A BackupExec tape that is unencrypted can
be read by either Netbackup or BackupExec with an appropriate drive type.
I haven’t administered BackupExec in a while, but if I remember
correctly, put the tape in the drive, select the media in BackupExec and select
“Inventory”. Netbackup can also read BackupExec media via the
import command.
I doubt ntbackup can read BackupExec tapes’
format, but if I was in a hurry I would simply download a trial of BackupExec
from Symantec and use that. Alternately, I’m sure companies like
OnTrak have specific custom apps for reading blocks off tapes for this purpose.
As with all encryption, the time to crack
would depend heavily on how strong the encryption is and how many resources you’ve
got dedicated to cracking it. Assuming you were using AES 256bit encryption
on an LTO4 drive you’d have 1) as long as it takes to manually brute
force the encryption (estimated to be 38 quadrillion years / number of keys per
second you test), 2) as long as it takes some inquisitive bugger to come up
with a shortcut to cracking AES 256bit or 3) considering how haphazard you
appear to be with your backup media, the length of time it takes you to lose
and someone nefarious to find your encryption keys.
-Jonathan
From:
veritas-bu-bounces AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu
[mailto:veritas-bu-bounces AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu] On Behalf Of Siano, James C
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2008 9:30
PM
To:
veritas-bu AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu
Subject: [Veritas-bu] Could you
read my tape? I threw it out my caraccidentally and you caught it.
BackupExec/Netbackup
If
I lost a tape – say SDLT or LTO-x – that was written with Backexc
9.0 and someone on this forum found it….had the write hardware…and
either a version of BackupExec 9 or greater, or, an instance of
Netbackup…..could you read my tape? The tape is non-encrypted.
Could
you read that tape with the “ntbackup” iteration on a plain jane
Windows XP workstation given hardware was available?
Could
you do it if the tape was encrypted --- and had as long as necessary to attempt
to crack the encryption.
Thanks.