Well let us just think about data for a minute. All data that is stored by computers is in one "format". Binary. If you are insisting that the data be readable by ALL possible users then you need to get it into a generally available structure, like pdf, or ASCII. If you have not done that, then what you really want is some kind of universal translator program which does not exist. Data volume? Oh come on. Terabyte hard drives are under 200 bucks today. Blu-ray DVDs hold 25 gigabytes. I use True Image 11 to double back up my hard drives. I make a clone every week, 2 every time I install a new program or download Microsoft 'critical updates'. It takes about an hour. File system structure? Who cares? Just use what you OS likes best.
Now I know I'm not keeping terabytes of archived data here, but the same approach will work on a much larger scale. The real need is to stop trying to use '70s era Cobal programs to present the data. If you move the data into the 21st century most of the problems would disappear. I know, I know who will pay for all this? Except for the wages of a couple of people sitting in front of a monitor all day, all the software you would need is available for FREE on the internet. You would need to give up your big, hot, power hungry minicomputer and buy some modern PC clones, but that would not cost too much. If you do it before your current computers die (as you must, if you want ME to think you are serious about archiving) you will find that a serial [port can transfer data from one computer to another just fine. Gee a parallel port even faster... Got pictures, drawings, films, movies, music, books,video, whatever? You can display it all right now with free programs. I do. Again, the trick is to do the transfers BEFORE the old system dies, not whine about incompatible data formats. Got a movie on actual film? Display it on a monitor and capture it into a modern format. The trick is to get the job done in the first place. If you are worried about the "perfect" transfer of images you WILL lose them. How "perfect" is that? Of course this all comes from a stupid, uneducated guy who can just DO things. Legally blind, one arm not working etc. So what the heck could I possibly know about conserving data??? Eric Thompson S/V Procrastinator South San Francisco [email protected] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ben Okopnik" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2009 6:01 PM Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] "LOST" data storage methods > On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 04:53:19PM -0700, Eric T. wrote: >> Since I build my own computers, and I need to conserve money, I have a >> floppy dick drive > > Oh, dear. Perhaps a little blue pill would help? Or maybe just a > firmware upgrade? :) > >> and PATA (old parallel ATA) hard drives. If archivists >> WANT to keep data on older systems they can. They just need to keep the >> old >> hardware running. > > I'm afraid that force of will has not proven to be a decisive factor in > data retention. If you have proof to the contrary, there are lots of > people who would love to see it. > >> Or they can build a 'bridge' system that has both the older and a newer >> hardware combination and simply copy the data,,,again and again... > > This makes for a nice scenario in an ideal world - and is, perhaps, even > possible (to some degree) on a personal computer. Have you ever > considered the problems that are inevitable in doing that with hundreds > of gigabytes of data? Perhaps terabytes? How, exactly, would you propose > examining all of it, and keeping track of all the relevant data formats? > How would you know which format applies to which file? How would you > know which filesystem structure needs to be used in order to have the > data available at all? How would you store that metadata, and how would > you generate it? > > What sort of a backup scheme would you suggest? On what schedule? How > about keeping the data available - journaling filesystems? RAID? > Striping? SANs? Distributed databases? What are the pros and cons of > using those approaches? What's the cost? What would it cost to hire and > retain the necessary experts? What are the security implications of > doing so?... > > ...and those are just the very basics of data storage, availability, and > security. I've been in the computer business for over 30 years - I teach > advancement classes for professionals these days - and I don't have any > pat answers for the above questions. Frankly, they're too complex for > pat answers to be possible, and it would be naive to think otherwise. > >> If anybody LOOSES data due to changes in media it is their own fault. > > By that reasoning, the next time you get sick, you'll have no one to > blame but yourself. That's both false and damaging, in that it closes > off any possibility of solution. > > > -- > * Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET * > _______________________________________________ > Liveaboard mailing list > [email protected] > To adjust your membership settings over the web > http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard > To subscribe send an email to [email protected] > > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ > > To search the archives > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > The Mailman Users Guide can be found here > http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
