--- Tony Duell <ard_at_p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> > Hans' presentation on storing vintage computer data as XML made me
> > realise that the most important thing is to get everything preserved...
>
> I can assure you those paper tapes will still be readable long after your
> hard disk had headcrashed!. Why do people insist on transfering reliable
> storage media onto modern, unreliable stuff? It's the same with
> photographs and cine films -- people transfer them to CDs and DVDs. The
> originals have a much longer life...
True, but I doubt that Hans or any of the rest of us are planning on
trashing the originals after they've been copied.
I have been (slowly) copying off old TU-58 carts with VMS 3.x and VMS 4.x
distros on them because, unlike paper tape, they _do_ degrade with age.
With the data backed up, I can feed the bits into a TU-58 emulator or
even into a real TU-58 drive to keep dependent machines (11/730, 11/750,
etc.) bootable.
I think the thing to remember is, just because you've transferred
something from original media to "modern" (for the moment) media, you
aren't off the hook forever. Those same copies will have to be
copied to "modern" media at some point in the future. Depending on
the original media in question, it might or might not be more sensible
to go back to the originals (if possible).
I have boxes of paper tape. I have probably had one or two tear in
20+ years of using them (a floating point tape for the PDP-8 that
snagged in an ASR-33 comes to mind immediately). At some point, I
plan to back all of it up to "modern" disk, but it's at the bottom
of the pile - TU-58s are at the top, followed by RK05 and RL02 packs,
then DECtape-I and, finally, the papertape - they are prioritized by
long-term stablity.
-ethan
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Received on Mon May 12 2003 - 15:53:00 BST