Nowadays there is a great influx of diverse storage media devices entering the market. But according to the UK IT Report of 2004, mass production of storage media devices is falling short of the amount of data that needs to be stored. In other words there is too much data and too few storage media devices in the market. In such a scenario, recycled or reconditioned tapes seem to have gained predominance. Recycled tapes are sold at an incredible number and the consumer is a ready audience for them. Recycled tapes are inexpensive and easily available. But on the downside, they can pose severe problems leading to severe data loss.
The major problem with recycled media is that the consumer usually is unaware of the exact circumstance of the tape; where this media has been used, the quality and cleanliness of the drives it has been used in, including maintenance measures i.e. was the tape cleaned and stored properly. In short, the user does not know where this tape has been. The user is completely unaware of the amount of data the tape can store and in what format. He/ she has no clue as to the reliability and usability of the tape. Simply put, a user buys recycled tapes at his/her own risk.
For instance, supposing a tape was previously used in a drive that was not well maintained. As a result, the drive had accumulated dirt and debris from dirty heads, roller guides and other transport assemblies. This dirt could be transferred to the tape media. When these recycled tapes are later used in a good drive, they transfer these contaminants and successfully corrupt a previously clean drive. Contamination of the new drive could lead to many problems of premature headwear, debris accumulation on the drive sector damaging the tape fatally.
The infected drive could damage other media devices also corrupting entire series of storage devices. Thus, buying recycled tape media could end up being disastrous and expensive. The user may have to spend more in getting the drive repaired. This would eventually mitigate the low cost of the recycled tape media. Thus, recycled tape media can prove to be expensive and fatal.
A recycled cartridge that contains minor, unseen and undetected damage can cause major problems for unsuspecting users. Recycled media, which has been misused, could have scratches on the surface of the media. These may deepen becoming more pronounced over time with repeated usage. Consequently tape debris can begin peeling off the tape lodging in the read/write heads and causing head clogs. Clogged heads usually produce scoring or scratching of other tapes inflicting potential damage on numerous new cartridges.
Magnetic tapes that have been kept in extended storage in environments of extreme humidity or temperature have a tendency to become fragile. These magnetic recycled tapes are more likely to snap or stretch the next time they are used in a drive. This limits the usability capacity of the recycled drive. When a tape is stretched, it reduces head-to-tape contact increasing read-write errors and consequently reducing data storage space.
Another drawback of the recycled tape is that of residual data. No tape can be fully erased. Tapes are always left with some amount of residual data. This places a question mark on the privacy of recycled tapes. It can also curb data storage as some space is occupied by residual data. Therefore, users generally are not able to benefit from the full storage capacity of the tape media. Recyclers claim that the used media is degaussed and returned to a good-as-new condition. But, no amount of degaussing can remove all previously stored data. The degaussing process is designed to erase the tape magnetically back to the original virgin state. But, data recovery companies often find that even degaussing is successful in erasing only 97-98% of previous stored data. This means that two percent of residual data is left behind on the tape.
Mid-range products such as DLTtape IV, Super DLTtape and LTO Ultrium data cartridges have a high coercivity of more than 1800 oersted. This strong magnetic property requires a very large and powerful magnet to perform the degaussing function. Usually this does not happen. Cleaning magnets are simply not strong and powerful to completely wipe clean a tape of all previous stored media. Vendors cannot degauss tapes such as Super DLTtape with an underpowered magnet leaving the tape with retrievable remnants of data files.