pjd@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Peter J. Dotzauer) (08/19/90)
What is the normal shelf/storage life of data tape cartrigdes (specifically DC-2000 tapes). In the case of periodic backups, this question is not relevant, since the time between two backups is certainly much shorter than the storage life of the data. However, I also use the tape cartidges for archiving large data sets that I don't always use, and that would not all fit on my hard disk simultaneously anyway. How long can such an archive be considered safe? After how much time can I still be reasonable sure that I can read all the data without errors? Perhaps, after some time, the archive should be restored, and re-written on the same tape, or, after still more time, written on a new tape. But what is that time span? Six months? Two Years? Five Years? Neither the tape drive manufacturer (Colorado Memory Systems) nor the tape cartridge manufacturer (Sony) were able to even give a hint. All they said that the storage life of data tape depends on certain conditions, such as temperature, humidity, etc, and following their recommendations (no sunlight, no strong magnetic fields) would maximize the shelf life, but they still did not say what that would be. I have had a 2,400 ft., 9-track mainframe tape sitting for 5 years without being even read or spun, and all data could be read without errors. Are DC-2000 tape cartidges comparable in reliability to mainframe tapes? -=- Peter Dotzauer, Analyt.Cart.& GIS, Dept.of Geogr., OSU, Columbus, OH 43210-1361 TEL +1 614 292 1357 FAX +1 614 292 6213 FIDO 1:226/330 CCnet mapvxa::pjd INTERNET pjd+@osu.edu |ace for rent...this space for rent...this space f| BITNET pjd@ohstvmb UUCP ...!osu-cis!hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu!pjd