do both.

Protect your storage investments
Sun StorageTek T10000B tape drives enable you to reformat and reuse your T10000 cartridges to take advantage of their capacity and throughput improvements.

Boost confidence in business critical applications
When it comes to data backup and restore, archiving, and disaster recovery operations, you want everything to run smooth. You don`t need to hear bad news about your tape media. This advanced, long-life, high-capacity, performance-tested tape cartridge is a big step in the right direction. For high security applications, you can use the VolSafe secure media technology cartridge.

SPECIFICATIONS:
Performance:
Formulation: Advanced Metal Particle (AMP)
Tape length and thickness: 3008.5 ft (917 m) and 6.5 microns
Substrate: Polyethylene Naphthalate (PEN)
Track-following Servo: Factory pre-recorded
Full File Passes:
24 (T10000)
36 (T10000B)
Capacity:
Capacity, native (uncompressed):
500 GB (T10000), 1 TB (T10000B)
120 GB (T10000), 240 GB (T10000B) Sport cartridge
Compatibility:
Supported tape drives: T10000B
Number of tracks:
768 (T10000)
1152 (T10000B)
Form Factor: Half-inch, 3480/3490E

Availability:
Archival life: 30 years
Uncorrected bit error rate: 1×10-19
Loads/unloads: 15,000

Mechanical:
Height: 1.0 in. (2.54 cm)
Depth: 4.92 in. (12.50 cm)
Width: 4.29 in. (10.90 cm)
Weight: 9.31 oz (263.9 g)
Drop strength: 39.4 in. (1 m)

Part    Number    Manufacturer    Description

• 24R0316  IBM  1/2 inch 3592  JJ/JR  60/180GB
• 26400320  FUJI  1/2 inch  3592  JJ/JR  60/180GB
• 18P7534  IBM  1/2 inch  3592  JA/JW  300/900GB
• 26400310  FUJI  1/2 inch  3592  JA/JW  300/900GB
• 23R9811  IBM  1/2 inch  3592  Extended  JB/JX  700GB/2.1TB  
• 18P7535  IBM  1/2 inch  3592  Cleaning Cartridge  New Only
• 26400390  FUJI  1/2 inch  3592  Cleaning  Cartridge  New Only

The IBM 3592 Tape Drive Model J1A is designed to provide high capacity and performance for storing mission critical data. By offering significant advancements in capacity and data transfer rates, the 3592 Tape Drive helps address storage requirements that are often filled by two types of drives – those that provide fast access for data access and those that provide high capacity for backups. The 3592 Tape Drive handles both types of use, helping simplify your tape infrastructure.

The 3592 drive also helps protect your existing investment in tape automation by offering compatibility with the IBM TotalStorage Enterprise Tape Library 3494 – in which it can coexist with 3490 and 3590 tape drives – and selected StorageTek Tape Libraries.

Cartridge capacity (Native/Compressed) 300/900GB
Max drive data rate (Native/Compressed) 40/120MB/sec
Interface FC, ESCON, FICON, 2Gb FICON

Offers native data transfer rate of up to 40MB/sec. Offers native cartridge physical capacity of up to 300GB (up to 900GB with 3:1 compression) Supports wide variety of platforms, including IBM AIX®, OS/390®, OS/400®, VSE/ESA®, z/OS® and z/VM® operating systems; Microsoft® Windows® 2000, Windows NT® and Windows Server 2003 operating systems; and Linux, HP-UX and Sun Solaris operating systems

Can integrate into many existing tape automation systems such as the IBM Enterprise Tape Library 3494 and StorageTek 9310 Powderhorn Tape library. Offers high capacity in a small form factor, helping reduce data center floor-space requirements. Designed to support reliability and availability with redundant power supplies that offer automatic failover

Supports IBM and selected open system platforms. Supported on existing IBM and StorageTek automation. Offers native data transfer rate of up to 40MB/sec. Supports 60 and 300 GB rewritable and WORM cartridges. Supports fast access to data with 60 GB or 300 GB cartridge. Supports consolidation to help reduce tape.

How do you properly eradicate data in the most cost-effective and secure manner: Our data eradication service provides complete eradication of data from tapes, protecting your hard-earned reputation and trustworthiness by preventing confidential information from falling into the wrong hands. Many companies misrepresent themselves and only “broker” the sale of used media. Our time tested eradication processes ensure secure eradication and required processes to meet today’s state, local government, industry specific regulatory compliance requirements, customer and employee privacy legislation, and security mandates. All data eradication is conducted at our secure location. As a result, our clients are insulated from exposure to legal liabilities or loss of corporate assets.

Webuyusedtape offers years of experience in data eradication. Our data eradication methods are fully compliant with the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA), Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Electronic Communications Privacy Act, Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act, Computer Security Act, and Sarbanes Oxley regulations as well as D.O.D. (Department of Defense) standards for data destruction.

There are typically two ways to make sure data is completely eradicated and cannot be recovered. One is to degauss the media and the other is to re-write over the existing data, full length, every track, and every bit position. Media products such as 3480, 3490e, 8mm, DLT, and SDLT can be degaussed and the media reused. However, LTO, 3590, 3592, 9840, 9940, and T-10000 cannot be degaussed without destroying the servo track(s). For these media types, Certification requires data destruction using modern methods which do not destroy the servo track.

All data is destroyed using cartridge and drive manufacturer approved processes prior to ever being read. We guarantee the security and confidentiality of your data. We handle tens of thousands of pieces of media each month. We have never had one instance or breach of data security. Our track record speaks for itself.