SPUG: Re: [SLL] Remote Backup

Mark Yocom myocom at microsoft.com
Fri Jun 23 16:11:13 CDT 2000


> From: Tim Maher [mailto:linux at consultix-inc.com]
> Sent: Friday, June 23, 2000 2:00 PM

<snip!>

> Tape is about the most unreliable offline medium, next to paper,
> due to its sensitivity to temperature and humidity fluctuatinos, and
> the associated problems of stretching and loss of iron oxide (causing
> "dropouts").  I'm not an expert on the latest and greatest 
> options, but my
> guess would be that for maximal stability of the stored data 
> over time,
> you'd have to go with writeable CD-ROMS or DVDs, or something similar.
> However, for non-critical work (like I do at home, but unlike what the
> Pentagon is supposed to be doing), you might be willing to 
> compromise the
> ability to store the data for 50 years to save some money!  
> Personally,
> I use tapes, and have been pretty lucky with them so far, but 
> for really
> important stuff, I'd be looking for a more durable medium.

<snip!>

Two of the biggest wins for tape, though, are capacity and speed (as
compared to CD-R/DVD).  You can back up gigs and gigs of data onto a single
tape (8mm AIT, for example), and do so at rather impressive rates ( >
100MB/minute).  I haven't seen any optical medium that can hold a proverbial
candle to that.

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