Date: Sun, 27 May 2007 11:01:32 -1000 From: Robert Marella <rmarella@gmail.com> To: Peter Jeremy <peterjeremy@optushome.com.au> Cc: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Subject: OT: Archiving Photos (was OT: In defense of a GUI (was: atapicam, blah, blah)) Message-ID: <20070527110132.0090d79c@p4> In-Reply-To: <20070526234310.GV1992@turion.vk2pj.dyndns.org> References: <20070525150929.GA25582@panix.com> <200705251630.l4PGU0YF091446@lurza.secnetix.de> <20070525094635.3932cddf@p4> <20070525200212.GA31112@slackbox.xs4all.nl> <20070525104031.36e2a857@p4> <20070525211101.GA73319@slackbox.xs4all.nl> <20070526234310.GV1992@turion.vk2pj.dyndns.org>
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On Sun, 27 May 2007 09:43:10 +1000 Peter Jeremy <peterjeremy@optushome.com.au> wrote: > On 2007-May-25 23:11:01 +0200, Roland Smith <rsmith@xs4all.nl> wrote: > >CD-R and DVD=B1R might not be the most reliable form of long term > >backup, though. I've seen test reports in magazines indicating > >significant corruption after as little as two years. > ... > >I like USB harddisks for backups, >=20 > Media requirements for archival purposes are different to backup > requirements. I agree that USB HDDs appear a good choice for backups > but I'm less certain about using them for archival purposes. >=20 > HDDs are not designed for long term storage and I would expect that > stiction problems would affect both the heads and bearings if the > disks were left in storage for long periods. >=20 > >1.75 that of a cheap DVD disk. But problems like splitting up large > >directories disappear, as does hunting through stacks of DVDs.=20 >=20 > The downside is that a faulty HDD will affect several orders of > magnitude more data than a faulty DVD. >=20 > >Other people here are more knowledgeable about things like tape > >backup, which still seems to be a popular solution for people with > >large collections of data.=20 >=20 > Techniques for long-term storage of tapes are well known. The > downside is that both tape drives and media are comparatively > expensive. >=20 > In general, whatever media is chosen for archives, the media needs to > be stored in a controlled environment and verified regularly. If the > information needs to be kept for extended periods, it may be necessary > to migrate the data (both physical and file format) to retain access > to the information. >=20 Peter Thank you for your response. I have been thinking about a response since the last post by Roland. I am sure I could not have answered as well as you did. For certain, daily backups are performed on each of the photographers computers to external firewire HDD. In addition to the facts you stated about long term storage on HDD i would like to add cost and space. A decent external 500GB HDD will run near $200 whereas a package of 100 DVDs is about $40 when not on sale. And this is doubled when you want two copies. I have a 18 gallon storage tub for one copy of the DVDs of photographs taken in 2006. The photographer keeps the other copy on hand for quick access. This would probably equate to 7 or 8 external HDD that would have to be stored by each of us.=20 Add to that the speed of pulling up the required photo. When the required photo is double clicked in the Portfolio catalog it requests the particular DVD be inserted in any optical drive. In the case of an external HDD, the correct HDD would have to be located and connected (USB/Firewire) and we would have to hope it would take on the correct drive letter (MSWindows program). We have discussed data decay on all types of media and are thinking about the newer 100 year DVDs. It always come down to cost. How much do we spend so that 4 or 5 years down the road a bride calls because Uncle Elmer and Auntie Virginia want a couple of 5x7s from the wedding. This is good business because is almost pure profit.=20 Years ago it was easy. She just went to her file cabinet and pulled the file and found the negatives. We still had to worry about the environment because negative will also age but now about 95% of her work is digital. The real issue is technology. In the next couple of years who can guess what the "hot" archival storage media will be. We may have a optic drive no larger that a CompactFlash card that will hold 1,000TBs or more.=20 For now we will continue to use DVDs and verify it frequently. Regards Robert
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