How long will they last?

From: Paul E Coad <pcoad_at_crl.com>
Date: Mon Mar 31 20:45:25 1997

Hi Bill,

>
> I was talking to a friend this weekend who brought
> up this idea that before long EPROMs in our old
> computers are going to start to go bad. This is
> something I've heard before but, to be honest, I
> don't know enough to make a judgement on it. If
> this is the case, I suppose I should be burning
> backups.
>
This is something about which to worry.

> While I'm at it... What are some other concerns
> along these lines. What should we be planning
> for as these machines grow 5, 10, 15 years older?
>

My other worry is storage. Magnetic tapes and disks do not last forever.
Hard disks do not last forever. How long until the last 8 incher finally
gives up the ghost and sheds all of its bits? I know that there are still
a few places which sell them, but how much longer will they be manufactured?
How long until the last MFM hard drive wears out?

Most manuals were not printed on acid free paper, how long until they
start to turn to dust?

How long do cassette tapes last?

In 50 to 100 years how many of the machines that run fine today will
not be usable because there are no disks on which to store programs or
data?

I have come across some solutions, though none of them are really
optimal:

Use a PC with a high grade sound card to store and load cassette data to
older machines. I don't personally know if anyone has really done this.

Store critical data (ROM images) on punched mylar tape.

Store disk images on CDROM. (How long do these last? I've heard 50
years, can anyone confirm this?) This has the problem of moving the
data from the CD to the target machine. I don't think that my PX-8
can understand ISO 9660 file systems.

For the near term we can backup every disk we acquire. Pull out the
old machines at least once a year and make new backups. Stockpile
anything which will wear out. Keep everything clean, out of direct
sunlight, and within a reasonable temperature range.

Anyone have any really good long-term solutions for the preservation
of our machines?

--pec
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Received on Mon Mar 31 1997 - 20:45:25 BST