Once wiped, cartridges can be reused, without the need for incineration or high energy consuming degaussing

Although an older data storage technology, tape cartridges still retain abilities that hard drives and cloud storage cannot provide. Although some businesses are thinking of swapping out their tape cartridges for alternatives, this may be in fact an unnecessary cost.

If you are thinking about changing your tape cartridge storage, you may want to consider the benefits of tape data storage. Also, the costs and issues related to their disposal. Tape Cartridges data storage boast a wide range of positives and are still widely used they also:

  • Cannot crash and prevent data access
  • Now store up to 30TB of data on one tape (LTO9)
  • Allow for physical control over data storage, in contrast to cloud-based services
  • Are portable and less costly when compared to alternatives such as hard drives and servers
  • Can last over 30 years, whereas other devices need regular system updates to retain access to data
  • Are a totally scalable data storage option, more can be purchased increasing storage capacity.

There are a few different methods to dispose of tapes, but not all of them are secure or safe for our environment.

Shredding tapes are often seen as a popular method and often used for destroying CDs and other assets. Shredding physically dismantles the structure so the data can no longer be accessed. Tapes are very different to other storage assets like CDs. As tapes can often be left intact after shredding and become a serious data risk.

Other methods of data asset destruction include degaussing and incineration, which, when done correctly, do destroy the data on tapes. However, both methods can have a significant impact on the environment. Degaussing is an energy-intensive process, which can be costly in terms of electrical consumption and environmental cost. In addition, the strength of degaussers can deteriorate over time.

Incineration and landfill are even more harmful, potentially leaking toxins from the chemical composition of a tape’s coating. These chemicals can have a serious effect on livestock, plants, and even humans.

Save costs, restore and reuse

Like many other IT assets, tape cartridges can be reused through proper restoration which increases their longevity.

‘Tape storage technology has become an ideal solution for several next-generation applications that are swiftly outgrowing their traditional storage infrastructure.’ – Insurgo Media

S2S Group, working with Insurgo Media, has an in-house tape data wiping facility that can eliminate all traces of information in under 6 minutes. The KIT wiping system leaves no retrievable data with no chance of recovery. All wiped tapes pose no risk to business data security.

KIT ensures a full data erasure option for businesses needing secure and sustainable data asset management. Once wiped, cartridges can be reused, without the need for incineration or high energy-consuming degaussing.

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