Re: [ARSCLIST] IBM Claims 6.67 billion bits per square inch for data tape

["Richard L. Hess" <arclists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 10:49 AM 5/17/2006, Karl Miller wrote:
> On Tue, 16 May 2006, Richard L. Hess wrote:
>
> > High density data tape still the "champ" according to this article:
> >
> > http://www.eet.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=187203437
>
> Thanks for the forward. Can someone help me...I recall an article in the
> not too distant past where some "IBM" scientist claimed that magnetic tape
> offered the greatest longevity for the storage of information...is my
> memory correct? and if so, am I the only person who finds it
> interesting that our data tape "champ" is produced by...."IBM?"

In reviewing my own post from January 21st of this year, it appears 
that a data tape guy at IBM Germany was spreading FUD about CDs.

So, in a sense it is ironic. On the other hand, I have no problem 
with the kind of announcement I quoted yesterday. It is a 
breakthrough in technology -- one that will need to be refined and 
developed for mass manufacturing -- but a breakthrough nonetheless 
which deserves notice.

There are huge issues associated with large storage "clumps", but 
that is another issue.

The information coming from IBM Tape Germany was misleading in the 
least, at least based on what I consider the equally valid 
MAM-A/Mitsui in-house studies and the independent studies by Joe 
Iraci at the CCI.

CDs are a robust medium and, I think, the only currently available 
storage medium for audio that follows the traditional approach that 
would allow non-management for an extended (say 50 year) period of 
time. In many senses, the best archival storage medium we have is 
silver-based film kept frozen.

I would think that these high data density tapes and drives would 
require in-situ recertification annually and profiling on every pass 
with "red flags" appropriately raised and tapes duplicated as 
required. This is what Avalon and Tivoli archive managers do now for 
LTO and previous generation tapes. We'll need to continue this.

The holographic and other optical storage methods are intriguing in 
that they would have, presumably, a longer shelf life.

Of course, drive life is a huge issue and cannot be separated from 
media life. LTO, for example, has a 2/1 generation backwards 
compatibility: it will read two-generation old tapes, and write 
one-generation old tapes.

Drive life is an economic / business issue as much as the actual life 
of the motors, bearings, and capacitors.

Cheers,

Richard


Richard L. Hess                   email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.