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Aldrich Consulting Services, Inc. can solve your data conversion needs with either a custom software application or you can arrange for a service visit at our US location in Southern New Jersey. We can even perform a service at your facility upon request. You may determine this is the best solution for your situation if the data cannot leave your facility or the data may require some manipulation or interpretation on site.
Simple Data Conversion Simple data conversion can be defined as the transferring of files between different operating systems or backup routines without converting the data. Examples:
Media conversion is handling different magnetic or opto-magnetic media. With high-speed communications, it is now possible to send large files via Internet, and many people have seen this as the death of tape. But interestingly as communications get faster so do file sizes that need to be transferred, and with magnetic tape now able to store 100GB of data, it is still in many cases the best way to transfer large volumes of data. However, there are many types of tape drives, from 4mm DATs to DLT and IBM LTOs. To interchange data, it is essential to have a compatible drive that must read the relevant variation of tape that may be provided by the supplier of data. Examples:
Format conversion is required if each computer has a different operating system. A Unix system often uses different file systems to a DOS system or an IBM mainframe. The way that files are stored on tapes can vary enormously due to both operating system and application. Even on a Windows based PC, tapes could be written with ArcServe, NT Backup, Legato and many more. As a rule, each tape writing method is incompatible with others. Examples:
Magneto-Optical Conversion Optical conversion involves converting your image files from optical platters including 3.5", 5.25", 12", 14", WORM, Permanent WORM, and Read/Write cartridges to CD, DVD or in some cases, tape. Our expertise includes processing platters of all sizes including 1.3GB, 2.6GB and 5.2GB platters in “WORM” or “Re-Writable” formats. We will need to know your system type, application type and the software details that wrote the disks as well as the same for the converted disks, in order to provide an accurate conversion quote. Examples:
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Different operating systems have
different application software, and each application normally has its own
internal way of saving data. There are some standards such as CSV files for
databases and RTF files for word processing text, however, these are few and far
between and often only save the basic information rather than the full
structure. Other significant areas of incompatibility come from mainframe type
applications that use EBCDIC and packed numbers to keep their data. Data
conversion problems can arise with any interchange system, and although networks
and the Internet can mask many media and format interchange problems, data
incompatibility can still remain.