25 Backup Devices

Revision no.
: PPT/2K804/04
PPT/2K403/02
Backup Devices
Revision no.: PPT/2K804/04
Backup device
• The ability to copy data in compressed or non-compressed

form is implemented by backup device.
• Tape drive ( a device well known for Backup) possess the

ability to copy a gigabyte or more to a single tape.
• Tape drives use magnetic tapes to hold large amounts of data.
• They can store up to 72 gigabytes
• Very useful for very large backups and allow you to back up
your entire system at once.
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Types of Drives
• Drives have been classified on the basis of the methodology

adopted to record data and there are two ways
– Helical Scan Technology
Data tracks are written at an angle with respect to the edge of the
tape.
E.g.s 4mm DAT, Exabyte’s 8 mm Mmmoth, Sony’s AIT
– Linear Serpentine Technology

Data tracks are written in parallel to the edge of the tape.
E.g.s Quantum’s Digital Linear Tape, Linear Tape Open by IBM
etc.
Tape Drives and Media
• Tape manufacturers usually specify two separate capacities

for their tapes:
– Native capacity
– Compressed capacity.
• Native capacity is the actual available capacity on the media.
• Compressed capacity is one wherein tape drive uses some
algorithm to compress data before writing it to tape which
increases the overall available capacity.
• Tapes and tape drives are rated with two numbers, for eg.,
"7/14” GB wherein first number represents storage capacity of
the tape and the second is the capacity using data
compression.
Digital Linear Tape
• Digital Linear Tape technology was developed by DEC (Digital

Equipment Corporation).
• DLT-drives have a unique HGA (head-guide assembly), which

minimizes tape wear.
• HGA is a boomerang-shaped aluminium plate with six large

bearing-mounted rollers.
• DLT HGA system links a leader strip on the end of the tape,
pulls the tape out of the cartridge and wraps it around the take-
up reel, guided by the rollers.
Digital Linear Tape (contd.)
• Main advantages of DLT are the higher storage capacity,
higher data transfer rates, and higher reliability because of the
HGA which does not allow the media to touch the head in the
drive.
• DLT format has several generations DLT III, DLT IV, DLT VS1
wherein DLT IV is the most commonly used.
• DLT IV format has a capacity 40GB native and 3.0 - 6.0 MB/sec
native transfer rate.
Quarter Inch Cartridge Backup drive Working
• Backup program reads hard disk's file allocation table to
locate the files selected for back up.
• The software writes the directory information to a 32K buffer in
PC's RAM.
• It then copies the files into the same buffer.
• Each file is prefaced with header information that identifies the
file and its location on the hard drive's directory tree.
Quarter Inch Cartridge Backup drive
Working (contd.)
• The tape drive's controller includes chips that handle error

correction
• The backup software dumps the full buffer from RAM to the
controller's own buffer,
• The chips append error correction (EC) codes.
• The controller doesn't have built-in error in error correction

(contd.)
• The software computes the EC codes based on the pattern of 0

and 1 bits in the files, appends them to the end of the data in
the RAM buffer
• Then copies the contents of the RAM buffer to the controller

buffer.
• Once the data is transferred to the controller, the RAM buffer is

free to receive the next block of data from the disk.
• The format of a QIC tape typically contains 20 to 32 parallel

tracks.

(contd.)
• Each track is divided into blocks of 512 or 1,024 bytes and

segments typically contain 32 blocks.
• The tape drive's controller sends signals to the tape
mechanism to start the tape moving.
• The drive's capstan turns the cartridge's roller, an elastic belt
wrapped around the reels of tape stretches slightly as it grips
the tape.
• It ensures that the pulling force of the take up reel matches the
resistance of the supply reel.

(contd.)
• This makes the tape press against the drive head with a
constant pressure, minimizing write and read errors.
• The controller sends a stream of data to the drive's write head.
• Many tape drives have three-part read-while-write head. Two

read heads flank a central write head that transfers the data to
the magnetic coating on the tape.
• Depending on which way the tape is moving, one of the read

heads reads the data written by the write head

(contd.)
• It verify that the data on the tape matches with the data sent
by the write head to the next section of disk data.
• If the data doesn't check out, then the data is rewritten on the
next stretch of tape.
Digital Audio-Tape (DAT)
• DAT drives are most popular kind of tape drives and their
media is available in two sizes
– 4 mm
– 8 mm.
• 4mm DAT
– DAT (Digital Audio Tape) is used for storing CD-quality audio
format but Digital Data Storage or DDS is a DAT-based computer-
data storage format, developed by Sony and HP and released in
1989.
– DDS has gone through four different revisions: DDS, DDS-2, DDS-
3, DDS-4 and HP has further revised this standard and calls the
latest standard DAT 72
Digital Audio-Tape (DAT) (contd.)
– DDS-4 has a capacity 20GB native, 2.4MB/sec native transfer rate
and DAT72 has a capacity 36GB native, 3MB/sec native transfer
rate.
• 8 mm
– 8mm tape is similar to DAT but with higher storage capacities.
– Two protocols differentiated by compression algorithms and drive
technologies exist in the 8mm space -Mammoth by Exabyte and
the AIT (Advanced Intelligent Tape) by Sony and Seagate.
Digital Audio-Tape (DAT) Backup Drive
• The backup program checks hard disk's file allocation table to
find the files to back up.
• It copies the data, file by file, into the digital audio tape drive's
buffer, which usually stores 512K or 1MB of data.
• Like a QIC tape drive, the DAT drive performs an algorithm on
the data to create error-correction code that it adds to the data
in the buffer.
Digital Audio-Tape (DAT) Backup Drive (contd.)
• The mechanism is a rotating cylinder with four heads 90

degrees apart.
• Two of these heads, write heads A and B, write backup data,
• Two corresponding read heads verify the data.
• The cylinder tilts slightly so it rotates at an angle to the tape.
• The cylinder spins 2,000 times a minute while the tape passes
in front of the cylinder in the opposite direction of the
cylinder's spin.
Deciding Factors for selecting Tape Drive
• Choosing the right tape technology depends upon the
following factors:
– Tape capacity
– Speed of writing data on tape
– Drive maintenance and service
– Interface and form factor
– Cost
Zip Drive
• Zip Drives and Cartridges

• Zip drive is also known as another
Backup device.
• The media used in these drives are
called Zip cartridges.
• These cartridges are portable and
much more stable.
• These Zip cartridges can store from
100 MB to 750 MB of data of any
kind, nowadays.
Zip Drive (contd.)
• Zip drives are comparatively faster in operating files
• Writing large files or reading and writing smaller files they are
quite slow
• Faster than a floppy drive.
• Zip drives cannot work as booting devices.
• You have to buy some additional hardware or software for this
purpose.
Zip Drive (contd.)
• Zip drives work with magnetic media and therefore need great
care
• The Zip disks has a coating of a much better quality.
• Due to this the head that reads the information on the cartridge
is much smaller in size
• There exist a greater number of tracks per sector on the

cartridge
• This magnetic media is enclosed in hard plastic.
Zip Drive (contd.)
• The zip drive has a read/write head with which it reads

magnetic impressions on the diskette.
• Wings attached closely to it control the head movements.
• These wings are on opposite sides to the head so that they

can travel on either side of the disk and position the head
correctly.
• Zip drive uses a variable number of sectors per track to make

the optimum use of the disk space.
Zip Drive (contd.)
• Zip drives do not park their heads automatically when

powering down
• It is better to eject the disks from the drives before shutting the
drive or the computer.
• Drivers for installing the Zip drives are normally available on
either floppies or on CDs.
• During installation of these drivers several other utilities can
also be installed.
• The software offer various additional features, like, changing
the drive letter, formatting a Zip disk, which is rare, as these
disks are preformatted.
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CMS Institute, Design & Development Centre, CMS House, Plot No. 91, Street No.7,
MIDC, Marol, Andheri (E), Mumbai –400093
www.cmsinstitute.co.in

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Revision no.

• The ability to copy data in compressed or non-compressed

• Tape drive ( a device well known for Backup) possess the

• Tape drives use magnetic tapes to hold large amounts of data.

• They can store up to 72 gigabytes

• Drives have been classified on the basis of the methodology

– Linear Serpentine Technology

Tape Drives and Media

• Tape manufacturers usually specify two separate capacities

Digital Linear Tape

• Digital Linear Tape technology was developed by DEC (Digital

• DLT-drives have a unique HGA (head-guide assembly), which

• HGA is a boomerang-shaped aluminium plate with six large

Digital Linear Tape (contd.)

• Main advantages of DLT are the higher storage capacity,

higher data transfer rates, and higher reliability because of the

wherein DLT IV is the most commonly used.

native transfer rate.

Quarter Inch Cartridge Backup drive Working

• Backup program reads hard disk's file allocation table to

locate the files selected for back up.

• The software writes the directory information to a 32K buffer in

• It then copies the files into the same buffer.

• Each file is prefaced with header information that identifies the

file and its location on the hard drive's directory tree.

• The tape drive's controller includes chips that handle error

Quarter Inch Cartridge Backup drive Working

• The software computes the EC codes based on the pattern of 0

• Then copies the contents of the RAM buffer to the controller

• Once the data is transferred to the controller, the RAM buffer is

• The format of a QIC tape typically contains 20 to 32 parallel

Quarter Inch Cartridge Backup drive Working

• Each track is divided into blocks of 512 or 1,024 bytes and

Quarter Inch Cartridge Backup drive Working

• The controller sends a stream of data to the drive's write head.

• Many tape drives have three-part read-while-write head. Two

• Depending on which way the tape is moving, one of the read

Quarter Inch Cartridge Backup drive Working

by the write head to the next section of disk data.

next stretch of tape.

Digital Audio-Tape (DAT)

Digital Audio-Tape (DAT) (contd.)

– DDS-4 has a capacity 20GB native, 2.4MB/sec native transfer rate

and DAT72 has a capacity 36GB native, 3MB/sec native transfer

– 8mm tape is similar to DAT but with higher storage capacities.

– Two protocols differentiated by compression algorithms and drive

technologies exist in the 8mm space -Mammoth by Exabyte and

the AIT (Advanced Intelligent Tape) by Sony and Seagate.

Digital Audio-Tape (DAT) Backup Drive

• The backup program checks hard disk's file allocation table to

find the files to back up.

buffer, which usually stores 512K or 1MB of data.

• Like a QIC tape drive, the DAT drive performs an algorithm on

the data to create error-correction code that it adds to the data

Digital Audio-Tape (DAT) Backup Drive (contd.)

• The mechanism is a rotating cylinder with four heads 90

• Two of these heads, write heads A and B, write backup data,

• Two corresponding read heads verify the data.

• The cylinder tilts slightly so it rotates at an angle to the tape.

Deciding Factors for selecting Tape Drive

• Choosing the right tape technology depends upon the

– Speed of writing data on tape

– Drive maintenance and service

– Interface and form factor