On Jan 14, 2008 9:16 PM, Oren Beck [email protected] wrote:
- IS a device with 80% of it's estimated "life" used still "Stable" for
archive use? Defined as whatever data is the "Last Writes" remaining stable for the same # of years as a written to "less" device or not. With qualifiers on confidence levels and non-obvious issues.
Media is cheap. Media goes bad. I have yet to meet a media that I could reliable set in a fire-proof safe and depend on for true archival purposes, because either the media will go bad or the device interface will become obsolete. Even printing hard-copies with many modern InkJets is worthless, because the ink is only expected to remain readable for a relatively short period of time (even special inks are only expected to have a 100 year shelf life, and I maintain paper records older than that). Also, flash drives do have exposed metal contacts which can corrode or wear off.
Since media is continually becoming cheaper per MB, it only makes sense to "upgrade" your archived data every couple years. This allows you to consolidate stuff when it becomes scattered (it always does), and ensure that all of your data is still readable. I usually find that by doing this, the amount of physical storage room I need to store my data stays roughly the same over time, because larger capacity media becomes available. You should also make a habit of storing copies of applications needed to open your files.
~Bradley