Re: tapes best for backup?
On Thu, Jan 03, 2008 at 09:56:19PM -0600, Ron Johnson wrote:
> On 01/03/08 20:30, Douglas A. Tutty wrote:
> > One of the threads over at misc@openbsd.org has gone OT (for them) into
> > discussing backup media. The concensus there seems to be that tape
> > (e.g. DLT) is still the best for long-term storage (e.g. archives)
>
> Do "they" even make new DLT 8000 drives anymore? We are happy with
> SuperDLT2 drives, but are transitioning to LTO3.
>
> > because CD/DVDs fade rather quickly while hard drives get "bit rot" over the
> > years and since they're not being run frequently you don't see error
> > messages appearing.
> >
> > I'm wondering what people here on DU use. Lets say the archive size is
> > 7 GB. It could fit on one DVD; one(?) or two USB sticks, SD cards, etc;
>
> 7GB? That was a lot in 1992, when DLT-III was king, but now DLT IV
> is ancient, and 7GB is -- bluntly -- chickenfeed.
>
Right. What about things of great sentimental value? E.g. family
photos? What about financial records? Sure 7 GB is chickenfeed. It
fits on one DVD. However, to put that on the shelf, what to use to make
it last?
> > an old spare hard drive or a new dedicated hard drive in (presumably) an
> > external (USB, firewire, eSATA?) case.
> >
> > Do people still use tape? I note that the drive prices for used drives
> > on eBay are quite low but then most (?) would need to add the
> > appropriate scsi card since I doubt they would be SATA compatible.
>
> What kind? DLT8000 drives have been around now for 15 years
>
> > Other than rsyncing to another box, what do people use for
> > put-it-on-the-shelf archiving?
>
> How important is the data? Personal or commercial?
>
> If a reputable archival company like Iron Mountain offers on-line
> storage, then I'd encrypt it and drop it on their servers.
So how do they store it? If they're just going to drop it onto a hard
drive and forget about it, how is that different than me putting it on 2
hard drives: one on a backup server that runs so that hard drive errors
show up; one in an external case that gets a fresh backup put on it
every month or so and goes to the bank's safety deposit box? Or, if
they're just going to archive it in a tape library, how is that
different than me putting it on a tape and putting that in the bank?
Doug.
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