Backup software

A wide variety of backup software exists.

MTF (Microsoft Tape Format)

In 1996, Conner merged with Arcada (a subsidiary of Conner) to form Seagate Software upon their acquisition by Seagate Technology. A new specification of the tape backup format has been developed: the Microsoft Tape format (MTF).

MTF is used in all versions of Backup Exec after 1998. Microsoft also used MTF in Windows NT for NTBackup and later versions of Windows backup software.

The Microsoft tape format is also used in Windows BKF files and in the BackupAssist utility.

MTF tape retrieval / indexing

Our company will assist you in the recovery and/or indexing of your tapes in MTF format.

Backup Exec

Backup Exec is a backup software currently published by Veritas (formerly Symantec).

When used with magnetic tapes, Backup Exec uses the MTF format (Microsoft Tape Format), which is also used by Microsoft's NTBackup software.

Veritas Backup Exec is one of the most popular backup software on the market.

Backup Exec versions

Versions of Backup Exec on which our company is able to provide you with a solution for retrieving or indexing magnetic tape content:

  • Arcada Software Backup Exec (1994 - 1997)
  • Logiciel Seagate Backup Exec (1997 - 1998)
  • VERITAS Backup Exec (1999 - 2005)
  • Symantec Backup Exec (2005 - 2015)
  • Veritas Backup Exec (> 2015)
Backup Exec - Image veritas

NTBackup

NTBackup is a backup software introduced in Windows NT in 1997. This software is also available in Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

It uses the MTF backup format (Microsoft Tape Format) as well as Veritas Backup Exec.

Since Windows Vista, NTBackup has been replaced by a backup software using the VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) file format.

Recovery / indexing NTBackup tape

Our company will assist you in the recovery and/or indexing of your backed up tapes in NTBackup format.

NT Backup - Image microsoft

Linux TAR backup

The TAR backup software, for Tape Archiver, is a standard Unix / Linux program. It was created in the first version of Unix.

Private users don't use it so much nowadays. Nevertheless, in the Unix/Linux environment, the TAR program is still the most popular archiving tool.

A tar archive file is not compressed as a ZIP file. It is therefore often compressed by another program. This is why we often see .tar.gz files. The .tar files are compressed by the gzip program.

Recovery / indexing on TAR tapes

Essentially, the format consists of a concatenation of the content of the files. Each file is preceded by a 512-byte header.

Our company will assist you in the recovery and/or indexing of your tapes in TAR format.

Veeam Backup & Replication

Veeam Backup uses the MTF format (Microsoft Tape Format) as well as Microsoft's NTBackup, BackupAssist or the popular Veritas Backup Exec.

Veeam was one of the first suppliers to develop backup software for virtual computers. It is currently compatible with VMWare vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V.

Recovery / indexing on Veeam tapes

Our company will assist you in the recovery and/or indexing of your backed up tapes using Veeam Backup and Replication software.

Veeam Backup - Image veeam