[NTLUG:Discuss] Data Storage recommendations wanted.

[Robert Pearson]

On 11/16/06, ntlug at thorshammer.org <ntlug at thorshammer.org> wrote:
> > It would be cheaper to buy a hard drive load the data onto it, unplug
> > the hard drive and put it in an antistatic bag and place the hard drive
> > in storage.
>
>         You should look into redundent disks for reliability (RAID, copy to two disks, etc). It sounds like the core of the service is the ability to produce a document after X amount of time with the ability to deliver 100% of all documents requested. So if the media the doc is stored on is lost, having a backup to pull it off of would seem good. Having redundant storage (either duplicate CD/DVDs or duplicate disks) will increase the odds against total failure. You can factor that into the cost of doing business, maybe even only duplicating 'important' docs (if there is such a classification).
>
>         As an FYI, I think large institutions that need to keep records for a long time or 'forever' (banks, medical, etc) will put it to a tape and send it to a tape storage company (like Iron Mountain, Recall, etc). Those places have climate controlled facilities designed to hold media indefinitely. Since the tape is not reused, it won't have any problems with tape reuse like warping, jamming, breaking, etc.
>
> Robert

This business scenario presents some interesting, and challenging
situations that offer a real opportunity for innovation.
Here they are as I see them:

1-10 TB of Disk - mostly turned off until needed

RAID - with mirroring provides a safety margin

No RAID - JBOD. Information must be stored in multiple locations to
provide the safety margin of RAID. If the Information is stored in
more than two JBOD areas the safety margin is better than RAID.

1-10 TB of DVD - requires an excellent cataloging system since all
DVDs will not be online all the time

Straight to DVD - a number of ways to copy the source to the DVD

DVD to CD as required - standard procedure

Tape Backup - defense against local, remote and global disasters

No Tape Backup - could CD/DVD provide this with a 2-5 year life span?
The 2-5 year archive life is mis-leading because the "roll-forward" of
the CDs/DVDs to be kept must begin before the expiration deadline. The
CD/DVD management solution will have to be provided. Some very
expensive backup software, like TSM, will do this now but it is way
too expensive for this scenario.