The world’s only dedicated tape to cloud mass migration experts.
Not sure exactly what tapes you have in your collection, what they contain or where to begin? Tape Ark® offers a unique tape auditing service, called the Comprehensive Media Audit, which gives organisations accurate information about their true data volume, tape profile collection and how best to start the cloud migration journey. The process is fast, affordable and insightful.
We’ve engineered the first step for ease and convenience. Our customer-centric approach starts with understanding your data access objectives and working backwards from there. Many companies that have been using offsite warehousing to store their physical tape and media assets are now gravitating towards cloud-enabled options, but are not sure how to handle the legacy tape collection they have. If this is the case for your company or organisation, you will first want to know how much data you actually have.
A Comprehensive Media Audit will provide critical information that allows you to make informed decisions. You’ll know how much data you actually have and how much of your data may be duplicated, and you’ll also be able to triage your data migration based on the data value and usage requirements. Importantly, you will also know the exact volume of data to be ingested, allowing you to appropriately budget and manage your AWS, Azure, Google, Wasabi or Backblaze cloud costs.
Tape Ark assesses the physical condition of your media, applying a risk profile to each media type based on several factors and variables. Each media type is assigned a rating on a scale of one to ten, with one meaning low risk of degradation and ten meaning very high risk. Our tape media audit process considers:
This assessment highlights which tapes need urgent attention.
Depending on your organisation’s objectives for your media collection, Tape Ark provides some recommendations on how best to minimise the risk of degradation. Tapes at risk of data loss can prevent your company from fulfilling its data retention policies — and that could mean some hefty fines.
During the tape auditing process, we confirm the exact type and quantity of media in your collection. The audit will identify critical information for a successful ingest, including potential duplicate media, the age of the collection, at-risk media types susceptible to data loss, orphaning and much more.
All media are affixed with a QR Code and individually photographed from all angles to allow for the tracking and retrieval of individual tape media. The photographs are captured by loading the media into a dedicated cradle with mirrors to provide a 360 view of the media.
Sample image and RFID analysis
In collections of tapes where there is no known catalogue or database of what was written on the tapes, the RFID tag inside your LTO tapes is a rapid way to gather information about the contents of the tape without the need to read the tapes in a tape drive.
The RFID tags help Tape Ark estimate the volume of data likely to be found on your tape media, enabling us to predict your total cloud footprint for migration planning. Tape Ark has designed a proprietary algorithm to calculate the estimated volume (+/-5%) of the data contained on the tape on the basis of the statistics found on the RFID tag. The tried-and-tested algorithm gives us a working figure very close to the actual volume.
At the end of the tape media audit, Tape Ark provides you with a written report designed to inform the management in your organisation of the current state of your collection. The report will provide insights into possible actions to take, details on projected cloud costs, etc.
Sample comparisons from an audit report
Tape Ark delivers precision, scale and insight when it comes to digital tape media audits. Our process is informed by decades of experience, breakthrough technology and global leadership.
Start with a comprehensive tape auditing service today from Tape Ark. Our team will help you uncover what’s on your tapes, how much data you actually have and where best to begin your journey to the cloud. Our tape media audit service addresses common data challenges like undocumented tape inventories, duplication, degradation risk and uncertainty around cloud costs. After which, you’ll gain actionable insights to inform your next steps.
To build on these insights, Tape Ark also offers tape virtualisation, ingest and restore services, which are designed to improve access, support governance and scale your cloud strategy. Have questions? Talk to our experts or explore our FAQs to see how we can help.
Ideal for organizations looking to avoid large capital outlays, we offer tailored plans suitable to your business needs.
Pay by the data volume you store, and receive all the benefits of the cloud’s redundancy and rapid access.
Available only with Migrate: Virtualization & Migrate: Restore
Learn MoreTape Ark prides itself on its technical capability. Customers feel assured their objectives and unique challenges are well understood – what’s important to them, where they’re headed, and the opportunities that lie ahead.
Restoring data from legacy formats requires deep technical knowledge and experience.
At Tape Ark, we specialize in rapidly migrating media tapes to the cloud, regardless of volume, size, or format.
The world’s only dedicated tape to cloud mass migration experts.
Tape Ark’s unique Tape Media Audit is a comprehensive and valuable part of the first stage process because it gives organizations the insight they need to make critical decisions about their cloud migration strategy and how best to manage their migrated data to reduce costs and get the most out of the content. Companies experiencing issues surrounding the data retention of mixed content can be provided with significant detailed information about each tapes’ content that can enable critical decision making prior to embarking on the final stage of ingest. Tape Ark’s Tape Media Audit is one of our key differentiators and has demonstrated significant value to customers who use our service prior to cloud migration.
