[Cialug] long term storage

[Zachary Kotlarek]

On Jul 15, 2009, at 12:39 PM, Colin Burnett wrote:

> On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 10:48 AM, Zachary  
> Kotlarek<zach at kotlarek.com> wrote:
> Both require appropriate storing conditions, that's a given I think.
> That being equal there is no archiving of digital data.  I can put a
> book on a shelf and still read it in 200 years (granted it's data
> density is rather small).  Can you make that assertion about any
> existing data storage technology and (the kicker) maintain a
> reasonable data density?  I could do punch cards but that's totally
> impractical for, say, 100 TB.  Glass-pressed DVD's might last that
> long but who's going to get glass-pressed masters made for some 20,000
> DVDs that are one-offs?  20,000 DVDs is also rather impractical.
>
> That's what I mean by "archiving of digital data".


And in general I agree -- books last longer (though I doubt most would  
make it 200 years without some maintenance). And if you're going to  
dismiss punch card because 100 TB of card take up lots of space it  
seems unfair to put books into the comparison, because 100 TB of books  
would be just as large.

I just don't think bitrot is necessarily the primary hurdle in  
maintaining an archive, particularly for amateur archivists. It's  
certainly something to consider, but I think you're just as likely to  
lose an archive by accidentally damaging/losing it when you move/clean/ 
etc., or by forgetting what's in the archive and eventually devaluing  
it to the point that you just trash it. Or if you're going to talk in  
200-year intervals, having your estate holders trash/sell/etc. all  
your old media, digital and otherwise, when you die.

My point is just that if the data isn't considered important by its  
keeper, no archive will reliably stand the test of time, even if you  
inscribe the data on stone. And that if you do consider the data  
important, "archive" probably doesn't mean "leave sitting unattended  
for decades" no matter what type of data of media you're using.

	Zach

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