Date:         Thu, 22 Jan 2004 21:47:56 -0500
Reply-To:     Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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Sender:       Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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From:         Konrad Strauss <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Archive the hard drive, was CDR media longevity
Comments: To: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
In-Reply-To:  <005301c3e04f$767a2360$650ba8c0@kVaio>
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on 1/21/04 1:50 PM, Grete Pasch at [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Konrad Strauss wrote:
> 
>> I believe that the trend is to move away from CD-R as a
>> carrier to a file-based storage. Most archives cannot
>> afford to put together an online storage system, but
>> if you have a digital audio workstation of some sort,
>> you could start recording to firewire drives and
>> archiving the drives themselves.
> 
> The fireware "cases" are not cheap, so one would presumably store
> just the hard drive itself, packed in a plastic shell or some
> sort of protective box.  Still, hard drives are so fragile that I
> would be worried not to have a copy on DVD or tape just in case.

Actually cost-wise, they are basically equivalent to CDRs at CD resolution -
a 120 gig firewire drive in a case costs about $180.00 and stores about 200
hours of audio at CD resolution. Mitsui Gold CDs cost around a buck each.

> 
> But has anyone had any experience archiving hard drives?  Will
> they work OK after being in storage for months?
> 

Sure. Most drives are rated at 100,000 + hours of life spin life - that¹s
more than 11 years! NARAS has created guidelines for archiving of DAW files
created in recording sessions. They dictate archiving the original hard
drive along with several other backups on different media. I've been doing
hard disc recording since the late 80s, I have some legacy drives that are
at least 8 years old that still function fine - sometimes after being
powered down for months at a time.

-- 
Konrad Strauss
Recording * Editing * Mastering * Production
http://php.indiana.edu/~kstrauss