[TriLUG] OT: long term storage

[Mark Turner]

Ryan Wheaton wrote:

>    I'm looking into long term storage / backup solutions and was
>wondering what everyone else was using (and how well it worked), and if
>there was something out there that maybe I hadn't thought of.
>
Optical will easily outlast tape. Mag media has about 1/5th the  
shelflife of CD's or DVD's. Humidity is evil.

DVD's and CD's have faster access times (no rewinding). Also, the 
hardware and media are cheaper. I bought a DVD-RAM drive from Intrex 
this week for $45. And there's something to be said about just hanging 
the disc off a network share and letting your users get whatever they 
need without having to bother you to find a tape.

On the other hand, tape does have the advantage of storing far more data.

I say go with DVD-RAM if your data will fit onto the 4-8 gig discs. More 
than that, though, and tape is more attractive.

Cheers,
Mark