source for cheap TK50s?

From: Eric Smith <eric_at_brouhaha.com>
Date: Tue Jun 13 01:05:06 2000

R. D. Davis wrote:
> Not at all... for long-term storage of those important files, perhaps
> periodic backups to good-quality magtape (1/2" reel to reel) is the
> safest solution.

If you're looking for long-term archival storage, 1/2" magtape is
NOT it. Even of tapes written to good quality media (e.g., the 3M
Blackwatch 700 someone here praised a while back), I've found some
that were written only seven years ago and stored in a suitably climate-
controlled area that can't be read now. And others on cheap tape stored
in a garage for 25 years that read fine. The longevity of the media is
far too unpredictable.

IMHO, the only thing that makes sense today is to write archives to CD-R
(with a gold reflective layer, not the shoddy silver stuff), and plan
to recopy it to newer (and possibly more modern) media within 20 years.

Kodak did a study of their CD-R media (the white paper is available on
their web site somewhere), and with accelerated aging tests found that
they could *conservatively* rate their media for 100 year data retention.
They did point out, however, that accelerated aging does not necessarily
accurately model all failure mechansims. However, it should still be quite
reasonable to expect a substantial portion of that, so even someone as
paranoid about it as I am should still be able to expect 10-20 years.

I also wouldn't trust any old cheapo CD-R media even if it does have a
gold reflective layer. The name brand stuff is *significantly* better in
terms of error rates.

I'd probably write at least two different copies of any valuable data on
two different name brands of CD-R media, and then verify them is several
CD-ROM drives.
Received on Tue Jun 13 2000 - 01:05:06 BST