Long term data storage options?

Hello,

Is there a storage medium available to store data beyond 50 years? I
understand that Magnetic Optical Drives can preserve data on a single disk
for a period (in theory) exceeding over 40 years.

With the longevity of some storage mediums approaching 350,000 hours, I
believe extending beyond 500,000 hours would be ideal for long-term
archival projects spanning several decades.

My question focuses on the theoretical longevity of past and present
computer storage mediums (including):

* - Cassettes
* - 5.25" diskettes (e.g. from the days of the Commodore 64, Apple, etc.)
* - 3.5" diskettes
* - Zip disks
* - CD-R/CD-RW
* - DVD-R/DVD-RW
* - Magnetic Optical disks
* - Tape drive stored mediums

As a point of reference, I do have old diskettes from the Commodore 64
written to in 1984 which still function flawlessly. But I have also
experienced data loss on the more modern 3.5" disks after only a few years
-- is this just bad luck, using different drives, or care issues of the
disk itself (I take excellent care of all my 3.5" disks)?

Sincerely,

Paul Panks



--

SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org

Paul Allen Panks writes:
Is there a storage medium available to store data beyond 50 years? I
understand that Magnetic Optical Drives can preserve data on a single disk
for a period (in theory) exceeding over 40 years.

http://www.rosettaproject.org/live/disk

In article ,
Paul Allen Panks wrote:
Hello,

Is there a storage medium available to store data beyond 50 years? I
understand that Magnetic Optical Drives can preserve data on a single disk
for a period (in theory) exceeding over 40 years.

With the longevity of some storage mediums approaching 350,000 hours, I
believe extending beyond 500,000 hours would be ideal for long-term
archival projects spanning several decades.

My question focuses on the theoretical longevity of past and present
computer storage mediums (including):

* - Cassettes
* - 5.25" diskettes (e.g. from the days of the Commodore 64, Apple, etc.)
* - 3.5" diskettes
* - Zip disks
* - CD-R/CD-RW
* - DVD-R/DVD-RW
* - Magnetic Optical disks
* - Tape drive stored mediums

As a point of reference, I do have old diskettes from the Commodore 64
written to in 1984 which still function flawlessly. But I have also
experienced data loss on the more modern 3.5" disks after only a few years
-- is this just bad luck, using different drives, or care issues of the
disk itself (I take excellent care of all my 3.5" disks)?

Sincerely,

Paul Panks



--

SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org

The last time I was involved, MO disks were the standard for
long-term data storage in the finance world.

Here's a recent National Institute of Standards & Technology document
that I haven't had time to read yet, but a quick scan indicates that
under best cases some CD media can last 100 years or more.

http://www.itl.nist.gov/div895/caref...evity.html#4_1

I'm willing to bet that 100 years from now I will be able to read CDs,
or pay someone a reasonable amount to convert them to current media.
For backup of business data and applications the problem gets much
more complex than just being able to read the bytes.



--
Al Dykes
-----------

"Al Dykes" wrote in message
...

The last time I was involved, MO disks were the standard for
long-term data storage in the finance world.

Here's a recent National Institute of Standards & Technology document
that I haven't had time to read yet, but a quick scan indicates that
under best cases some CD media can last 100 years or more.

http://www.itl.nist.gov/div895/caref...evity.html#4_1

I'm willing to bet that 100 years from now I will be able to read CDs,
or pay someone a reasonable amount to convert them to current media.
For backup of business data and applications the problem gets much
more complex than just being able to read the bytes.
--
Al Dykes
-----------

I'm willing to bet that 10 years from now you'll have problems reading more
than half of your home-burn CDs. The media that you and I buy today is not
stable enough to last a long time and degrades at an alarming rate. The 100
year mark is valid only for pressed CDs, a technique that becomes really
expensive when you have to create a master for each CD-ROM you want to
generate.

Any archiving project at this time, regardless if it's disk, tape or optical
based, should include a well defined migration path to 'the next thing'
every 5-10 years. That's the time span in which either the media, the
hardware, the format or the capacity becomes obsolete.

Rob