To answer one of your questions very quickly, CDs are supposed to be good for a
long time.  I have seen mention of up to 100 years. :)

However, let me caution you that CD and CD-R or CD-RW are not the same.
 Whereas CDs are actually pressed, CD-R is made of some "ink", in a transparent
plastic sandwich, whose opaqueness is affected by a laser beam.  So, whilst CDs
may indeed last 100 years, I have seen cases where CD-Rs lose data after just a
few years.  There are also a lot of discussions going on about this subject at
places on the Internet.

This doesn't mean that you should eschew the use of CD-Rs, just be very aware
of the issue.  Believe it or not, paper is also a good long-term medium,
especially the acid-free type.  The other problem with paper is the actual ink
or toner that is used on it.  I have several paperback books (hundreds really)
that are very old (20-30 years (no ISBN)) and the pages are yellow, but they
are still readable.  On the other hand, I have old computer listing from inkjet
printers where the ink has faded so the stuff is unreadable.  I also have
LaserJet printed material that has had the toner transferred to the plastic of
the binder.  Beware of this.

I suspect that since the place is closing down forever, you do not have the
ability to go out and buy expensive new technology.  So you probably have to
make do with what you have or what you can get for very little money.

You have three issues to contend with here.  Media life, application or media
format life and storage conditions.

1-Media life.  This is how long the media will retain the data.  CD-R should
last 5-10 years, as should DDS.  Beyond that, paper!
2- Application or media format life.  This deals with how long you expect the
format you use to be able to be read in the future.  CDs have been with us
since 1983.  The follow-on replacement is DVD, but that is certainly not
catching on as quickly as expected in the IT world.  I have a DVD player at
home, with a growing list of movie titles.  I also have a DVD-ROM on my
personal system, but not a single DVD-based software title.  It does read CD,
CD-R and CD-RW with no problems though.  I would expect CD-Rs to be able to be
read by new devices for the next 10-20 years.  However, the format in which the
files are kept may be a problem.   Will applications be able to read these
files in the future?  ASCII text files should be able to be read for decades to
come.  Excel spreadsheets?!?

3- Storage conditions.  Everything will have to be stored in a cool, dry, dark
place.  The kicker is that nobody will be around to move the data from one
format to another, so perhaps this is something that should be investigated.
 In other words, if the data is not available, who would be held responsible
for its inaccessibility?  Is this individual or group willing to shell out some
money on a yearly basis to have the stuff checked and maintained?


So finally, for the 7 years of required life, I would use CD-R.  I would look
for the more expensive media.  Do not be suckered in by low prices of unknown
brands.  Get a good CD-R writer.  I recommend something like our current one
here at the office, a Plextor.  (They are the best in CD, CD-R and CD-RW.)  I
would take full multiple backups to DDS and transfer vital files via SAMBA to a
CD-R burner machine.

For the longer term, I would print as much stuff as I can on high quality paper
to a good laser printer.  Stay away from inkjets, unless you can find what is
called "archival" paper and ink (extremely expensive, the order of a dollar or
more per sheet.)  About the only one doing that now is Epson, with their latest
870, 875DC and 1270 inkjets printers.  These are more for photos though.

I would then stuff everything in a bank vault somewhere and put someone else's
name on the account.

Kind regards,

Denys. . .

Denys Beauchemin
HICOMP
(800) 323-8863  (281) 288-7438         Fax: (281) 355-6879
denys at hicomp.com                             www.hicomp.com


-----Original Message-----
From:   Gary Nolan [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Friday, July 14, 2000 9:15 AM
To:     [log in to unmask]
Subject:        long term storage

Hi Folks,

They told me I was going to be finished here by the end of June, but they
keep extending the deadline, so now the possible end is July 28?????. So now
this puts me here for the final close down and possible transfer to new
owners. Now we have to save all info offsite so it can be accessed in the
future by someone else, we do not know who, were, when or how.

What solutions does anybody have for long term storage? How long is a DAT
tape good for? I was think of saving one of the important data bases by
transferring it to  Access and saving on a CD, so how long is a CD good for?
The best part is some of this info needs to be accessible for 25 years (in
the rail manufacturing you have to warranty the product for 7 years and
provide certain info for 25 years),  that is a long time in computer years.

I do not know how many of you have been through a closure of a business, it
is hell, we here have been joking that this is our version of the US TV show
Survivor. But in our case we started off with 60 salary people cut 38 the
first week and as work finishes up in each area cut more. We are now down to
about 15 and are betting on who goes next. The best part is you just cannot
quit you forfeit any severance and 15 months severance is a little bit of
money to throw away.

TIA for the help

Gary Nolan
Sydney Steel Corporation (for this week anyway)