Posted by David McCall on 07/21/07 14:24

"Martin Heffels" <goofies@flikken.net> wrote in message
news:2pn3a317luaf6mr73o73agc1uq0gujnguc@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:28:49 GMT, Jan Panteltje
> <pNaonStpealmtje@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>Yes, true, harddisk masters are very vulnerable, drop one and all is gone.
>
> Why would you do that? ;-) A safeguard would be using a RAID-system
>
>>If we leave magnetics aside there is this holographic optical thing
>
> Sounds like an interesting technology
>
>>But I think optical media have a big plus over tapes.
>>Dropouts, fungus in moist climates are for example things tapes are
>>sensitive to.
>
> That is a matter of storing. Most people think you can put the tapes
> just in a cupboard in the attic. With a bit of thinking, you can store
> the tapes in a safer place, making them last much longer.
> Optical media are not safe either. They are vulnerable to fungus as
> well, and you can't leave them lying around in UV-rays for too long.
> Tape is a bit better protected.
>
> In the end it comes down to being able to restore damaged media. With
> tape you loose only a little bit, if you cut out a section, but
> optical media is a bit more difficult if the damage is larger. You
> would loose more as the bit-density is mucher higher than with tape.
>
>>Given change in technology we will have to backup digital again on some
>>new medium likely
>>every 10 years or more often...
>
> You can always store on film. That will last a 100 year or so :-)
>
>>Of course it could all end up on one little chip :-)
>>No moving parts.
>>1 Tera Byte SDcards?
>>If you extrapolate the curve I'd say 'yes'.
>
> But then yoiu are always dealing with the fact that the
> connector-interface is changed every so many years, making the card
> obsolete (just like with all the different tape formats).
>
Of course you are correct.

The beauty of a card reader is that it is a very simple device with every
little that is likely to fail. If you can find a card reader and a computer
that still has an appropriate interface and you are home free. With tape
you not only have to find a deck, you have to find one that still works.


> cheers
>
> -martin-

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