Archiving Data Permanently

[Claude Jones]

On Thu August 18 2005 3:18 pm, Mike McCarty wrote:
> As I mentioned before, tape is very reliable. It has been shown to have
> 20+ year retention. One gets "wear and tear" only when the tape actually
> moves. For data archival purposes, this is effectively never.
>
Since I've spent over thirty years in the media sector, first sound 
engineering, and now television, I can't let this claim pass. You've repeated 
it as gospel. I'm sure there are some studies that would make your point, 
but, in real world conditions, I would never trust critical backups to tape. 
Even supposing a tape's data was intact after 20 years, what would be the 
state of the technology? What  would you retrieve your data with? I've dealt 
with every format of tape there is. Even if it's stored properly, vertically, 
not horizontal on the spool, in temperature and climate controlled 
conditions, there is a wide disparity in tape longevity. BetaSP tapes that 
cost us $60+ when purchased new, will vary widely in their playability even 
after ten years. Older 3/4" stuff is deteriorating rapidly in our archive, 
and we're in a rush to transfer mode lately, to get the material off them and 
on to newer media. The machines that will play this stuff are also getting 
harder and harder to maintain, and find parts for. I've encountered many 
horror stories about computer tape backups as well. Meticulously done, 
perfectly stored, and tape drives kept up to spec, may succeed in the 20-year 
life you speak of, but those conditions are almost never met in the real 
world. If you have the staff to maintain the stuff, the equipment to be 
maintained, the climate controlled storage environment, along with many other 
factors, you might get by with tape backup - I personally would only 
recommend tape as a secondary repository.
-- 
Claude Jones
Bluemont, VA, USA