 Securely ERASE an LTO Cartridge;
whilst retaining its future use - within 4 Minutes
1) Protect the 5 prerecorded R/W head positioning servo tracks from
being degaussed/damaged, and;
2) Positively Destroy/Degauss the 4 Data Bands rendering
the Data
stored 100% unrecoverable
How its done
Characteristics of the formatting and writing of data on LTO1, LTO2,
and LTO3 Cartridges
make the above mandatory requirements achievable through employment
of a WILTEC
proprietary 4 Band ERASE Head1 moving from BOT to EOM over the 4
Data Bands of the
tape. The proprietary specification ERASE head is driven by a current
source that will easily
degauss a 6400 Oerstead coercivity LTO tape.
LTO formats write Compression Keys, Error Checking
and Correction bits, Block and File
and formatting markers interleaved and mixed with the Compressed
Data. The resultant
is written Byte after Byte on 8 tracks and evenly spaced across one
Data Band at a time
until all 4 Data Bands are filled. Therefore, 12.5% strips of the
Data Band’s width is allocated
to each of the 8 bit weights.
The Ultrium Consortium and IBM’s LTO specifications
2,3 & 4 state that complete Data Read
&
Recovery Failure will accompany the loss of one or more of eight
tracks used to write 8
bits of each byte.
The 510’s proprietary ERASE head completely degausses
54% of the
bits in every Byte, up to 5 bits per byte, leaving Guard Bands between
ERASED area and
Servo Tracks. Salvage of data ERASED by this process is therefore
impractical.
See mathematical analysis (5) for a representative bit substitution
forensic analysis
time requirement: Time to recover 1 each 64K Byte Block: T=1.0210
X 1011 years.
References:
1 “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_Tape-Open” P. 5
2 “LTO Technology Primer 1999-2006 HP, IBM, Quantum White Paper”
P. 4
3 “Linear Tape - Open (LTO) Technology White Paper April 1998 HP,
IBM and Seagate” P.
 Data ERASING and Sanitization Summary
In 1995, the Department of Defense (DOD)
National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM)
classified LTO Tape Cartridges having coercivity values greater than 750 Oersteads, like LTO1 and LTO2 cartridges as “Type III”.
This document, published 11 years ago, states that
Type III tape cartridges cannot be “sanitized” for reuse
by degaussing (as this destroys the all important Servo Tracks
rendering the cartridge useless) but only can be “sanitized”
by destroying the media by crushing or incineration.
Now, this no longer need be the case.
The Model 510A Data Destroyer Eraser System employs a
specially designed 4 Data Band Erase Head (Figure 1). This applies a full saturation DC Data Erasing, high density
magnetic field, surgically, over only the 4 Data Bands. From the
Beginning Of Tape (BOT) to the End Of Medium (EOM). This process ERASES 4 or more bits from each and every
8 bit Byte that has been written on the cartridge since it’s ‘birth’, EOT to
EOM.
Theory of Operation
The Model 510A’s 4 Band Eraser Head covers the LTO
Data Bands with tolerance to ensure the Servo Tracks are not corrupted.
All recorded data Bytes on the entire cartridge will be totally destroyed
irretrievably in one 4 minute pass.
Certification of Quality
·A YELLOW “Erase” indicator on the front panel is
turned “on” when the Erase Head is energized. It follows the Read\Write
Head as it moves from BOT to the EOM.
· If a write error is detected as the Read\Write Head
moves along the tape toward EOM, the RED “Fail” indicator on the
front panel is turned “on”. One error will cause the cartridge to
be rejected and/or set aside for cleaning and evaluation.
An important advantage of this data erasure process
is the controlled manner of erasing magnetic flux application. Unlike
conventional “Eraser” units, the quality of data removal is a function
of the operator’s handling of the cartridge. The Model 510A Data
Destroyer Eraser Unit automatically loads the cartridge, runs the
tape over the Erase Head, tests for errors, rewinds, resets the EOD
to 0 as a new cartridge would appear (leaves the remaining history,
manufacturer and serial number intact).
Readily Portable, Easy to Use
· Data Centers can easily move the 16 pound complete Eraser unit
(Figure 3) to the secure location of retired LTO cartridge storage.
· There 15 cartridges per hour per Unit can confidently destroy LTO
cartridge data.
Unskilled operators can easily and speedily process
large numbers of cartridges. The hardy construction and reliability
specifications of the IBM Ultrium tape handler (Drive) assure long,
trouble-free operation.
Model 510A LTO1 and LTO2 ERASER, CERTIFIER, CLEANER and RETENSIONER
Figure 2; at the right, illustrates how the 4 Data Band
Erasers in the special 510 designed and fabricated
Erase Head work. Data is recorded in one data
band at a time until the Data Band is full. 8 Tracks are
spaced across the data band width. Each Data Band
records eight tracks per “wrap”, A generous space between
each Data Band and the adjacent Servo Bands
guarantees Servo Band preservation. Massive erasure
of bits in each byte stored renders the data completely
unrecoverable. The intense DC magnetic field
completely saturates the tape removing any possibility
of data recovery after the erase pass.
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| Quick Reference on Tape
Drive Technologies |
Whether you are looking for a standalone tape drive, or something
to take the handling of media out of the Backup cycle, you can find
below a selection of tape drives, autoloaders and libraries.
A brief synopsis of some of the most common acronyms, and what they
mean with respect to the technologies associated with the various
tape drives, is also here. This may help in your decision to find
the correct device.
LTO (Linear Tape Open) is the latest technology normally used
as a high capacity, high performance backup tape drive which has the
added advantage of adhering to a common standard along with other
manufacturers. Made by IBM, HP, Seagate, NEC
SLR (Serial Linear Recording) is a robust drive and media
combination, which provides excellent data reliability and a great
value for money product with loads of backward compatibility and a
clear roadmap into the future. From one of the longest established
tape drive manufacturers, Tandberg, and used by such companies as
IBM, Sun, ICL/Fujitsu as one of the standard drives installed with
their systems.
SDLT (Super Digital Linear Tape) a high capacity tape drive
with some backward read compatibility with the previous DLT model
tape drives. Now manufactured by Tandberg and Quantum.
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