US service tracks absent backup tapes

By Dave Nixon

An innovative system has been launched in the United States, which uses GPS technology to trace missing backup tapes.

Fujifilm Recording Media teamed up with SC-Integrity (SCI) to establish the Fujifilm Tape Tracker, which can be placed in a standard cartridge so it appears like any other half-inch digital tape, and transported along with a set of tapes.

The Fujifilm Tape Tracker works in a very comparable way to the GPS system that is used to find stolen cars, whereby a GPS unit is concealed somewhere on the vehicle, and is activated when the car is stolen.

The Tape Tracker cartridge features highly responsive assisted GPS, which fits in a standard tape cartridge. The data manager merely charges the Tape Tracker cartridge and slips it into any tape carrying case.

The Tape Tracker cartridge will then account its location over the cellular network, and a single charge can last up to 30 days. This allows the data manager to find the location of the backups when the tapes are both in transit or stored at different off-site locations, such as disaster recovery centres, vaults, other offices etc.

The Tape Tracker is based on LoJack InTransit, a system SCI developed with LoJack that combines car-tracking technology with its own in-transit cargo service.

InTransit gives a birds-eye view of all Tape Trackers deployed on a geo-map with satellite imagery. The application includes “geo-fencing features”, which allows the creation of security perimeters around buildings, locations and routes. Alerts are triggered when the tapes enter or leave an area, or there is a discrepancy in a shipping route.

Fujifind keeps a complete backup, and provides user-definable activity and history reports that can be used as evidence and included in comprehensive chain-of-custody logs, which is useful when there are legal considerations.

A Tape Tracker service and support centre is available 24/7 by phone and email.