We recommend the following “safe taping” procedures:
· Each night write data to tape.
· If written using IRAF, read the tape using “rfits devicename list+” to substantiate everything is there. If written using tar, read the tape using “tar –tvf devicename” to substantiate that everything is there.
· Deallocate the drive, remove the tape, and stick it under your pillow.
· Make a second copy of your tape. (This tape could be an accumulative copy of the data throughout your run.) Check this tape with rfits or tar -tvf!
· Only now delete the data from disk if necessary.