Re: tapes best for backup?

[David Brodbeck <brodbd@u.washington.edu>]

On Jan 5, 2008, at 1:20 PM, Ron Johnson wrote:

> On 01/05/08 15:00, David Brodbeck wrote:
> > On Jan 5, 2008, at 8:06 AM, Douglas A. Tutty wrote:
> > > I started this thread on debian-user after a thread on OpenBSD  
> > > berated
> > > someone for relying on CD/DVDs for backups and archives because they
> > > fade over time.
> > If that's the concern, why not copy the archived material to new  
> > media every five years or so?  The discs aren't that expensive, and  
> > experience seems to suggest that the data is pretty safe for that  
> > time period. Keeping the current and previous copy would add  
> > another layer of safety -- two copies are unlikely to both get  
> > damaged in exactly the same spot.
>
> But since that's tedious and prone to forgetfulness (who remembers  
> to copy -- possibly dozens of -- DVD's and CR-Rs to new media every  
> FIVE years?), continuous/rotating backup to modern ultrahigh-density  
> hard drives seems best for home and SOHO use.

That's pretty much what I do.  I archive some stuff to optical media,  
but it's mostly old software and TV program recordings -- stuff that's  
nice to have, but that I wouldn't be too hacked off if I lost.