having three separate RAID systems (RAID 6!!) several miles apart sounds fine. Having one of those systems hundreds of miles apart could be better, but you are in good shape.
I would not consider tape or optical media sufficiently reliable at this stage for archival backup. Optical media are nixed because they are inherently unreliable. Tape is relatively slow, and the tape drives tend to get funky unpredictably, meaning that you have to test frequently. We're making do with one RAID 5 system and cloud backup using Amazon's S3, which I'd take over two RAID 5 systems, but is still beat by three of a kind :-). ari On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 3:52 PM, Parsell, David <david.parsell at yale.edu> wrote: > Hi all, > > We are preparing to install a Digital Asset Management System, which has led > to a debate regarding what is "enough" redundant storage to keep the digital > assets safe from disaster. > > Initially we specified production and mirrored on-line storage at different > physical locations on campus with tape backup to get the assets off-line. > > The on-line storage would be raid 6 (two spare drives), and about eight miles > apart, which should be enough to protect at least one copy of the data from > disaster short of nuclear war. > > Also, we will be sending the images to another on-line campus system called > the Digital Preservation Repository. > > In total, that makes three on-line copies of the same images, not to mention > whatever redundancy and backup the DPR will incorporate. > > Now, we are debating whether it is worth the investment to include tape > backup, which seems to be tedious, error prone and technology that needs to > be upgraded frequently to keep it current. > > Has anyone done a cost/benefit analysis for tape backup verses redundant > on-line storage? > > Can you point me to any web sites/documents that discuss this issue? > > How are you handling data redundancy of digital assets at your museum? > > Thanks for your help. > > > David Parsell > Systems Manager > Yale Center for British Art > 1080 Chapel Street > PO Box 208280 > New Haven, CT 06520-8280 > > 203 432-9603 > 203 432-9414 f > david.parsell at yale.edu > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l >
