[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: [ARSCLIST] Audio storage on external hard drives
on 2/23/05 11:36 AM, Steven Smolian at smolians@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
> My original comments concerning using external hard drives for long-term
> storage still hold. All responses here seemed about frequent short-term
> usage. How will they work after not being used for, say, 15 years, a not
> unusual period of time between placing audio into an archive and bringing it
> out for retrieval. I'm still dubious indeed.
Hi Steve,
You need to change your thinking here. As Richard points out we should be
looking at a managed IT solution, not for a digital format that will last
forever. To use another term, we must move from a media based archival
storage system to file based archival storage. So rather than copying the
files to a disc and putting it on the shelf for 15 years, we must use some
combination of spinning discs, tape-based backup and physical redundancy of
the data - a mirrored system in another location for example. In addition,
the system should include a schedule of migrating the data to new storage
medium based upon the life expectancy of the existing system.
The idea here is that we are now preserving the file, not the media. the
medium on which the file is stored is unimportant as long as it is reliable
includes redundancy and is refreshed periodically.
--
Konrad Strauss
Director of Recording Arts
Associate Professor of Music
Indiana University School of Music
http://php.indiana.edu/~kstrauss
http://www.music.indiana.edu/department/audio/