| Contrary to popular belief, tape drives are | | | | drive. It's not a good idea to drop tapes or |
| generally robust and reliable. However, there | | | | stack them in a pyramid on the floor; the |
| are three common mistakes that people make | | | | tapes should be |
| that dramatically increase the probability of | | | | |
| | | | handled and stored carefully. Tape drives |
| | | | should be kept as far away from contaminants |
| tape drive failure.Firstly, it is not well | | | | as possible; for example, they shouldn't be |
| known that tape drives is differ considerably | | | | placed directly on the carpet or kept in |
| in terms of how long they are designed to | | | | dusty environments.Tapes should always be |
| operate each day. Each tape drive range has a | | | | stored in a different location to the server, |
| specified duty cycle, | | | | in order to prevent a disaster that damages |
| | | | the server from also damaging the backups on |
| which is the maximum percentage of time that | | | | tape. At the very least, weekly tapes should |
| the drive should be operational. For example, | | | | be stored offsite. To reduce the chance of |
| a drive with a duty cycle of 50% should be | | | | fire damage or theft, tapes should be stored |
| operational for no more than 12 hours a day, | | | | in a fireproof safe.By following these simple |
| while a drive with a duty cycle of 100% may | | | | tips, your tape backups should run reliably, |
| run continuously.Secondly, it is not well | | | | and you'll avoid the costly exercise of |
| known that data must be supplied to tape | | | | replacing your tape drive.Linus Chang is a |
| drives at a sufficient rate in order to keep | | | | backup expert and the lead developer of |
| them streaming, or else the tape suffers from | | | | BackupAssist -- tape backup software that is |
| start-stop motion. | | | | simple and affordable, and perfect for small |
| | | | and medium businesses. Protect your Windows |
| It's easy to imagine the wear-and-tear this | | | | servers, including SQL Server and Exchange |
| places on the tape, and how the integrity of | | | | Server, to tape, REV drive, hard drive, NAS |
| the data stored on the tape can be severely | | | | and more, at a fraction of the cost of other |
| degraded.Thirdly, poor handling and storage | | | | backup software. |
| commonly causes damage to tapes and the | | | | |