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What To Do With All Those Tapes??

LTO Tape is an excellent storage media, but what to do when tape sets are replaced or no longer needed?

Of the millions of LTO tapes that have been sold since it started in 2000, many are no longer needed and pile up at their users’ facilities. There is a number of reasons why specific sets of tapes are no longer needed:

Replacing an older LTO generation with a newer one e.g. replacing LTO-5 with LTO-8Expiration of the data on them, e.g. business data that is older than 10 yearsReducing tape backup use because of moving to disk or cloud storageMigration of tape archive to disk or cloudProjects or departments abandoned or closed

LTO Tape is an excellent backup and archive media. Traditionally only accessible to large corporations and their data centres, tape has moved into many industries and is used even in small production environments because of its many advantages and unbeatable price point, starting at 10$ per TB with LTO-6. LTO tape has high value, low cost is extremely reliable, has amazing longevity… But, what to do with it when you no longer need it? Whatever the reason, now hundreds or even thousands of tapes with enormous amounts of data are obsolete and in need of secure disposal. What’s the best choice for maximum data security and documentation, minimum environmental impact and best financial result?


Shredding vs. Recycling

Shredding tapes is a common choice. However, it is costly, there are some serious chain of custody and data security issues with shredding and the messy, toxic shredded material must still be disposed of somewhere. So Clean Data Inc offered a much better way.


They have a process using a special device that will linear degauss (high power erase) all the readable data from any LTO tape. Additionally, this leaves it intact for repurposing and reclaim of residual value. 

The benefits add up:

Proven data erasure. Chain of custody documentation avoids shredding and the waste stream. Tapes left intact so it can be re-used. Value can be recouped.

Instead of creating a purchase order and paying $1 or more per tape for destruction and disposal, you can actually get paid for your old tapes. Depending on tape generation, condition and market value, Clean Data pays between $2 and $5 per tape. They handle all the logistics, security and documentation for you – at no cost.


How do they do it?

The core of this solution are simple and reliable machines that precision erase all data bands from end-to-end in 3 minutes at a magnetic strength 10 times higher than standard tape heads, leaving the servo tracks intact. An onboard, real-time, permanent record provides perfect documentation of total data destruction. Plus, the tape is simultaneously surface cleaned, precision retained, performance tested and completely data free – basically in “new tape” condition. There are many businesses and regions that can only afford these pre-used media.

So now there is a choice: pay to move, count and shred your tapes into a mess that harms the environment or get paid to have the whole process handled correctly for you with proven state of the art technology that protects you, your data and the planet.

Not only LTO tapes but also other kind of tape can be re-used. Clean Data offers a free white paper on the process, same-day proposal and cost benefit analysis.

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