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Re: [ARSCLIST] Storing digital media
Dave, this is a bunch of good info you posted. Thanks.
-- Tom Fine
PS -- I look on hard drives like a farm in that you always have to be tilling, planting or
harvesting. Nothing should ever live in one box and no box should stay in service more than a few
years. Hard drives are so cheap that I'm not a big believer in waiting for them to die before
replacing. I've noticed that as drives wear out, they develop a whine. Some drives will still go for
years with a noisy motor, others fail soon after the whine develops. The whine always seems to
happen 2-4 years down the road if the drive is in constant use. The whine is my cry for replacement,
as it were.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Nolan" <davenolanaudio@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2006 11:41 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Storing digital media
On Mon, 8 May 2006 21:05:46 -0400, steven c <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
----- Original Message -----
From: "Christina Hostetter" <chostetter@xxxxxxxxx>
Good Afternoon. I am in the middle of a debate on what is the best way
to store large quantities of digital media (audio, video, and images).
I have always been under the impression that for such large quantities
of information and such large files a dedicated server (or servers) is
the best way to go as opposed to external hard drives or CD-ROM.
Our IT manager had this to say: Our servers have only lasted about 5
years before requiring replacement. I wonder what makes you think
servers are appropriate for storing large amounts of data?
He is suggesting that we use external hard drives or CD-ROM to store our
media. I think it would be much easier to store everything on one or
more servers and have the files accessible to anyone rather than having
to come to me all the time to pull materials in the archives. Plus, you
could migrate that information to a new server when the old one is no
longer working.
Any thoughts? I always thought servers that store only digital files
last longer than 5 years.
Actually, computers themselves (which is what "servers" are) have an
essentially unlimited life span (barring power surges, lightning
strikes, nuclear explosions, etc.), since they have no moving parts.
Hard drives don't, since they DO have moving parts...but I would
suspect their life span is better measured in hours of use...so
that drives whose primary function is archival storage would probably
have extended life spans. Also, I don't imagine there would be any
substantial difference dependent upon whether the drives were internal
or external.
The important thing would be to have one drive dedicated as the C:
drive for each archival computer...and NOT to use that drive for
any archival storage, since it gets some use whenever the computer
is operating.
It might also be best to duplicate the contents of drives if the
archives are to be regularly accessed for any reason...one could
serve as a backup of the contents and thus see minimal use. The
only advantage to external drives would be that one could be
absolutely sure the backup drives saw minimal use!
Just as a guide, I'm still using an old (about 20 or 25 years)
286 machine I bought a decade ago for $5, and it still works
fine, as does its single (40MB) drive!
Steven C. Barr
=========================================================================
Two things -
First: Once you commit to hard drives, you commit to perpetual data
backup, just like all businesses have been having to do with their data for
the past 50 years. Every 2 to 5 years, you have to migrate the data to the
next, most compatible, most capable, bigger, and cheaper hard drives out
there. Hooray, we've finished painting the boat, time to paint the boat
again...
Second: If you are committing to "server"-type storage of files, I would
recommend looking into SAN (storage area network) technology. Essentially
a large hard-drives system with a controller, but not quite a full-fledged
server (could some of the more systems-literate folks on the list weigh in
with a proper definition of SAN?).
At the Y, we are going with Studio Network Solutions GlobalSAN X-4 1.6TB
units
http://www.studionetworksolutions.com/content/products/globalsan/default.asp
which allow numerous workstations (and listening stations) to log in and
listen to/record/edit/process audio and video files simultaneously. They
are also (as I understand it) the only RAID-protected hard drive storage
that will work with Pro Tools. For off-site backup, we are using Glyph GT-
Key 250GB removable hard drives in a GT drive bay frame
http://glyphtech.com/site/products_gtseries.html
The drive frames can also be configured to include tape backup drives or
optical media burners if one so desires.
Of course, one could also go with recordable optical media on a well-
organized shelf. I guess it depends on how many people need how much
access to the files at any given time.
Our main objection to using CD-r as a primary archival medium at the 92nd
Street Y was data integrity and longevity, but the CD-r/DVD-r logevity
debate pendulum seems to be swinging back the other direction from where it
was only a year ago. There was a general panic about the stability of
recordable optical media as many institutions found some of their their
valuable data suffering from "CD rot" due to the use of substandard discs
by many institutions, and there was a flurry of talk about how managed data
migration was probably the way to go. And, if you have the budget, I think
it still is. That being said, there are now the new Koday CD-r and DVD-r
media products that claim 80-300 year lifespans
http://www.ereleases.com/pr/20060418001.html
as well as the new Maxell Holographic discs
http://news.com.com/Maxell+focuses+on+holographic+storage/2100-1015_3-
5973868.html
that will debut with 300GB capacity and are expected to reach 1.6TB
capacity within 5 years, and are also rumored to have a (relatively) long
shelf life.
Computer technology is like that old "weather in Kansas" joke my wife's
family says all the time - "If you don't like it, wait 5 minutes, it'll
change..."
dave nolan
92nd St. Y
nyc