Deborah -- Jeff's point about utilizing near-line storage is well
taken. This would allow archived images to be accessed relatively
quickly without tying up capacity on active servers with material
which may not be accessed very frequently, and also would provide
some insulation against changes in backup media formats.
A related technology which is worth considering is
disk-to-disk-to-tape backups, in which files are first collected on a
dedicated backup server or near-line storage unit, which can then be
backed up to tape or other removable media at suitable
intervals. The current version of Veritas Backup Exec (now part of
Symantec) is just one of many backup products which utilize this strategy.
Your idea about adding backup costs to grant and special project
budgets is **definitely** worth pursuing. While it may not be
feasible to cover the costs of backups for all eternity, It would be
completely reasonably to expect that they be covered for the life of
the project. To this end, the budget for any project that will add
large amounts of data should at least be expected to cover initial
costs for additional backup media and backup drives, as well as
additional disk space on whatever server(s) will store the files.
The details of how you calculate a reasonable cost will depend on the
project and your local setup, so what follows should be regarded as
an example rather than an exact formula:
* Get the PI of the project to estimate the amount of new data
that will be added in the course of the project. She/he may be
hesitant to do so, but be firm, because this is information that you
will need if you are to plan intelligently for the new load that is
about to be added to your system. Add a fudge factor of 10 - 20% to
whatever figure the PI comes up with to allow for unanticipated storage needs.
* Armed with this total, figure out how many tapes/CDs/DVDs would
be required to run your normal backup schedule for at least one year,
using all new media. Assume a compression ratio of 1:1 (i.e.: no
compression) in doing this calculation.
* If your ability to get backups done in a reasonable length of
time is already stretched, add in the cost of one or more additional
backup drives (and, if needed, other backup-related hardware).
* Add in any extra hard drives or other hardware that will be
required to accommodate the new data.
* Calculate what all of this would cost at today's prices. In
the case of backup media, don't automatically assume that the newer,
higher capacity formats are the most economical choice. Depending on
the total amount of data to be backed up and your normal backup
schedule, the newer formats may or may not be a better deal. For a
graphic example of this, spend some time experimenting with Quantum's
Tape Product Advisor tool, a link to which can be found near the top
of the following page:
http://www.quantum.com/Products/TapeDrives/Index.aspx
Although the results depicted there are only approximations, changing
the variables and seeing how the theoretically "perfect" number of
drives and tapes changes can be instructive.
Melissa Winans
Senior LAN Administrator
Texas Memorial Museum
University of Texas at Austin
512-232-4263
At 03/08/2006 12:34 PM, Jeff Evans wrote:
Hi Deborah,
I look forward to reading this string as it develops.
FOR IMAGES:
I am an advocate for near-line storage- SANs or NAS devices. This
option can cut your costs dramatically (or somewhat anyway) and can
help you in delivering files over the network. Usually after the
databases have all the jpeg and reference files they need, larger tif
files can be near line or off line. My past life as a system
integrator always makes me question the ROI of housing large image
files on a fully functioning server. An honest assessment of which
files will actually be requested over the coming year or two, is a
good one and may save you back-up headaches as well as network time
and money.
As you know the industry is moving fast in the direction of back-up
servers. But I feel tape backups will be around for a while as well
due to the fact that many firms have policies stipulating a copy of
the backups is to be housed off-site.
We are also keen on the idea of a fast server with limited space.
Servers such as these can be deployed locally for the small group of
users that need a given set of data/files. With a small deployment
(less than 1TB) these size servers are easily backed up with a
desktop type tape drive or a smaller backup server. Beyond price, a
further advantage of a smaller server is that the users are forced to
manage the files - especially archiving older files. For tape
backup, I recommend AIT. AIT-3 and AIT-4 are the current flavors.
JEFF
Jeffrey Evans
Digital Imaging Specialist
Princeton University Art Museum
609.258.8579
On Mar 8, 2006, at 10:06 AM, Deborah Wythe wrote:
Hello--
We've been having a discussion here about the exploding costs of
network backup, as digital image collections grow, and also about
potential future costs such as format migration. While the cost of
backup tapes tends to go down as time passes, the formats are also
continually being improved, with new formats then going back up in
price, so the costs over time don't really decrease. And, of
course, as we continue into digital imaging full speed, we're
creating assets that are never going to be deleted.
I'd be interested in hearing about any creative ideas people have
implemented or are thinking about. I've floated the possibility of
adding a fixed percentage to any digital imaging special project
budget in order to create a "longevity endowment." Not at all sure
if that's workable, but it's an idea out of the box.
Thanks,
Deb Wythe
Deborah Wythe
Brooklyn Museum
Head, Digital Collections and Services
200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11238
tel: 718 501 6311
fax: 718 501 6125
email: deborahwy...@hotmail.com
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