FAQs
If you have questions about data recovery or disposal, explore TDM’s expert answers to the most common client concerns.
Your Questions, Answered
At Total Data Migration, we understand that navigating data recovery, modernization, conversion, migration, and disposal often comes with uncertainty. Our goal is to provide clarity, confidence, and total transparency at every stage of your project. Below are answers to some of the most common questions we receive, covering everything from tape formats to compliance to our proprietary recovery methods.
What types of environments do you support for data recovery?
TDM supports virtual machines, physical servers, cloud platforms, hybrid infrastructures, legacy systems, and proprietary environments.
Does TDM require physical access to hardware to recover data?
No. Our proprietary tools allow us to recover data remotely or without original infrastructure access—no decryptors or hardware required.
Can you recover data after other companies have failed?
Yes. We often succeed where others haven’t. Our advanced platform handles complex recoveries, even after previous failed attempts.
What is data migration, and is it risky?
Data migration involves moving data between systems, formats, or applications. It’s risky because data becomes highly entangled with apps over time, requiring deep coordination to avoid loss or corruption.
Why Is Data Migration Seen as Difficult and Risky?
The short answer is “data gravity.” Although the concept of data gravity has been around for some time, the challenge is becoming more significant becaguse of data mirations to cloud infrastructures. In brief, data gravity is a metaphor that describes:
- How data attracts other data to it as it grows
- How data is integrated into a business
- How data becomes customized over time
- To move applications and data to more advantageous environments, Gartner recommends “disentangling” data and applications as a means of overcoming data gravity. By making time at the beginning of the project to sort out data and application complexities, firms can improve their data management, enable application mobility, and improve data governance.
What makes data migration successful?
Successful data migration depends on early planning, cross-functional coordination, and a deep understanding of how applications and data interact. Clear ownership, realistic timelines, and involvement from both technical and business stakeholders are essential. Success also requires identifying potential risks, like legacy system limitations or compliance gaps, before the first byte is moved. The most effective migrations, like those orchestrated by TDM, treat data as a strategic asset, ensuring that both the transfer and the outcome align with long-term operational goals.
What is the LTO-CM chip, and why does it matter?
This chip helps tape drives function efficiently. Found in all Linear Tape-Open (LTO) cartridges, the LTO-CM chip stores metadata—not user data—but must be properly wiped during secure disposal to prevent exploitation. It plays a crucial role in tape access, tracking things like cartridge usage and file location data. While small in capacity, it can inadvertently expose sensitive operational details if not properly sanitized.
Is the LTO-CM chip a security risk?
It can be. Although storage is limited, it can reveal usage patterns or become a malware vector in future LTO generations if not sanitized.
Does the LTO-CM chip store usable data?
Not typically. However, it must still be securely erased, as physical shredding often leaves the chip intact.
How long do data cartridges last?
LTO, AIT, and TS1160 can last 30+ years; DLT up to 50 years. DDS and DAT formats degrade more quickly. Environmental conditions greatly affect lifespan.
My cartridges are older than their rated lifespan. Are they still usable?
Possibly. We’ve recovered data from extremely degraded media. No tape is automatically beyond recovery—consult us before discarding any archive.
Can you dispose of damaged or partially working devices?
Absolutely. Whether fully functional or physically compromised, Total Data Migration works toward complete data destruction and compliant disposal.
What types of hardware can you securely destroy?
We handle magnetic tapes, SSDs, HDDs, full server racks, and cloud-retired hardware—physically and digitally.
Do you offer documentation for compliance?
Yes. We provide detailed logs, chain-of-custody records, and regulatory-aligned documentation for HIPAA, GDPR, SOX, and other frameworks.
What is the Best Approach?
The main issue is that every application complicates data management by introducing elements of application logic into the data management tier, and each one is indifferent to the next data use case. Business processes use data in isolation and then output their own formats, leaving integration for the next process. Therefore, application design, data architecture, and business processes must all respond to each other, but often one of these groups is unable or unwilling to change. This forces application administrators to sidestep ideal and simple workflows, resulting in suboptimal designs. And, although the workaround may have been necessary at the time, this technical debt must eventually be addressed during data migration or integration projects.
Given this complexity, consider promoting data migration to “strategic weapon” status so that it gets the right level of awareness and resources. To ensure that the project gets the attention it needs, focus on the most provocative element of the migration – the fact that the legacy system will be turned off – and you’ll have the attention of key stakeholders, guaranteed.
