X-Message-Number: 5662
Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 23:45:16 -0500
From: "Keith F. Lynch" <>
Subject: Re: Why CD-R isn't an archival medium

In #5642, "Perry E. Metzger" <>
> That isn't saying much. Many forms of tape backup won't last more
> than a few years.

Does anyone know how long DSHD 5 inch diskettes last?  I have about a
thousand of them, up to ten years old.  I store them in my clean, dry,
but very warm (85F or 30C) apartment.

> CD-R is based on a fairly unstable chemical substrate. Let it get in
> direct sunlight or look at it the wrong way and poof -- your data is
> gone. Its fine for one offs, its lousy if your data MUST survive.

The web page mentioned in Leonard N. Zubkoff's message #5636,
http://www.cd-info.com, contains claims from various manufacturers
that CD-R discs stored under normal conditions will last 70, 100+,
or 217 years.  Even longer, given better CD-R readers.

> Lastly, I am quite unsure as to whether or not you are going to
> find an ISO-9660 CD Reader lying around in 100 or 300 years.

I can't believe that a technology capable of repairing brain cells
would be unable to read a CD-R disc, even in the very unlikely case
that all information on how data are stored on them is lost.
--
Keith Lynch, 
http://www.access.digex.net/~kfl/


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