On 23/02/11 12:04, STANLEY R. HORWITZ wrote:
> Kurian,
> 
> This isn't possible because tape is sequential media, not like disk. Maybe
> someone else has a better idea, but the only way I can come up with to do
> what your management wants is to restore everything you have on your tape
> to a set of servers, then delete the files in question, then back up the
> servers. Then relabel the original tape(s). As you can see, this is not
> really practical. What is the retention period on your tape? If the
> retention period for your tape is fairly sure, then the practical way is
> to wait for the data to expire and then overwrite the tape.
> 
> On 2/23/11 5:09 AM, "kurianv" <networker-forum AT BACKUPCENTRAL DOT COM> 
> wrote:
> 
>> Hi,
>> We have a management requirement to delete some files from our LTO tape
>> which is critical. What I would like to know is to know if there is a
>> specfic way to delete this single folder or file from an LTO tape ?
>>

Stan is correct that you cannot selectively delete part of a tape. A
slightly easier way to work around this is to stage everything else from
the tape to another tape before overwriting or destroying the original.

Simply relabelling the tape is not enough if you have a legal
requirement to delete the data, as there are specialist companies who
may be able to recover it. You would need to overwrite the entire tape
or physically destroy it.

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