Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!kddlab!titcca!etlcom!michel
From: michel@etlcom.etl.JUNET (Michel Pasquier)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Have you checked your backups lately?
Message-ID: <24679@etlcom.etl.JUNET>
Date: 25 Apr 89 06:28:15 GMT
References: <28718@apple.Apple.COM> <19510@genrad.UUCP> <39434@think.UUCP> <524@sys.uea.ac.uk> <39638@think.UUCP>
Reply-To: michel@etlcom.etl.JUNET (JoKeR)
Organization: Electrotechnical Laboratory, Tsukuba Science City
Lines: 33


 It seems that recently we had a lot of various discussions about the usage
and reliability of magnetic storage devices, the result of which could be
summarized as  (one line per topic - majority opinion only) :

 1- unused (backup) floppy disks should *not* be trusted for long

 2- hard disks had better *not* be switched on and off everytime

 3- floppies could suffer from (airport) Xrays exposure, but *not* hard disks


 Concerning the 2nd point, I would really be curious to know what evaluation
could be made of a disk warm up / shut down in term of MTBF - which after all
is the official measure for a HD lifetime (comments?)...


 But my main point is with the first topic: what about tapes and hard drives?

 How long can we trust our precious backup tapes or K7? (I would have believed
the answer is "years", provided the stuff is stored in a normal place, but now
I feel the urge to ask confirmation... all the more I *do* have a sun k7 I
cannot read anymore - by the way, is there a remedy?) I also have some archival
tapes I have not read for years (at least 2 or 3): is there something to fear?

 Also, what about a hard drive which remains off power in its box for months,
a full year or even more?  Is is *absolutely* safe or is there some risk of
data loss? 

 Thanks for your comments and answers. 


 -Michel.              <<<< P like in paranoia ? No, P like in prudence >>>>>