[rollei_list] Re: Storage Media [OT]
- From: "Neil Gould" <neil@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 2 May 2008 08:12:31 -0500
> rollei_list Digest Thu, 01 May 2008 Volume: 04 Issue: 109
>
> On 5/1/08, Mark Rabiner <mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> Those more expensive gold DVD's are supposed to be ok though.
>> I'm getting those.
>>
>> Mark William Rabiner
>> markrabiner.com
>
They are not any better than other recordable DVD material.
and...
> From: Allen Zak <azak@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Thu, 1 May 2008 14:01:22 -0400
>
> Are there any media that offer "reasonable," if not archival,
> longevity for digital files?
>
The honest answer is "no".
and...
> From: "Austin Franklin" <austin.franklin@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Thu, 1 May 2008 14:16:33 -0400
>
> Hi Eric,
>
> I'd say hard drives (even if you burn two) would not be very
> archival. They still have an MTBF that is pretty low, and they
> don't necessarily last well over time even if unused.
>
Exactly. "Archival" is supposed to be a lot longer than 20 years. Think
"papyrus"...
and...
> From: Michael Eric Berube <pj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> I agree that all burnable media is more volatile, but the files I
> burned even cheap CDs in 2002 are still fine so far. I've had discs fail
> when I was writing them, but so far, I've not had any fail afterwards
and no
> cases at all where /both/ copies of a particular disc failed in
> storage.
> Still, I don't take any chances and I keep copies of all archived
> files on the external HDs too. I use multiple copies of both...external
HDs,
> unplugged unless I'm writing or reading to/from them...and Gold
> CD/DVDs in cool, dry, vertical dark storage. When a new standard comes
out
> I'll make new copies of all of the 1s and 0s on that too and I encourage
my
> clients to do the same so that they "don't end up with their wedding
> photos on 8-track." (Though increasingly I often now have to explain
> what "8-track" means!)
>
Keeping 100 copies of your digital material just increases the odds that
there will be a usable copy in 2 or 3 years. It is no guarantee that it
will be usable in 20 years, much less 50 years.
About the best digital media that I've used were the opto-magnetic LS-120
"Super Disks", where a laser is used to heat up the media and the magnetic
material is re-oriented then "locked" in place when the media cools down.
Unfortunately, the drives fail pretty quickly, are no longer available,
and are only 120 megs. And, that's after less than 10 years.
Best,
Neil
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