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Evidence of copy of write protected LTO tape

RonA123
Level 2

If I have an LTO tape that has been written to and then write protected, is there a way to tell if that tape had been copied or viewed by looking at the tape?  Is there any information that could possibly be written on the tape that would indicate this?  My assumption is that nothing can be written to a 'write protected' tape.

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RonA123
Level 2

I assumed this was the case.  If the tape is 'write protected', my thought is that nothing can be written to it.  Not even meta data relating to last time the tape was cataloged, copied or restored.  That type of information could be seen on a log in the backup software when one of those types of operations was performed, but not on the tape itself, correct?

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6 REPLIES 6

Dev_T
Level 6

 Hello,

Check the Media Set properties from which the tape belongs. The overwrite protection period will determine the number of days the tape will be write protected. If the overwrite protection perion is Infinite, than the tape will only be appended and as soon as the tape is full it will be protected forever.

 

Hope this helps...

Hywel_Mallett
Level 6
Certified

I believe you are correct in your assumption that there is no way to tell if a tape has been read.

Kiran_Bandi
Level 6
Partner Accredited

Nothing can be written to a write protected tape.

If any write protected media found in a drive, it will throw an alert that the media inserted is write protected.

There is no way to know whether a media was copied or viewed.

You can see the media contents for details about Last write to that media details.

RonA123
Level 2

I assumed this was the case.  If the tape is 'write protected', my thought is that nothing can be written to it.  Not even meta data relating to last time the tape was cataloged, copied or restored.  That type of information could be seen on a log in the backup software when one of those types of operations was performed, but not on the tape itself, correct?

Colin_Weaver
Moderator
Moderator
Employee Accredited Certified

To be honest even it it isn't write protceted - we don't write any read records to the tape these records are only in the software logs on the media server and will only cover you for that media server not if it is used in another one.

MPieper
Level 4

Hmm, at least the last mount time should be stored on the tape. LTO tapes have a RFID chip that stores tape information, among other things the last 4 mounts are stored.

There are special devices available to read this RFID chip (something like this: http://www.mptapes.com/veritape/index.html), also at least the DELL Tape Diagnostics are able to read out this information.

This stll does not tell you if the data from the tape was read or copied, but thats the most information you'll be able to get.