Oh, sure, "blame the media". (old joke :-)
In http://www.thic.org/pdf/Oct00/imation.jgoins.001003.pdf Imation says that for the Avanced Metal Particle 1 tape formulation used in 3590 that media life should be expected to be 15 - 30 years, with 5 - 10% magnetization loss after 15 years.
The greater issue is how well the tapes were made in their batch, and how they were handled and the atmospheric conditions in which they were used. I've seen some new tapes arrive with ripples because of poor winding during manufacturing. "Tape is tape", and being open to the air, lots can happen to them.
Richard Sims
On Mar 30, 2005, at 9:58 AM, William Rosette wrote:
Anybody out there know how long 3590 K series tapes last ( I assume in years). I am trying to figure if our recent batch of tape/drive errors are from tape drives and old tapes. Seem to be older number tapes giving the errors, Would appreciate any knowledge on the subject or direction of where to find the knowledge.
Thank You, Bill Rosette Data Center/IS/Papa Johns International WWJD
