Hugh,
Thanks for the detailed reply. And, thanks for the local contacts.
> If you select a vendor who provides neither of these then you should be
shot!
I'll try very hard not to get shot!
> At least store it with the proper environmental controls in both
locations and you
will be okay. Most banks don't air condition their vaults so they fail the
environmental
control issue.
What do you think about the following backup scenario, if the technology
were available, which I think is the most practical all around? I'm
talking about routine backup purposes. I'm assuming that tapes are the
most fragile and finicky media. I'm assuming that, if you meet the
requirements for tapes, papers and discs and hard drives are fine. I have
no clue about film.
ON-Site - Climate controlled media cabinet, but not fire protected,
magnetic shielded, vertical media storage, possibly with an anti static mat
in front - preferably grounded. The cabinet would probably have cooling,
but not heating. It would possibly have a dehumidifier, but not a
humidifier. Tape storage at 68 degrees F or colder if the building gets
colder. Humidity at 30% or less if the building is drier than that. When
the furnace is running at my house in the winter, humidity occasionally
gets below 30%.
OFF-Site - The whole enchilada. Fire protection, climate control,
security, flood protection?, magnetic shielding, vertical storage, power
failure protection, dust protection, and static protection. Temperature:
68 degrees, yes? Or 50 degrees? Humidity, 30%. Re-tension tapes every 6
months. (I guess my old VHS tapes are in trouble.) Tapes preferably
stored with encrypted data.
Do the off site storage companies you mentioned provide all these
features? Where do they set their climate control systems?
Now, lets talk about archiving rather than backups. I intend to start
producing instructional videos to sell. Let's say I become very
successful. Suppose I accumulated hundreds of Mini-DV tapes of source
footage that I want to save for a decade or so. I would access them only
rarely when I wanted to retrieve old footage and edit it. I would use the
master, copy master, work copy method. Should these be stored in a
different facility other than the backup tapes? Should they be stored
under different conditions?
These are the mysteries of life, er technology, that keep me up at night!
Sincerely,
Ron
------------------------------
Ron Frazier - owner of: http://c3energy.com/ ---
http://c3energy.com/alt_energy/
http://c3energy.com/computersecurity/ --- http://c3energy.com/health/
I am an independent researcher / consultant specializing in Alternative
Energy and Data Security.
I am particularly interested in exploring ways to archive data over long
periods of time.
Ron Frazier -- 4050 Dorothy Dr. -- Cumming, GA 30041 -- 770-205-9422
(O) -- 404-431-5472 (C)
Email: rwfrazier AT c3energy DOT com (replace the AT and DOT by hand)
List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
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