Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/06/21

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Film is Archival
From: Brian Reid <reid@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2003 16:20:09 -0700
References: <r02000000-1026-B35D2A4DA43011D78737003065F48752@[10.0.1.3]>

> But what will you backup these 400 GB to?

To make a safe backup you should pick a storage medium that is mainstream, popular, uses a widely publicized or standard encoding, and is as universal as possible.

I would make an archival backup of 400GB from a G4 by buying two 200GB FireWire hard drives, copying the data to them in some archival format (such as gtar or /bin/dump), wrapping them in plastic, and padding, putting them into a fireproof box, and making a note that 5 years from now I should copy them to a new medium.

The most common failure of digital archiving techniques is the use of a medium or protocol that is proprietary or insufficiently commercial. What will save you is to use the most mainstream commercial technology possible. Disks that are unplugged and packed against vibration and kept from extremes of temperature will last a very long time.

However, it is unlikely that you really need an *archival* backup of all 400GB, so you could maybe get by with one FireWire 200.

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In reply to: Message from Adam Bridge <abridge@mac.com> (Re: [Leica] Film is Archival)