Fujifilm offers LoJack for tape
Tape Tracker boosts security by wirelessly following removable media cartridges.
Fujifilm
Recording Media has launched Tape Tracker, a wireless tool to watch the
whereabouts of sensitive removable media cartridges while they’re in
transit – just in case they fall off the back off a truck.The system is
based on technology from LoJack, a system which tracks everything from
missing cars to laptops, via their partner SC-Integrity (SCI).
Tape
Tracker will provide a similar service for cartridges, offering
real-time monitoring and notification at a cost of $150 (£75) a month.
At the moment, it’s only available in the US, with global availability
at the end of the year.”The tremendous feedback we received from
customers when we introduced this concept last year made it clear –
there is a significant desire to maintain visibility and control over
removable media during shipment from one location to another,” said
Daniel Greenberg, new product manager for Fujifilm Recording Media.He
added: “The Tape Tracker gives power back to the data managers to
maintain a chain of custody for these assets as they move between data
centre backup, vault or disaster recovery destinations.”The tracking
cartridges are designed to look like any other tape media being
transported. It uses geo-fencing from LoJack and SCI’s InTransit, which
claims it is the largest law enforcement protocol and dispatch network
in the business – and lets the SCI command centre dispatch the
authorities to recover missing or stolen tapes.
The associated
web application offers online geo-mapping with satellite imagery. The
system also allows for geo-fencing, perimeter exit notifications, and
route discrepancy alerts, just in case the driver decides on a new
route.”Data assets are well-protected in the data center and within a
vault or duplicate operations center – but there has been no way to
maintain continual chain of custody in real time. Now, with Tape
Tracker combined with the LoJack-InTransit, there is and effective
solution,” said Robert Furtado, chief executive of SC-Integrity. “If
left unmonitored, backup, disaster recovery and archive data assets can
become the Achilles heel to any business or an industry – particularly
if the data is sensitive.”Tape Tracker isn’t just for tracking
post-incident, the firms said, but can be used for reporting, allowing
for refinements to security protocols and chain of custody for
efficiency.