Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (
More info?)
Previously J. Clarke <jclarke.usenet@snet.net.invalid> wrote:
> Arno Wagner wrote:
>> Previously Andrew Rossmann <andysnewsreply@no_junk.comcast.net> wrote:
>>> In article <3cv447F6o4pctU2@individual.net>, me@privacy.net says...
>>>> Previously Andrew Rossmann <andysnewsreply@no_junk.comcast.net> wrote:
>> [...]
>>>> > Unless you MUST keep the ZIP drive to access archived material, I
>>>> > would dump it. It's no longer practical. I used to have one years ago,
>>>> > but stopped using it as CD and DVD is so much cheaper. If you only
>>>> > need it to access old data, I would quickly copy that data to CD's or
>>>> > other media, then dump the ZIP.
>>>>
>>>> I agree to that, only if your data is important, don't depend on
>>>> cheap and unreliable mass-market media like CD or DVD.
>>
>>> The key to any archiving is MULTIPLE backups.
>>
>> This will not help if all of your copies age fast. The key is to
>> define in advance what reliability, what archiving period and
>> what maintenance effort you want to have.
>>
>> If you want to go with one medium, zero maintenance and several decades,
>> MOD it the only choice.
>>
>> If you can tolerate high maintenance (yearly checks) and multiple
>> media sets, go CD or DVD, but don't fotget to chcek them all each year
>> or so. And store them correctly. And select good media (pretty hard)
> Phthalocyanine dye and hardened surface is the trick. Not that hard at all
> to select. See for example Maxell DVD-R Pro.
> Further for the price of one 9 gig MO disk you can get DVD-R disks from 15
> different manufacturers, which eliminates relying on a single vendor's
> quality control.
>> and butn them right, since others could leave you without your data
>> even faster, even with multiple copies.
>>
>> Professional archiving tape is somewere in between but too expensive
>> for most users.
> Uh, Arno, DLT is commonly used for archiving by rather large players who may
> be assumed to have the resources to do their homework, IBM claims that it
> will last 50-100 years if given reasonable care and it's a HELL of a lot
> cheaper than MO. The largest available MO media was 9.1GB last I heard.
> Best price I can find on it is 55 bucks a shot. DLTIV tapes cost 25 bucks
> a shot and hold 40 gig. The best price I can find on a 9.1GB MO drive is
> 1500 bucks but a DLT1 drive costs 650 and a DLT8000 around 1100. So DLT
> seems a _lot_ more attractive than MO unless the storage duration is really
> long.
I meant to say "private/home users". For these you go to 3.5" MOD. About
300 USD for the drive and about 15 USD for a 2.3GB medium. Not usable for
high-volume long-term storage, but good for family photographs, backup
of work and the like.
For higher volumes, professional tape is the way to go, I agree with
you there.
> MO I'm sure has its use, but its limited capacity and high cost make it a
> niche product.
Actually 3.5" MOD is perfect for home and small office use. It is also
widely used for digital X-rays, at least in Europe.
> But this is all totally ludicrous in response to a question about a Zip
> drive.
I don't agree. I replaced my Zip with a 640MB 3.5" MOD 6 years ago and are
completely happy with it. Still enough for my backups of critical stuff
and never lost a single bit of information up to now.
Arno