Archiving Data Permanently

Robin Laing Robin.Laing at drdc-rddc.gc.ca
Thu Aug 18 14:14:41 UTC 2005


James Wilkinson wrote:
> Reuben D. Budiardja wrote:
> 
>>I'd say that in my situation, if the data is not needed after 4-5 years we  
>>probably won't need it at all. It's just that we don't want to just wipe off 
>>a desktop machine clean without doing some amount of archiving. So I'm not 
>>worry about longevity. 
> 
> 
> Given the costs of new disks these days, and the fact that disks do go
> wrong after enough use, do consider just swapping out the hard drive and
> storing the old one somewhere. And getting more disk space into the
> bargain...
> 
> James.
> 

This is one option that is used around here but there are reports that I 
have heard about HD's that don't like being left alone on the shelf and 
need to be part of a computer or they commit suicide. :)

I don't know if it is true or not.

But if long term data retention is important, then checking the data 
from time to time and rewriting the data to new media (which will hold 
more data) may be an option.  Look at the upcoming Blue-Ray as an example.

Tape was mentioned earlier which reminds me of a letter I received from 
the Planetary Society about data recorded on data tape but that the 
player necessary to play the tapes was the last and needed major work.

For now I will stick with DVD's and RAR as an option.  At least with 
some corrupted data, I can do a rebuild and get it back.  Of course two 
copies of really critical data is important.
-- 
Robin Laing




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