CASE STUDY

Recovery of Business Critical Archived Data from LTO Backups

How a Data Management Company Recovered Archived Client Data Using Stellar® Data Recovery for Tape

Introduction:

The client is a confidential data management company specializing in data archiving, long term retention, migration, and compliance services for enterprise customers across finance, healthcare, and legal sectors.

As part of its managed services, the company preserves extensive historical client data on LTO tape backups using TAR archives with Gzip compression. Due to strict confidentiality agreements, all recovery and data handling activities must be performed within the company’s controlled environment.

Business Challenge:

During a client initiated data request and archive validation exercise, the company discovered that several legacy LTO backup sets could not be restored using standard backup software.

Although the tape media and tape drives were functional, restore operations failed due to:

Missing or corrupted backup catalogs
Incompatibility with legacy backup software versions
Unavailable or decommissioned backup environments

The affected tapes contained critical archived datasets required for client delivery and compliance verification. Rebuilding legacy backup systems was time consuming and costly, while outsourcing recovery was not an option due to confidentiality and data governance policies.

The company required a reliable, in house solution to extract data directly from LTO tape backups when traditional restore methods were no longer viable.

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Statement from the customer:

Stellar® Data Recovery for Tape allowed us to recover highly sensitive audit data internally without compromising confidentiality. The solution played a critical role in meeting regulatory timelines while maintaining full control over client information.””

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Solution:

The data management team deployed Stellar® Data Recovery for Tape within its secure infrastructure to address the recovery challenge.

Rather than attempting to recreate legacy backup environments, the software was used to access and recover data from LTO tape backup sets when standard restore processes failed. Stellar® Data Recovery for Tape integrated with the existing tape drives and enabled the team to identify and selectively recover required archived files.

All recovery operations were performed offline and internally, ensuring full control over sensitive client information and compliance with data governance requirements.

Results:

Using Stellar® Data Recovery for Tape, the company successfully recovered archived client data from LTO tapes that could not be restored using conventional backup software.

Key outcomes included:

Successful fulfillment of client data requests within committed timelines
Elimination of dependency on legacy or unsupported backup software
Reduced operational effort and recovery time compared to rebuilding backup environments
Zero external data exposure, maintaining strict confidentiality standards

The recovered data was validated and delivered to clients, ensuring continuity of service and compliance with retention obligations.

Conclusion:

Stellar® Data Recovery for Tape proved to be an effective solution for data management companies responsible for long term data retention and archive accessibility.

By enabling secure, in house recovery from LTO tape backups when traditional restore methods fail, the solution helped the organization maintain service continuity, meet compliance requirements, and protect sensitive client data.

Statement from the customer:

"Stellar^® Data Recovery for Tape enabled us to recover archived client data without rebuilding outdated backup systems. The solution helped us meet client commitments while maintaining strict data confidentiality."

Confidential Data Management Company

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