Magnetic tape has been used for storage of computer data from the early 1950's. This was nly a few years after the first programmable computer was devoeloped and used at Bletchley Park during World War 2, which enabled the deciphering of secret German communications using the Enigma encryption. The Colossus computer as this first programmable computer was known, used punched paper tape for the input of data and thermionic valves for electronic processing.
The procedure for recovering data from magnetic tapes is very specialised and there are few organisations capable of successfully achieving this - Data Recovery Specialists is one of the select few companies in the country that specialises in data recovery of legacy magnetic tapes.
After the war, magnetic tape soon became the standard method for storing large quantities of data. This was until magnetic drums and subsequent rotating disks coated with a magnetic film became the prime method of fast access, bulk storage, of computer data. Magnetic tapes are still used extensively today, due to its inherent ability to store large quantities of sequential data at a low cost per byte and with high reliability.
Although magnetic tape is considered reliable it does have a number of inherent flaws and weakness. One of these is stiction. Stiction on data storage magnetic tape is a term used when the tape stops moving across the read/write head during the normal process of data storage. If the stationary tape is allowed to rest on the read/write head for any time, the tape may bond itself to the head. When the tape starts to move again after the tape drive has been given an instruction to start writing or reading, part of the magnetic surface of the tape bonds to the head and tears off the surface of the tape. This will cause a permanent error in the data written on the tape, as well as leaving a deposit on the heads.
The tape heads will inevitably requiring cleaning and critical data may need to be recovered. Error correction within the tape drive should be able to resurrect the lost data, but if this is not achievable, specialists in magnetic tape data recovery are the only option.
Stiction occurs when there is an interaction between the read/write head, or some other part within the tape path and with the surface of the magnetic tape. This interaction is now well understood and is normally associated with a flaw in the formulation of the magnetic film deposited on the polyester base of the tape. Tape manufacturers take great pains to minimize this flaw, but unfortunately stiction does frequently occur. This is a particular risk, if the tape is old and has not been stored in ideal conditions.
In order to reduce the occurrence of stiction and other adverse side effects due to poor storage of magnetic tape, procedures have been developed to allow these tapes to be read successfully. These include cycling the tape through narrowly defined temperature and humidity limits for several hours or even days. This rehabilitation of the tape and subsequent rewinding to relieve the tensions built up over the storage period, often results in a successful data recovery.
The procedure for recovering data from magnetic tapes is very specialised and there are few organisations capable of successfully achieving this - Data Recovery Specialists is one of the select few companies in the country that specialises in data recovery of legacy magnetic tapes.