On Mar 3, 2005, at 12:01 AM, Automatic digest processor wrote:
> From: Gerard Nicol <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Temperature Point at which Computer Media Fails
>
> Hugh,
>
> I suspect that you might never find the information in the format you
> expect.
>
> Technology companies tend not to define failure in such black and white
> terms. Rather media such as hard disks are measured in terms of
> failures
> over time.
>
> As conditions worsen the reliability decreases, but people tend to
> leave
> the threshold of failure to be interpreted within the scope of the
> application.
> After all this is the rational behind RAID arrays; that is using less
> reliable disks with an expectation that one but not all will fail.
>
> If you can not find anything I would be happy to help you cook a few
> tapes
> for the betterment of mankind.
>
> Gerard
I agree with all of this, but I think that while an IT Manager might
quickly becomes bored with this subject as they tend to relate to speed
and volume of information per tape as a more valuable trait, I think
this is a good subject for the Listserv because the primary focus here
is retention schedules and the ability of the paper, microfilm or media
to be available for as long as it is being relied on as a record.
I did some research and found several manufacturers who are concerned
with storing, transporting and operating media in the proper formats.
Perm-a-stor and Russ Bassett have Transit cases where the media is
loaded vertical and the handles are on the top so they stay vertical.
I am sure Douglas also overs such a case I just haven't found the
reference yet.
Some of the Juke boxes also store the media in vertical format.
Why should a records managers care about such things? (Other than this
is what we do, or you do. See how empathetic I am.) Here is the
answer: Storage Magazine just ran an article about "The Tale of the
Tape" and I was shocked at the high failure rate of tape. Especially
when the manufacturers of the tape have led us to believe how reliable
it was and what a wide range of temperatures it would function in and
remain viable in.
But snapped leaders are a direct result of poor storage environments
and especially the improper handling of the tapes. Making sure the
tapes stays in tension is critical to the life of the media.
Transporting vertical, storing vertical and operating in a vertical
environment until the drive takes the tape and puts in in operating
tension is absolutely vital to the life span of the media. If a
manufacturer says you can use this media 5,000 times and some 250,000
and one manufacturer says 1,000,000 times reliably, they say this with
the caveat that all other things are perfect.
Every change in temperature reduces the life, every change in humidity
effects the life. Any extreme exposure destroys the tape. But who is
reacting on the IT end or the Disaster Recovery End?
A single drop from waist height to the floor damages media according to
the manufacturer's own specification. The European Computer
Manufacturer's Association (ECMA) specifications refer to failure as a
result of exposure to temperatures as low as 90º F. A rise in
temperature and humidity simultaneously greatly reduce the life of the
media.
I believe in the next few years, not even as far out as five years,
records managers or the CIO or the Corporate Security Officer will be
charged with this purview. Records managers should be getting involved
with managing the environment. Make this your area of management
before others realize how vital it is. No one seems to care much now
but in three years, it will matter.
The Storage Magazine article by Rich Castagna was excellent. A third of
the respondents in their survey said tape failure was a significant
problem. The "Most Common Cause of Backup Failure" at 53% was the
Tape. Just over a quarter of the respondents stated that two or back
ups failed "per week" due to tape failures.
How does this relate to records management? The Rm needs to manage the
tape storage environment and the handling of tape. This is a records
reliability issue.
Big disasters get all the news and Disaster Recovery Magazines will
fret for months about how we can prevent earthquakes and hurricanes and
terrorist attacks or develop a plan to recover from them. But I would
estimate from my years of experience that if you add up all the rush
backups and associated down time and over time and lost efficiency in
the IT Department, that we lose a great deal more money in the
Corporate World from these day in, day out, crisis than we spend on the
few huge disasters that result. These are preventable with management.
Who you store your media with and; the conditions they store them in
matter! How they transport the media matters! Refrigerated trucks or
vans. If they rattle them around in a flip top container, or use
containers that keep switching the tape from vertical to horizontal to
vertical; then the tapes unravel, then the older tapes snap. How old
the media was before you bought it, whether the tape salesman kept your
tapes in a correct environment for the months they sat on his/her shelf
and the temperature and humidity in your own premise tape storage and
more importantly the storage conditions in the offsite vendors vault or
storage room matter. Offsite media storage companies have moved light
years ahead on this but IT Managers are not as responsive because they
are too stressed out dealling with two or more failed back ups per
week! They couldn't possibly consider taking time to look at what is
causing the failures. Afterall, the Tape Salesperson keeps telling them
how great their tapes are.
This should be your responsibility. Be like the snow plow guy! He
rides up and down your street and watches you shoveling snow. "Hey
Buddy? Want me to get that? Just take a few minutes!" Shoot my snow
plow guy has mine done before my neighbor has gotten his pull rope snow
blower to even start. Learn the specs, visit the vendor. Tell them
you are just doing some research for a Chapter Meeting. Everyone is
nervous with SOX and these big fines being levied. Your input will be
welcomed. These are records not just tapes.
But as yet, not one RM from the Listserv replied with what the
conditions were for their tape storage. Shame!
Think of this like the television ad that said "It's 10:00 PM. Do you
know where your kids are?" Well, do you know what condition your
computer records and information assets are in?
This is the best advice I can give, other than "Marry Money!"
Hugh Smith
FIRELOCK Fireproof Modular Vaults
[log in to unmask]
(610) 756-4440 Fax (610) 756-4134
WWW.FIRELOCK.COM
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