OT: Archiving data (LONG)

From: allisonp_at_world.std.com <(allisonp_at_world.std.com)>
Date: Wed May 31 13:46:04 2000

> > Mylar punched paper tape has a VERY long lifetime and is even human
> > readable (well sorta ;)).
>
> Everytime this talk of using punched mylar cards to archive data comes up
> I have to laugh. First of all, do we all realize how many cards it would


Read carefully tape is not cards.

> take to store even one floppy disk? And then, where are all these cards
> going to go? Where does one store millions of punched cards? Who's going
> to pay for this?

First, whose twisting your arm? It was a thought, and only that!

> keep looking for new mediums to transfer the archive to. The best medium
> I see now is redudndant living systems, and what I mean by that is having

I already do that.

> Of course the archives could also be dumped to CD ROM every N years.
> Then, when something comes along to imrpove on CD technology, we move to
> that.

Just like mag tape only maybe less often.


> Anyway, it's a matter of feasibility and practicality. Suggesting
> solutions like punched cards makes no sense when you're dealing with
> gigabytes of data.

Again reread tape is not cards! the information density of tape FYI is
higher than cards and laks the "ordering" problem if dropped. Also no
rule says 10 punches per linear inch is required, you could go 16 wide
and 20 per inch upping the denity fourfold. Or better yet optically
print the image (density limits already mentiond are 100-1000x).

Dream a bit, maybe a cheap idea will emerge.

Allison
Received on Wed May 31 2000 - 13:46:04 BST