adamd@rhi.hi.is (Adam David) (04/04/91)
EPROM specifications mention a data retention in excess of 10 years. Does this mean 10 years from correct programming, or does it mean 10 years after removal of power source? Is it reasonable to expect EPROM to retain its data for 100 years if it is used regularly? -- Adam David. (adamd@rhi.hi.is)
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (04/05/91)
In article <3010@krafla.rhi.hi.is> adamd@rhi.hi.is (Adam David) writes: >EPROM specifications mention a data retention in excess of 10 years. >Does this mean 10 years from correct programming, or does it mean 10 years >after removal of power source? Is it reasonable to expect EPROM to retain >its data for 100 years if it is used regularly? Ten years from correct programming. Power is not involved in the data retention process and will not extend whatever lifetime the data has. Actually, "in excess of 10 years" means "we're pretty sure it will last at least 10, so we'll promise that and no more". EPROMs have not been around more than about 15 years, and so any estimate of how long the data in them will really last is necessarily an extrapolation from tests in unrealistically harsh conditions. We just don't know what their real lifetime will be in normal conditions, not for sure. Nobody is going to promise 100 years based on current information. -- "The stories one hears about putting up | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology SunOS 4.1.1 are all true." -D. Harrison| henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry