Used Data Tapes: Don’t buy them, Don’t sell them!
To control supplies costs, companies changing data storage formats sometimes consider selling their old data tapes instead of destroying them. At the same time, others consider buying recertified data cartridges instead of new ones. SuppliesUSA recommends against both practices.
Companies selling their used data cartridges might expose internal data. Indeed, degaussing data tapes is not an exact science. For example, not all degaussers erase data on all data formats. Different formats require different magnetic field strength to actually erase the data. Post-degaussing audits are often telling. Imation Corporation documented several audit cases where they found data on tapes that large organizations were about to resell, this after established recertifiers had degaussed the tapes. Also, some new formats tapes like LTO and others run the risk of becoming useless if the servo track is erased during the degaussing.
From the buyers perspective, recertified data tapes don’t offer the peace of mind companies need for their critical backup storage media. There is no way to determine the environmental factors the cartridges already endured, or how past mishandling might have affected the cartridge’s integrity, or the useful life remaining. Abnormal stress, debris, damage, all affect a data cartridge and recertifying it does not remove any of these factors.
Companies left with data cartridges to be retired should degauss and securely destroy the cartridges. Companies buying data tapes should always buy new ones, even if, to adhere to a low budget, they have to buy fewer tapes. Your data is your business, and it must stay that way.
