Hi, Hana. Yes, you can read the tape. However, recovering files from the data you read will be so difficult that recovery is infeasible.
You will have to mount the tape, then use some kind of utility to read the tape to a big file. In UNIX, we would use dd. I have no idea what similar utilities exist for Windows. Here is an excerpt from a document I had to write up for management once upon a time. Once the tape has been read to file, the file will then have to be processed to extract individual files. There is no utility that does this -- it will be a manual process. If text files are targeted, this could be fairly simple. Non-text files, for example, .docs, .xls, .pdf, .jpg, etc, will be significantly more difficult. Someone would have to manually identify file begin and end points. If done incorrectly, the file will not be read correctly by MSWord, Adobe, etc. If an individual file spans file aggregates, then they will have to be manually appended - again, correctly. A disk recovery utility may help as they do similar reconstruction from disk blocks, but a low success rate would be expected. If client compression or encryption are enabled, it will be nearly impossible to figure out how to decompress/decrypt the files. A data recovery service may be able to extract more data, but such services are expensive. Cost benefit analysis weighing the recovery cost, file type, and likelihood of failure against the value of the data will determine the feasibility of a recovery attempt. For a fun example of this process, put a .jpg, .doc, and .pdf file into a directory. From the command prompt, "type" each file and append it to a test file like so: c:\test> type file.jpg > testfile c:\test> type file.doc >> testfile c:\test> type file.pdf >> testfile Then use a hex editor to open testfile and see how much fun it is to try to separate them. And that's with the advantage of knowing what's there. It gets much harder with fragmented file aggregates. The only reason TSM can read the tape is because the database knows where all the file segments start and stop. So, yes, while it is possible to read the data from tape, it will be prohibitively expensive/difficult to recover the data in a usable format. I hope this answers your question. ________________________________ Alex Paschal Storage Solutions Engineer MSI Systems Integrators ________________________________ Your Business. Better. -----Original Message----- From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Hana Darzi Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 5:31 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ADSM-L] reading tape wirthout tsm Hello, That was my question can I read this files without tsm and how??? Win2003 Lib scalar i500 Lto3 with compression tapes Thank you, hana -----Original Message----- From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Richard Sims Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 2:39 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ADSM-L] reading tape wirthout tsm On Feb 11, 2009, at 7:26 AM, Hana Darzi wrote: > > Can I read TSN backup/archive client tape without tsm database. > > I need delete archive files that maybe on the tape, and I do not have > > Database . > > Is it any utility? You might be able to physically read data from TSM tapes, depending upon tape vs. drive compatibilities, compression, and encryption; but you'd be hard-pressed to identify the right tape to read, or position to the right spot. Tapes are not like disks: you don't delete files from within them. TSM expires data by eliminating its knowledge of file locations on tapes, but the data stays on the tapes until the tapes are re-used. If you need to wipe data from a tape, your choices are to write over the tape or physically destroy the tape. Richard Sims This message (including any attachments) is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is non-public, proprietary, privileged, confidential, and exempt from disclosure under applicable law or may constitute as attorney work product. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, notify us immediately by telephone and (i) destroy this message if a facsimile or (ii) delete this message immediately if this is an electronic communication. Thank you.
