Posted by Rick Merrill on 02/09/07 22:04

Gene wrote:
> Sorry, I REALLY am not trying to be argumentative - I just
> do not understand what you are saying.
>
> I do not think you fully understand the history of the internet,
> or how it is currently structured. The internet was initially
> funded to send a message (in parts) via telephone line
> links so that it would be secure. That is, if someone read
> 1/2 of the message, then they probably would not completely
> understand said classified message. This was during the cold war,
> if I remember. Then the universities started playing with it, then
> NASA used some of its enormous budget & got involved. Today,
> it is basically the same animal. Probably not much of a security
> vehicle for national defense today, but a great way for the world
> to communicate with text, as well as download full-length movies,
> etc. Mechanically, it's basically the same old internet, sending
> out packets to nodes all over the world, then reassembling the
> packets for the final product.
>
> The internet is nothing more than a lot of computers connected
> together via telephone & other links. My ISP is one, your ISP is one,
> if I had an old PC in my back room connected to the internet, it would
> be a node. The nodes usually have hard drives attached, some have
> tape drive backup(s), there are a lot of data storage possibilities.
>
> When I hit return on THIS text message, it will go to my ISP, and from there
> "who knows" where it will be routed. If I am not mistaken, they still break
> up this
> text message into at least two parts, for security. THIS text message will
> be
> spread over the internet, in pieces - who knows where. However, it will
> eventually
> be patched back together and displayed in this newsgroup as a string of
> text.
> Bits and pieces of THIS text message may remain on certain nodes for
> some time - never looked into how long each node retains said pieces.
>
> What I "thought" you initially suggested was that I place my family A/V data
> onto the internet as a better solution to my burning the MiniDV tapes onto
> DVD-Rs at my home for permanent storage. If I placed my camcorder data on
> the internet,
> (other than FTP it to some place like my ISP or other computer) then it
> would be scattered
> all over the USA and possibly the world. How would you ever retrieve the
> pieces tomorrow,
> let alone 20 years from now? My A/V data would presumably make it to a
> final destination,
> like my ISP's hard drive(s), etc., or some company that provides storage
> space. All of
> the packet data on the internet would eventually be erased, except for the
> data at the final
> destination. There is no enormous storage space out there called the www or
> internet, or whatever
> that permanently stores your data for 20 years. Your data goes to a storage
> device, presumably
> at your ISP, or other computer that you choose. There, it gets archived onto
> disk, tape,
> or whatever storage media for storing for the 20 years. It would have to be
> stored on random access
> media to be easily downloaded for your use, else you would have to send in a
> request for
> certain data to be copied from your archive tape to hard drive, so you could
> download a video clip.
>
> I do not believe that any company can stay in business providing 1GB of data
> storage
> for 20 years for a total of $0.06/USD, which is my current cost to burn a
> high quality DVD-R at my home.
> In the future, we may see links that are a LOT faster than T1, and uploading
> 50GB would
> not be a big deal, but even then, I still would not want folks warehousing
> my private personal
> camcorder A/V data - at any price.
>
> If you know of a place on the web that will do this for free, or $0.06/GB
> for 20 years guaranteed
> storage, please post their URL. I'm never too old to learn new stuff:-)
> I think that I would better understand what you are saying by reading their
> web page.
>
> Sorry if I misunderstood what you were initially suggesting,
> I'm really confused by your comments.
>
> Hmmmm - I'm not sure if FTP breaks the data into packets or not?
> I just assumed that it was packets too, just never thought ~ it until
> today:-)
> Academic, but anyone know?
>
> Gene
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "Richard Crowley" <rcrowley@xp7rt.net> wrote in message
> news:5341gbF1qlft4U1@mid.individual.net...
>> "GMAN" wrote ...
>>> "Richard Crowley" wrote:
>>>> "Gene" wrote ...
>>>>> Sorry, but I still do not understand how anyone could store my data
>>>>> as cheaply as I can. That would assume that I was willing to
>>>>> allow someone to view my family movies - which I would NEVER do.
>>>>>
>>>>> As of today, my total out-of-pocket cost to store a gigabyte of data
>>>>> is ~ six cents/US ($0.06). That is on a very high quality DVD-R,
>>>>> single. I can't even conceive of someone providing me with 20 years
>>>> I think there will be LOTS of horror stories here in less than 20
>>>> years of people who thought that writable optical discs would
>>>> provide some sort of "archival quality" storage. Good luck.
>>>> But whatever you do, don't throw away the original tapes.
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Yet, you are going to trust your ISP to keep your data safe
>>> for that long on their hardware?
>> 1) Thats just silly. An ISP is not an archive. An ISP is a place
>> to host my web pages, and a SMTP server to shuttle my email.
>>
>> 2) Reputable ISPs run industrial-strength backup/restore
>> systems. (Using digital mag tape.) To cover hardware failures
>> at their end. I expect nothing more (or less) from any ISP.

Well you got the transmission by packets right - but the truth is that
the odds are HUGE that each packet will in fact take the same path.

But you misunderstood the storage part. Google, for example, gives
everybody who wants it 2GB of storage for email FREE! Zip your files and
email them to yourself!

The internet connects many types of storage. Data actually may or may
not move from one place to another. Also, look up internet "mirrors".

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