Disuk Paranoia3 Support for LTFS

DISUK Limited announce Paranoia3 support for LTFS tape format used by IBM and HP in their LTO-5 and LTO-6 tape drives.

Using this format, data is stored in LTFS volumes. An LTFS volume holds data files and corresponding meta-data to describe the directory and file structures stored on the volume.

With this system, accessing data stored on a tape cartridge is as easy and intuitive as using a USB flash drive. And with the OS’s graphical file manager, reading data on a tape cartridge is as easy as dragging and dropping. Users can run any application designed for disk files against tape data without concern for the fact that the data is physically stored on tape.

The LTFS format has the following features:

• An LTFS volume can be mounted and volume content accessed with full use of the data without the need to access other information sources.
• Data can be passed between sites and applications using only the information written to an LTFS volume.
• Files can be written to, and read from, an LTFS volume using standard POSIX file operations.

The LTFS Format is particularly suited to these usages:

• Data export and import.
• Data interchange and exchange.
• Direct file and partial file recall from sequential access media.
• Archival storage of files using a simplified, self-contained or ‘self-describing’ format on sequential access media.

The obvious question that springs to mind is "if I don’t need software to read the data on an LTFS tape due to its self-describing nature, how do we now secure the data to protect our customers?"

By utilising the Paranoia3 tape encryption appliance with LTFS, users can benefit from a secure method to transport large data amounts between systems/sites whilst ensuring they cannot be read by a third party should the tapes be lost or stolen whilst in transit.

Where there is a need to interchange data of a sensitive or valuable nature Paranoia3 used with LTFS ensures this can be done simply and efficiently without the need for additional software, drivers or agents on the production or recipient systems.

In the past when a tape loss has occurred we see a number of platitudes trotted out by the misinformed PR machine:

• "Industrial strength tape technology would be required to read the tapes"
• "We are secured by obscurity"
• "Thieves would require specialist systems knowledge to understand our data"
• "We believed it was an acceptable risk!"

With LTFS these become redundant arguments as the tape is self-describing and data can be simply dragged and dropped on a new host system.

Under these circumstances any company using these excuses would now be seen as clearly trying to misinform users about the danger caused by a tape loss.