Traditional Tape really is getting a bashing. When you send your archived data off site, how long would you expect it to last? Well not long if you don’t maintain the tape. Because the data is sitting on strips of plastic the tape needs to be inserted into a loader and fed from start to finish and back again every 6 months to stop the tape from sticking completely and loosing the data. Stink buzz!
Now a new standard has come through – Ultra Density Optical – or UDO for short. The cartridges are currently 120gb and 240gb and are read by laser. They are certified to last for 50+ years and there’s no need to maintain the cartridge like tape and it’s also not sensitive to hot/cold/dust etc. The policy buffs have decided that 50+ years is a standard time for storing data nowadays, so this is a good option for those who are looking to review and renew their archiving processes.
Check out the range by Plasmon.
Actually the current media is 60 GB dual sided. 120 GB and 240 GB are in the roadmap though.
Good blog, but not quite correct in the capacities stated. Currently 60GB is available with 120GB due 2009 and 240 due by 20012.